Jesus Christ, Our Edelweiss

When I woke this morning, the song “Edelweiss” was playing in my mind, so I searched the internet for the lyrics and for the meaning of “Edelweiss.”

 

I learned that the word “Edelweiss” literally translates to 'noble white'. And noble means honorable, moral, decent, and upright. And white means clean, pure, unblemished, and dirt-free.

 

So, following this meaning, along with the lyrics (below), it would be like saying that every morning I am greeted by what is honorable, moral, upright, pure, and unblemished, which is Jesus Christ and his word. And that is true.

 

The song goes on to talk about blossoms of snow, for Edelweiss is also a flower, and it speaks of these blossoms blooming and growing forever. So, this is like saying, “May what is honorable, moral, pure, decent, and upright bloom (flourish, prosper) and grow (develop, mature) forever.” Amen!

 

And then the song concludes by saying, “Bless my homeland forever.”

 

And so, I considered what this could mean symbolically, along this same line of thinking, and I realized that for the Jews of the Old Covenant their homeland was the “Promised Land,” and for us our “Promised Land” is our inheritance in God’s eternal kingdom, which is not of this earth.

 

So, praise God and give glory to God for our salvation from sin, and for him purifying our hearts and making us clean. And praise him for the inheritance he promised to all those who walk with him in white, who are walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 8:1-17).

 

Isaiah 53:1-3 ESV

 

“Who has believed what he has heard from us?

    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

    and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

    and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

 

Amen! Jesus Christ is our “Edelweiss.” He is all that is noble and pure and white and clean. He is completely spotless and without blemish, which is why he was able to be our sacrificial Lamb on the cross to die for our sins. And when we believe in him, we are to be like him, by the grace of God.

 

May his divine character grow and develop within all of us who believe on him so that we are becoming like him in all that we do and are and say and think. May we live righteously, as he is righteous, with purity of heart and mind, and may we not live to please our sinful flesh.

 

May he be the flower that greets us each morning. May he be who and what is on our minds when we arise in the morning, and throughout the day, and as we are going to sleep at night. May we worship and adore him and sing praises to him and praise him for our eternal inheritance.

 

For, not everyone sees Jesus Christ in this light. When he walked the earth, he was despised and rejected by many people (the majority). They did not see his beauty, because his beauty was not of the flesh but of the Spirit. It was inward, not outward (not fleshly).

 

They were of the world, but he was not of the world, so they didn’t get him. They were thinking with earthly minds, and they had their focus on the things of this life, whereas his focus was on what is eternal and of God, and so they missed it, as many are missing it today.

 

Far too many people, including many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are focused on what is outward and on what is of this world, and they are missing what all God has for them which is not of this world, but which is of our heavenly kingdom. They are missing out on their “Edelweiss.”

 

Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV

 

“Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.”

 

When Jesus Christ, God the Son, was crucified on that cross, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died, our sins died with him. And this was so that we could now, by faith in him, die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (2 Co 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23).

 

So, when we come to him in faith, if our faith is genuine, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Sin no longer has mastery over our lives, for Jesus set us free! (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9)

 

At one time we all like sheep went astray. For, all have sinned and all have come up short in our own flesh of attaining God’s divine approval or his righteousness. We can do nothing in our flesh to be approved by God or to earn or to deserve our own salvation.

 

But, because of what Jesus did for us in dying on that cross for our sins, by faith in him we can be delivered from our bondage (slavery, addiction) to sin so that we can now, by God’s Spirit, live righteously and walk in purity of devotion to our Lord Jesus. All glory to God!

 

May Jesus Christ now be our “Edelweiss,” and may he be the one who greets us each morning, and may we be happy to have him and his purity and uprightness right there in our faces each day encouraging us to live righteously and in uprightness and godliness (Tit 2:11-14).

 

Edelweiss

 

By Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

 

Edelweiss, Edelweiss

Every morning you greet me

Small and white clean and bright

You look happy to meet me

 

Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow

Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss, Edelweiss

Bless my homeland forever

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVYrCE9Dv8Q

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