Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands

Christ Je­sus lay in death’s strong bands

For our of­fens­es given;

But now at God’s right hand He stands

And brings us life from Heav­en.

Wherefore let us joy­ful be

And sing to God right thank­ful­ly

Loud songs of Al­le­lu­ia! Al­le­lu­ia!

No son of man could con­quer death

Such mis­chief sin had wrought us

For in­no­cence dwelt not on earth

And there­fore death had brought us

Into thrall­dom from of old

And ev­er grew more strong and bold

And kept us in his bond­age. Al­le­lu­ia!

But Je­sus Christ

God’s on­ly Son

To our low state des­cend­ed

The cause of death He has un­done

His pow­er for­ev­er end­ed

Ruined all his right and claim

And left him no­thing but the name

His sting is lost for­ev­er. Al­le­lu­ia!

It was a strange and dread­ful strife

When life and death con­tend­ed;

The vic­to­ry re­mained with life;

The reign of death was end­ed.

Stripped of pow­er

no more it reigns

An emp­ty form alone re­mains

Death’s sting is lost for­ev­er! Al­le­lu­ia!

Here the true Pas­chal Lamb we see

Whom God so free­ly gave us;

He died on the ac­curs­èd tree—

So strong His love!—to save us.

See

His blood doth mark our door;

Faith points to it

death pass­es ov­er

And Sa­tan can­not harm us. Al­le­lu­ia!

So let us keep the fes­tiv­al

Where to the Lord in­vites us;

Christ is Him­self the joy of all

The sun that warms and lights us.

By His grace He doth im­part

Eternal sun­shine to the heart;

The night of sin is end­ed! Al­le­lu­ia!

Then let us feast this East­er day

On the true bread of Heav­en;

The Word of grace hath purged away

The old and wick­ed leaven.

Christ alone our souls will feed;

He is our meat and drink in­deed;

Faith lives up­on no other! Al­le­lu­ia!