Back in 2009, I wrote a song based on a series of messages I delivered on Ephesians.
To my mind, Ephesians 1 and 2 are among the most sublime passages in all the New Testament. And so I wanted to put the key thoughts to music.
The song is called “In Christ.” I wrote the first stanza, the chorus, and the bridge. The fellowship to whom I delivered the messages wrote the next two stanzas upon my request.
The song is sung to the tune of “2 A.M.” by Anna Nalick.
The lyrics follow . . . but reading the lyrics alone isn’t the same as hearing them sung. The recording brings the words to life.
I recommend listening to the song while you read the lyrics. Then read Ephesians 1 and 2.
Click here to listen to Rachel Smith sing it with guitar
Click here for another version sung by Sandy Sawyer
Here’s a video of it along with lyrics.
Lyrics to In Christ (Ephesians 1 – 2)
Before time and creation came forth from God’s word
In a realm beyond anything spoken or heard
We were hidden – safe and secure in His bosom
Yeah, He took holy counsel from inside His Being
His intention that His Son would someday be seen
We were there with Him, chosen to be His expression
We are still in His Bosom and held by His kindness
The objects of Love, we are holy and blameless
No one can fault us, we’re pure in His sight
So sing with us now and rejoice
In Christ – in Christ
We’re in Christ – in Christ
He has opened the eyes of our hearts to His plan
His great myst’ry unfolding, it’s one brand new man
We’re His masterpiece – created to be for His glory
Yeah, in death He has raised us and given us life
He has brought peace to all, unified us in Christ
Now together in love being built as His dwelling
We are still in His Bosom and held by His kindness
The objects of Love, We are holy and blameless
No one can fault us, we’re pure in His sight
So worship Him now and rejoice
In love – sweet love
In His love – sweet love
Bridge
There’s a place that is free from the darkness of night
Cuz it sits above all things, it’s shrouded with Light
Seated with Christ in the heavenly realms
His fullness we bear on this earth
We’re a family that’s growing more deeply in Christ
We’re His children, the sons and the daughters of Light
Here revealed now – displaying His wisdom and mercy
Yeah, we’re standing together with Christ as our Head
Freed from darkness it’s by His own Spirit we’re led
For His purpose we live, and declare His full vict’ry
We are still in His Bosom and held by His kindness
The objects of Love, we are holy and blameless
No one can fault us, we’re pure in His sight
So sing with us now and rejoice
In Christ – in Christ
We’re in Christ – in Christ
Excerpts from Ephesians 1 and 2 – The Inspiration for the Song
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves . . .
With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory . . .
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins . . . But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead . . .
For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus . . .
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago . . . He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new man from the two groups . . .
You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
** Check out the Children’s Hope Chest courtesy of Les and Sandy Sawyer.
On Mysticism
really love this song! especially rachel smiths version. would love to play it at our youth group as we have been doing a series on ephesians and will be taking communion next week. this song would be the perfect song with communion! thanks for sharing!
Awesome song, Frank. And Rachel Smith’s version is great.
I have tried to translate this marvellous letter and poem for music into Portuguese language and I have shared it through my page at Facebook. Here you may can see it also:
“Before time and creation came forth from God’s word / Antes do tempo e da Criação veio primeiro a Palavra de Deus / In a realm beyond anything spoken or heard / Um Reino além de qualquer um sobre o qual já se falou ou ouviu /
We were hidden – safe and secure in His bosom / E nós fomos acolhidos – salvos e seguros em Seu peito / Yeah, He took holy counsel from inside His Being / Sim, Ele ouviu o Santo conselho das entranhas do Seu Ser /
His intention that His Son would someday be seen / Seu plano fora que Seu Filho fosse, um dia, contemplado por todos / We were there with Him, chosen to be His expression / Nós estávamos com Ele, escolhidos para sermos Sua expressão / We are still in His Bosom and held by His kindness / E nós continuamos em Seu peito, abraçados por sua bondade /
The objects of Love, we are holy and blameless / Objetos do Seu Amor, somos santos e irrepreensíveis / No one can fault us, we’re pure in His sight / Ninguém pode nos acusar, somos puros aos Seu olhos / So sing with us now and rejoice / Então, cante conosco agora, e alegre-se /
