Lent is a season of repentance, preparation, prayer, and confession. There are many studies out there to use during this season. This year, I feel led to use the hymn “Blessed Assurance”. Many hymnals have this wonderful text in them, and you can find the full lyrics online. Yesterday, we spent time marinating on Verse 1 which reads:

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation, purchase of God

Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Today, I want to spend time with verse 2. This verse not only amplifies verse 1, but also shines a light, if you will, on heaven and what life will be like. The verse reads:

Perfect submission, perfect delight

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love

One of the chief complaints of the older hymns in the worship wars we find ourselves in today is that the language is “outdated”. No one speaks like this anymore. Quite honestly, I find that to be a shame. The words of this second verse have always filled me with awe, wonder, and even a little amazement. The verse speaks of a rapture. Some Christians will tell you this is a glimpse of the end of days and the rapture of the church. I want to ponder a different angle if you will humor me on it.

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

This line is personal. The composer is saying that they see this vision of rapture – a vision of heaven. Their eyes have been opened to the wonders of who God is, His redemptive power and gift for the world – which is the focus of the Easter season – and that it is happening RIGHT NOW. In the liturgical church, we recite different creeds. One of them states “God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.” If God is with us, then heaven is just a heartbeat away. In fact, heaven is right here with us. We can’t see it because we are not submitting to the will of God. We have our own sins, our own desires, and our own wills getting in the way.

When verse 2 speaks of perfect submission and pairs it with perfect delight, they are saying that when we choose to exist in the will of God, when we submit our lives to God’s will and are responsive to Him, we are able to see His work in the world around us. We are also part of His work in the world. We can see the angels descending (maybe not literally, but who knows… many have entertained angels and not known it. Hebrews 13:2 is clear on that). When the angels descend, they bring with them God’s mercy and love and grace.

While verse 1 speaks of believers knowing Christ is with us, verse 2 speaks of how we are now able to see the world and God’s work in it. Through those works we are able to share the message of verse 1 with a lost and broken world. We are also filled with the excitement and joy of knowing we will spend eternity in His presence. It is a testament of who God is and who we are in Christ Jesus.

I don’t pretend to truly understand what all that means but I do know this – God loves me. God loves you. God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross and then be resurrected so we can be in union with him if we choose to be. We all have a choice. Not to choose is to choose. Will you find yourself in “perfect submission, perfect delight”?