Colossians 1:27

New King James Version

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

For Encouragement

How could a young man, raised in a home with no Gospel knowledge, hope for heaven? How could he receive biblical instructions when his parents were busy working from their pub in London, where Edward was born in 1797? The odds were heavily against young Edward Mote, an apprentice carpenter and cabinetmaker.

Edwards’ situation was the same everywhere for every person who has not had life in Christ Jesus. It does not matter what religion one professes, God gives access to His kingdom only through Jesus Christ, His Son (Jn. 3:16), who shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross to take away the sin of the world (1:29, 36; Rom. 5:9). As Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6).

The exclusivity of Jesus’ claim offends people, but the offense can’t get anyone around it. So, there was no hope of heaven for Edward Mote.  

Yet, the transformative power of the Gospel brought him that hope when he got saved in a service at the Tottenham Court Road Chapel. Through the passionate preaching of John Hyatt, the Holy Spirit convicted him of his sinfulness and need for Christ. Edward embraced Christ and found peace with God (Rom. 5:1), as well as the promise of eternal life (6:23; Titus 3:7).

The Old Testament gave this hope only to Jews (Rom. 2:7), but in Christ, God has made the mystery of the church known to New Testament believers as well. God, through Christ, has made the two people, Jews and Gentiles, one in His body (Eph. 2:14-16). Now, we Gentiles have life in Him (8), and eternal covenant in His blood (Lk. 22:20). We who had no hope of heaven’s glory (Eph. 2:13) have received this hope in Christ (Col. 1:27).

Edward grew in his faith and fell in love with the hymns through which he praised God as the expression of his gratitude. His passion for the hymns inspired his desire to become a hymn writer.

One morning, as he walked to work in 1834, the chorus of the hymn we all love, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,” came to his mind, inspired by the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matt. 7:24-27). Before the day ended, Edward had written four verses of the hymn. The lyrics brought comfort to an ailing wife of a preacher friend, so he added two more verses and printed one thousand copies for distribution among friends. The young man who had no hope for heaven had found it in Christ. He set his hope on nothing else but Jesus Christ, the solid Rock. He could now write, “All other ground is sinking sand.”

Edward’s story testifies to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and expresses the unshakable hope Christians have in Him for future glory. We celebrate this hope that cannot fail with him and invite all who haven’t turned their life to Christ for salvation to do so without hesitation (Jn. 1:12, 13; Rom. 10:9-10, 13). All other ground is sinking sand. Amen.

Pray with Me

Father, thank you for life in Christ Jesus, your worthy Son, who became our substitute on Calvary and died for our sins. You made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with you through Him. Thank you, that Jesus is the only Mediator between you and all humanity. We who have believed praise you, and we humbly ask that you receive those who turn to you in repentance now for salvation, in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

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The Solid Rock: The Hymn

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness veils His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

His oath His covenant His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay

When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

Edward Mote (1797-1874)