Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
- Andrea Lyford
- 21 minutes ago
- 4 min read
This Sunday, we will be introducing a song that is new to our congregation, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” written by Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Keith Getty, Matt Merker, Jordan Kauflin. This song is rich in theology—nearly early every stanza could be a stand-alone sermon.
The song is based on the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism. The word catechism is from a Greek word which means to teach orally, and in the historic church, question and answers were used to teach Bible doctrine. Catechisms teach us what we believe and the Scripture that supports it. It is a powerful tool for learning the tenets of our Christian faith that has been mostly lost in our modern-day churches in America. Our church has instituted this on Wednesday nights with our Kids Club as they work through The New City Catechism. *
Similarly, we will exercise this ancient teaching method through this worship song as we sing and memorize it together. Here is the basis for the song:
Heidelberg Catechism – Question 1
The Heidelberg Catechism’s first question and answer states:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,1 but belong—body and soul, in life and in death2—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,4 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5 He also watches over me in such a way6 that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;7 in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.10
1 1 Cor. 6:19-202 Rom. 14:7-93 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:144 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:25 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-116 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:57 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-188 Rom. 8:289 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-1410 Rom. 8:1-17
The first stanza of “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” says this:
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone.
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong.
Hope in Life and Death
What is your hope in life today? Perhaps you are hoping that…
you will get a better job
the kids will get older and be less needy
the weight will come off as you discipline your eating and exercise habits
you will experience satisfaction and relief once the project is complete
the treatment will work this time
the costs will go down and ease your financial burden
The fact of the matter is that whether or not what we hope for comes true, we will still long for something else on its heels. Earthly resolutions only offer temporary relief.
The Bible offers something better. Romans 14:7-8 says,
“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”
We "live to the Lord” by resting in His sovereign care of us. His mission and His agenda become ours, and we submit to His provision and purpose every day. So no matter what happens, good or bad, we are secure in Him.
And what about in death? What is our hope in death? My husband and I were recently reminded once again of the brevity of life as a healthy, young friend of ours suffered a stroke and is now recuperating. It is always shocking to receive news like this because death is a reality we ignore on most days.
What is our hope when we die? That our good deeds outweigh our bad? That maybe there is a heaven, and we might make it there? As Christians, we can know what happens upon death and rest assured that we belong to the Lord, trusting in his death and resurrection to secure our place with Him. (Romans 10:9-10) When our eyes close in death, we will be with Him. What peace! What grace!
Our hope is not wishful thinking. Hope in the Bible is resolute. It is solid. It is tied to something. It is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19). As I wrote previously:
The Hebrew word for hope in Psalm 62:5 is tiqva, and it can also be translated as cord or line. This is the same word used when Rahab tied the cord in her window in the book of Joshua so that she could be saved from the destruction of Jericho and join the people of God. She tied the scarlet cord in her window because of hope.
We have hope. We have a cord. We are not just hoping in vain – our hope is tied to the faithfulness of God. He has been faithful in our past, and he will be faithful in our future.
In addition, tiqva can also mean “bound together.” Community plays an important part in remembering God’s faithfulness. Every Sunday we gather as the people of God, bound together by His Spirit, and we sing hymns of hope. We are looking and waiting for Him in expectation together.
What an awesome God we have! May we sing with gusto this song “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.” In so doing, we proclaim together the truth of God’s Word. What better way to spend your Sunday morning?
*The New City Catechism is available in print or as an app that you can download. It is a great resource to use for your daily devotions.