“Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice” is one of Luther’s most loved hymns. It has been connected to Luther’s Preface to the New Testament written a few months earlier in 1522. Many consider this hymn to be a confession of faith that stands alongside Luther’s other great Reformation writings that deal with justification as well as Law and Gospel.
About 100 years after Luther, a University of Wittenberg faculty member exclaimed that this hymn is “an excellent and comforting summary of the totality of the evangelical Lutheran foundation of faith. It contains the whole of Theology, Christology, and Anthropology, or what we should know from the word of God about God, about Christ and our wretchedness and its solution in the kingdom of grace through the merit of Christ, as well as the certainty of the eternal joyful kingdom”
It is a commentary on Romans 1-8 in hymn form:
Stanza 1 Romans 1:16-17
Stanzas 2-3 Romans 1:18-3:20
Stanzas 4-6 Romans 3:21-6:23
Stanzas 7-10 Romans 8
As you read this amazing hymn think of God’s great love for you in Christ.
Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice
1
Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice,
With exultation springing,
And with united heart and voice
And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God has done,
How His right arm the vict’ry won.
What price our ransom cost Him!
2
Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;
Death brooded darkly o’er me.
Sin was my torment night and day;
In sin my mother bore me.
But daily deeper still I fell;
My life became a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.
3
My own good works all came to naught,
No grace or merit gaining;
Free will against God’s judgment fought,
Dead to all good remaining.
My fears increased till sheer despair
Left only death to be my share;
The pangs of hell I suffered.
4
But God had seen my wretched state
Before the world’s foundation,
And mindful of His mercies great,
He planned for my salvation.
He turned to me a father’s heart;
He did not choose the easy part
But gave His dearest treasure.
5
God said to His belovèd Son:
“It’s time to have compassion.
Then go, bright jewel of My crown,
And bring to all salvation.
From sin and sorrow set them free;
Slay bitter death for them that they
May live with You forever.”
6
The Son obeyed His Father’s will,
Was born of virgin mother;
And God’s good pleasure to fulfill,
He came to be my brother.
His royal pow’r disguised He bore;
A servant’s form, like mine, He wore
To lead the devil captive.
7
To me He said: “Stay close to Me,
I am your rock and castle.
Your ransom I Myself will be;
For you I strive and wrestle.
For I am yours, and you are Mine,
And where I am you may remain;
The foe shall not divide us.
8
“Though he will shed My precious blood,
Me of My life bereaving,
All this I suffer for your good;
Be steadfast and believing.
Life will from death the vict’ry win;
My innocence shall bear your sin,
And you are blest forever.
9
“Now to My Father I depart,From earth to heav’n ascending,
And, heavn’ly wisdom to impart,
The Holy Spirit sending;
In trouble He will comfort you
And teach you always to be true
And into truth shall guide you.
10
“What I on earth have done and taughtGuide all your life and teaching;
So shall the kingdom’s work be wrought
And honored in your preaching.
But watch lest foes with base alloy
The heav’nly treasure should destroy;
This final word I leave you.”
Public domain
The Resurrection of Christ
Rembrandt
oil on canvas (92 × 67 cm) — ca. 1635/39
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Prayer: Dear Lord, may I always rejoice in the victory you won for me on the cross. Grant that I may always stay close to you, my Rock and Castle. Amen.
God’s richest blessings in Christ,
Pastor Philip Quardokus
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