The Church's One Foundation

the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.
she is His new creation by water and the Word.
from heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride,
with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses, partakes one holy food.
and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
she waits the cosummation of peace forevermore;
'til, with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blessed,
and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

yet she on earth hath union with God, the Three in One,
and mystic, sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
o, happy ones, and holy! Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.
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all the wedding imagery in this song is beautiful. it is THIS kind of love that the Lord has for us. it completely blows my mind and heart. i know that i say that a lot, but it's true. hymns tend to bring out the shock-factor, at least for me. somehow it's the simultaneous display of God's glory and His kind condescension to little ole us.
i feel like this song is extremely potent for me because i am a single woman, to an extent existing in a state of "waiting," which is what the church is represented as doing in this song. (that was an extremely poorly written sentence.) of course, the church knows what lies ahead ultimately: eternal marriage to Jesus. that is set in stone. there is absolutely no changing it.
the security of knowing you are loved, and that you have such a protected and blissful future, is remarkable. that this all is wrapped up in a Person, and that this Person is with us and taking care of us always, is still more remarkable.
Jesus is my Hero. and i mean that in the least trite and most literal sense possible.