Called from above, and heavenly men by birth
(Who once were but the citizens of earth),
As pilgrims here, we seek a heavenly home,
Our portion in the ages yet to come.
Thou wast “the image,” in man’s lowly guise,
Of the invisible to mortal eyes;
Come from His bosom, from the heavens above,
We see in Thee incarnate, “God is love.”
Thy lips the Father’s name to us reveal;
What burning power in all Thy words we feel,
When to our raptured hearts we hear Thee tell
The heavenly glories which Thou know’st so well.
No curse of law, in Thee was sovereign grace,
And now what glory in Thine unveiled face!
Thou didst attract the wretched and the weak,
Thy joy the wanderers and the lost to seek.
That precious stream of water and of blood,
Which from Thy piercd side so freely flowed,
Has put away our sins of scarlet dye,
Washed us from every stain, and brought us nigh.
We are but strangers here; we do not crave
A home on earth, which gave Thee but a grave:
Thy cross has severed ties which bound us here,
Thyself our treasure in a brighter sphere.
J. G. Deck