The Only Son from Heaven (ELW 309)
1 The only Son from heaven,
foretold by ancient seers,
by God the Father given,
in human shape appears.
No sphere his light confining,
no star so brightly shining
as he, our Morning Star.
2 Oh, time of God appointed,
oh, bright and holy morn!
He comes, the king anointed,
the Christ, the virgin-born,
grim death to vanquish for us,
to open heav’n before us
and bring us life again.
3 Awaken, Lord, our spirit
to know and love you more,
in faith to stand unshaken,
in Spirit to adore,
that we, through this world moving,
each glimpse of heaven proving,
may reap its fullness there.
4 O Father, here before you
with God the Holy Ghost,
and Jesus, we adore you,
O pride of angel-host:
before you mortals lowly
cry, “Holy, holy, holy,
O blessed Trinity!”
Devotion
When God speaks, God becomes human.
Elizabeth Cruciger (1500-1535) wrote this hymn in 1524. She had become a nun as a child. At the cloister, she learned of the religious ideas of the Reformation through Johannes Bugenhagen, one of the influential figures in Lutheranism. In 1522, Elisabeth left the abbey to move to Wittenberg, where she joined Bugenhagen’s household. This hymn by the first female poet and hymnwriter of the Protestant Reformation was published in a 1524 hymnal in which eighteen hymns by Martin Luther also appeared.
Elizabeth Cruciger lifts up the gifts poured out by God—the gift of God’s only Son, the vanquishment of death, the renewal of life. She prays that God wake us up to God’s gifts of steadfast faith and lives of praise and confidence in the future God has in store for us. As others helped her grow in knowing the breadth of God’s grace, so may we grow through her witness to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Holy One, we cry “Holy, holy, holy, O blessed Trinity” in thankful praise for your amazing presence in our lives as you seek to awaken all people to know and love you. Amen.