"In Christ Alone" Story of the Song

"In Christ Alone," The story of the song
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townsend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Of this modern hymn, the composer, Keith Getty states:

Of all the hymns we have written, this hymn is the most popular wherever we go. Ironically, it is the first hymn we ever penned together

I had a strong very Irish melody that I could imagine a large crowd singing. I wanted it to become a hymn that would declare the whole life of Christ and what it meant. Something that could teach people the foundations of what we believed in Christ, the God who changed all of history and who wants a relationship with each us.

Stuart penned a quite incredible lyric, which the two of us edited, developed and rewrote for a couple of weeks until it became "In Christ Alone".

As well as being a creedal song, it fires people with hope that here is the God who even death cannot hold, "No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me". 

Getty goes on to quote a particular moving story written in a letter he and Townsend had received from a soldier at war. He quotes: 

I wanted to share a song that has been a real inspiration to me. It is a new hymn written, I believe, a year or two ago but it has the feel of the traditional hymns. I have listened to it almost every night and even tend to sing/reflect on its words on my trips across... It has been an inspiration to me because in each of it verses it reminds me of fundamental principles.

It moves immediately to Christ's burden for those who scorned him. Boy, can I relate. We are losing soldiers here everyday to people that we are trying to help. To know that Christ purposefully gave his life for us helps me to understand that he knows that soldiers are dying and that he is in control.

Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live

No matter how many times I hear that verse, I get chills up my spine. The picture of Christ standing in victory, the image of sin's grip being broken and the promise that I am his and knowing that he in fact is mine brings him incredibly close to me.

As I drive down the highway with my M-16 pointed out the window and my 9MM pistol tucked in my flak jacket pocket. I can tell you that I feel more secure in claiming the promise "No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home" than I do with that rifle and pistol.

Debra Atkins of “Cross.com” writes in 2004: 

Since its initial creation . . . several versions of “In Christ Alone” have been recorded by artists around the world, and Townsend admits to having a few favorites. “I've heard some wonderful recordings of it. “The Newsboys’ version is really fresh and exciting, and the one done by Alan Asbury is superb,” Townsend says. “But the one that always moves me most is when we recorded it with a congregation of 8,000 at the Stoneleigh Bible Week in England a couple of years ago [2002]. When we finish the third verse, about the resurrection of Christ, there’s an extraordinary burst of praise from the congregation that at the time was overwhelming, and listening back still sends a shiver down my spine.”

Neither Townsend or Getty give us the scriptural text for this hymn, but may I suggest that in the prologue to 1 Timothy, the Apostle, Paul writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. . .” Paul, here by implication means to say that Jesus Christ is not only our hope but He is our “one and only” hope, reminding us of that most often quoted verse, John 3:16, wherein the “Beloved Apostle,” John  says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. NIV.

Paul goes on to say in Romans 5:5, “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” When we take Jesus as our one and only hope, we cannot be disappointed. Paul, again, in Romans says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Roman 8:38,39.

A lovely setting of “In Christ Alone” has been recorded by Natalie Grant. Note the solitary Irish flute and fiddle, reminiscent of the old Gaelic feel of the tune referenced by Townsend.  See the video at the following: http://www.gettymusic.com/hymns-inchristalone.aspx.

The text follows:

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.