Never Further Than Thy Cross

Never further than Thy cross,

Never higher than Thy feet;

Here earth’s precious things seem dross;

Here earth’s bitter things grow sweet.

Here, O Christ, our sins we see,

Learn Thy love while gazing thus;

Sin, which laid the cross on Thee,

Love, which bore the cross for us.

Here we learn to serve and give,

And, rejoicing, self deny;

Here we gather love to live;

Here we gather faith to die.

Pressing onward as we can,

Still to this our hearts must tend;

Where our earliest hopes began,

There our last aspirings end.

Till amid the hosts of light,

We in Thee redeemed, complete,

Through Thy cross made pure and white,

Cast our crowns before Thy feet.

ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES (1828–1896)

THE COORDINATES are laid out in the first stanza: latitude, Jesus’ cross; longitude, Jesus’ feet. This is where we stay. Not that our lives are static. No, we “press onward as we can.” But we keep coming back to those familiar coordinates: Jesus’ cross, Jesus’ feet. This text reveals an intricacy of symmetry and light contrast. One scholar compares it to the sewing of a sampler—there’s sort of a light cross-stitch pattern, especially in the last two lines of each stanza.

Elizabeth Rundle Charles was the daughter of a member of Parliament, and her husband was a lawyer. She became a renowned writer, scholar, musician, and artist in her own right. For a time she was one of the most famous women in Britain. In this hymn, she points out that all we do is checked by what Christ does. This is where we belong, His devoted children, at Jesus’ cross, at Jesus’ feet.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14