Beautiful Savior (ELW 838)
1 Beautiful Savior, King of creation,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I’d love thee, truly I’d serve thee,
light of my soul, my joy, my crown.
2 Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
robed in flow’rs of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
he makes our sorrowing spirit sing.
3 Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
bright the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels in the sky.
4 Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine!
Devotion
This song reminds us that our beautiful Savior, the Ruler of nations, was Son of God and Son of Man. A pretty radical idea—the Almighty becoming flesh. Because if God became flesh, God became killable and who wants or needs a God like that? We want a god who will show vigor and victory. That is the way of the world.
Yet, in a twist of logic, we got a God who showed that humility, submission, and service were the true hallmarks of power and authority. Jesus’ self-demotion is the source of his—and our—joy. “For the joy set before him, he endured the cross,” says the preacher in Hebrews 12. That God would die for us is startling. Evangelist Oswald Chambers said it well: “The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ—‘it is finished!’”
Prayer
Creator God, you are the light of our soul and the Lord of the nations. You are the Almighty who came to us, lowly and humble. Help us to see you again for the first time. Amen.