In Christ – in Christ / Em Cristo – em Cristo / We’re in Christ – in Christ / Estamos em Cristo – em Cristo / He has opened the eyes of our hearts to His plan / Ele abriu os olhos do nosso coração para Seus projetos / His great myst’ry unfolding, it’s one brand new man / A revelação do seu grande mistério é: um novo homem /
We’re His masterpiece – created to be for His glory / Somos Sua obra prima – criados para Sua Glória / Yeah, in death He has raised us and given us life / Sim, na Sua morte Ele nos ressuscitou e nos concedeu Vida / He has brought peace to all, unified us in Christ / Ele trouxe Paz a todos, unificando-nos em Cristo /
Now together in love being built as His dwelling / E agora estamos sendo edificados como sua morada / We are still in His Bosom and held by His kindness / E nós continuamos em Seu peito, abraçados por sua bondade / The objects of Love, We are holy and blameless / Objetos do Seu Amor, somos santos e irrepreensíveis /
No one can fault us, we’re pure in His sight / Ninguém pode nos acusar, somos puros aos Seu olhos / So worship Him now and rejoice / Agora, pois, adoremos a Ele e nos alegremos / In love – sweet love / Em amor, doce amor / In His love – sweet love / No Seu amor – doce amor…
(Bridge – Ponte) There’s a place that is free from the darkness of night / Existe um lugar que está livre das trevas e das noites / Cuz it sits above all things, it’s shrouded with Light / Pois é um lugar que fica acima de todas as coisas, envolto em Luz / Seated with Christ in the heavenly realms / Assentado com Cristo nos lugares celestiais /
His fullness we bear on this earth / Sua plenitude, nós a recebemos nessa terra / We’re a family that’s growing more deeply in Christ / Somos a família que mais se desenvolve e aprofunda-se em Cristo / We’re His children, the sons and the daughters of Light / Somos seu povo, seus filhos e filhas da Luz /
Here revealed now – displaying His wisdom and mercy / Aqui está a revelação: declarada através da Sua sabedoria e misericórdia / Yeah, we’re standing together with Christ as our Head / Sim, nos levantamos em Cristo como nosso Líder /
Freed from darkness it’s by His own Spirit we’re led / Libertos das trevas. E pelo Seu próprio Espírito somos conduzidos / For His purpose we live, and declare His full vict’ry / Por Seu propósito vivemos, e declaramos Sua vitória plena…
We just started studying Ephesians in our church’s Bible group on Sunday mornings. I would love to share one of the singers rendition of your song. Is that possible? If so, could you send me a link that would work on my iPad.
BTW, the ending of IN Christ, for some reason moves me deeply. There are a lot of things that the world offers us to be IN community with. But being IN Christ is way beyond anything the world offers or anything we could have hoped for. Being IN Christ is my hope for real life.
AWESOME!!!
Frank, I can’t stop listening to it. I especially love Rachel Smith’s version. It touches my heart. Thanks for sharing.
Love it…
If you want to learn to sing the spanish version of this song, here you can find the lyrics: 😀
Now I can sing it and it sounds right! well almost 😉
Thnx for getting the recordings Frank.
Music moves my spirit so powerfully and some as this song does more than others.
In a word WOW! 🙂
Loved it… in fact I’ve shared it with a couple of people.
Thanks for sharing these brother! An incredible song indeed! I am especially looking forward to the Waving Flag recordings that come!
All of them sound great… but I especially loved the Spanish version with all the different instruments and vocals … it sounded beautiful.
I listened to Rachel’s version several times back to back this morning, love every bit of this!
Fantastic !!!
Love it!!!
I love this song, but i wonder how it will sound in a reggae tune.
And I was thinking Metal Ballad — Seriously.
Wow!! Amazing song and great versions. This should go viral.
Beautiful song, with lovely lyrics, Frank. Thank you.
Hermano que belleza! Qué hermosa canción! Guau guau, guau, YA LA VOY A COMPARTIR CON TODOS MIS AMIGOS DE FACEBOOK. !!!!!! God is glorified is beautiful. Thanks
Bendiciones Miguel! En este link puedes ver la letra en español
I love it, brother!
¡Gloria a Dios!
We need a Portuguese version now 🙂
If anyone does a recording in that language, have them send it along. And yes, these can be downloaded also.
I really enjoyed these recordings. They are all great. The duet on the spanish version is awesome!
Wow! This song is awesome! I loved all the versions. The Spanish one was killer with the harmony and all the instruments. I’m sharing this!
great songtext to a great letter from Paul. After reading “from eternity to here” I learned the Ephesian letter by heart because I find it very important.