The Incarnation

i .
IN the fulness of the ages
Now had come the holy tide,
For the payment of the ransom
Of the long-expectant bride,

Groaning in the house of bondage
Underneath the legal yoke
Of the precepts given by Moses,
When these words the Father spoke
' I, My Son, have in Thy likeness
And Thy image made Thy bride,
And in that resemblance worthy
To be ever at Thy side ;

' But in one respect unlike Thee,
For her nature is not Thine :
She is flesh — her nature human —
While Thy nature is divine.

' Perfect love demands a likeness
In the lovers it unites,
For the most complete resemblance
Most aboundeth in delights.

' Now the love and exultation
Of the bride would greatly grow
If she saw Thee in her likeness,
In the flesh, on earth below/

Then the Son the Father answered :
' Lo ! My will is ever Thine,
And My glory which I cherish
Is that Thine is also Mine.

' I am ready at Thy bidding,
For Thy will is My delight,
To make known at once Thy goodness
And Thy wisdom and Thy might.

' I will manifest Thy justice,
And proclaim throughout the earth
Thy supremacy and beauty
And the sweetness of Thy worth.

' I will go and seek My bride, then,
And upon Myself will take
All the poverty and sorrows
She now suffers for My sake.

' And that I true life may give her,
I will give for her My own,
So shall I present her, rescued,
From the pit, before Thy throne.'