Fanny Crosby wrote thousands of hymn
texts. Thirty or so of those are still
commonly sung and familiar. Many have
faded into obscurity. While they had a
good life, now they are “dead”. One of
those is “Eternity” and is aptly named because while it has faded from the
common scene of life its eternal value remains.
As it is with songs, so it is with people. “Eternity” is a good hymn for the scenes of
grace found in Genesis 36. It may seem
to be a chapter with little value; it is after all simply a genealogy of Esau,
but it has been mightily used by the grace of God.
What happens in a genealogy is that people are
born and they die. Genealogies cut out
all the drama of life and reduce it to the basic facts of human existence; we
are born and we die. I have a friend who
is a nationally known Bible teacher. He
was saved after reading Genesis 36. The
stark reality of birth and death, names briefly mentioned and forgotten, struck
him to his very heart. We are mortal in
the flesh but eternal in our spirit.
Where will that eternal spirit dwell after the flesh has gone?
Fanny Crosby captured this stark truth
in “Eternity”. The first verse reads, “Deep
and grand in tones sublime, hear the passing bells of time, ring the dirge of
moments dead,
golden hours whose joys are fled - still those bells of time we hear, tolling, tolling: Hark! the word: Eternity!” All those descendants of Esau had some golden hours, they were kings of Edom, but in Scripture they only get a verse to cover their entire existence – then, eternity. Fanny continues to capture the passing of time in her second verse, “In the rosy morning fair,
In the sultry noonday glare, in the dewy evening bright, in the silent hush of night —
still those bells of time we hear, tolling, tolling, loud and clear: Eternity!”
golden hours whose joys are fled - still those bells of time we hear, tolling, tolling: Hark! the word: Eternity!” All those descendants of Esau had some golden hours, they were kings of Edom, but in Scripture they only get a verse to cover their entire existence – then, eternity. Fanny continues to capture the passing of time in her second verse, “In the rosy morning fair,
In the sultry noonday glare, in the dewy evening bright, in the silent hush of night —
still those bells of time we hear, tolling, tolling, loud and clear: Eternity!”
But eternity
where? Therein is the grace of God. We can know where our eternity will be if we
have trusted that grace of God offered to us in His only begotten Son our Lord,
Jesus Christ. John wrote in his first
epistle, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not
have life.” Eternity with God in heaven
is based on what we have done with His Son Jesus Christ. Life is short, a mere verse, and then
eternity. God’s grace in Jesus Christ
offers us eternity with Him. Crosby
concludes her hymn, “Precious word! if safe we stand on the Christian’s
borderland trusting Him, whose loving smile lights and cheers us all the while
— bells of time with joy we hear, tolling, tolling, sweet and clear: Eternity!” Rejoice in God’s grace of eternal life and
hope today.
The Friday Benediction
Until Monday, my friends, may the
good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of
faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the
saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that
confession this weekend. Amen
You
may also enjoy this inspirational devotional book, The Gospel According to Molly,
available
here:
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