Almost everyone is familiar with question and answer number one in the 1645 Westminster Shorter Catechism. “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” But not as many are familiar with the first question in the 1563 Heidelberg Catechism. The Westminster Catechism was written in London by English pastor/theologians, and has been part of the confessional standards in Presbyterian churches, especially in Scotland and America. The Heidelberg Catechism was written by German pastor/theologians in Heidelberg, Germany and has been part of the confessional standards of Reformed churches, especially in the Netherlands and in America.
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the “Three Forms of Unity” for Reformed churches with a Dutch heritage today. It was first published in 1563, about eighty years before the English Puritan Westminster Confession of Faith. The series 129 of questions and answers are divided into 53 sections, one for each Lord’s Day, so that pastors had this structure to use for their preaching through key doctrines each year, something that many American Reformed churches have done in their Sunday evening worship services. It continues today to be probably the most frequently read Reformed confessional text worldwide.
Frederick III, sovereign of the Electoral Palatinate from 1559 to 1576, was the first German prince who professed Reformed doctrine. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had granted religious toleration only for Lutherans under Lutheran princes. Frederick commissioned the composition of a new catechism for his realm, one that might settle differences between Lutherans and the Reformed. Like the English Westminster standards of the next century, each of its statements contained what came to be known as “proof-texts,” giving biblical support for its tenets. A synod in Heidelberg approved the catechism in 1563. In the Netherlands, it was approved by the great Synod of Dordt (1618-1619), which adopted it as one of the “Three Forms of Unity,” together with the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt.
The principal author of the Heidelberg Catechism was Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583), probably with the assistance of other faculty members at the University of Heidelberg. He was familiar with the catechisms of Martin Luther and John Calvin and others, and was certainly influenced by them. Born in Breslau, now a part of Poland, at the age of fifteen he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg, boarding for the next seven years with Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), who became Luther’s assistant and successor. He had the privilege of being immersed in Reformational doctrines as part of the earliest generation of Reformers.
Born with the last name Baer, like many students of those days he gave himself a Latin name, choosing one based on his German name, in his case borrowing from the Latin “ursus,” meaning bear. He subsequently studied under Reformation scholars at Strasbourg, Basel, Lausanne, and Geneva. He gained a reputation for being more Reformed than some of his contemporaries. In later years in Zurich, he became friends with Ulrich Zwingli’s successor Heinrich Bullinger, and also the Italian Reformer Peter Vermigli.
The Heidelberg Catechism is not only frequently recited. It has now become part of the church’s musical repertoire for singing, with the new composition, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.” This was published in 2020 as a new release from the Getty music team, and was premiered at their annual SING! GLOBAL conference. It has continued to “catch on” might even replace “In Christ Alone” as the Getty’s “signature song.” As with many of their recent songs, it is the result of a cooperative effort of a number of the Getty music team. In this case, “Christ Our Hope In Life and Death” has come from the combined work of Keith Getty, Matt Boswell, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, and Matt Papa.
This question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism is an excellent summary of the heart of the gospel. It contains all the essential truths about our dilemma and God’s solution, and does so in a warm, pastoral way. Because of this, many pastors use this at the beginning of funeral and memorial services as a corporate profession of faith. It’s typical that more non Christians come to these services at the time of the death of a family member or friend than who attend church at Christmas and Easter. What an excellent occasion for presenting the gospel, when everyone is reminded of the reality of death and the question of what lies beyond.
The Getty team has done a marvelous job of incorporating all of the essential ideas and even language of the catechism answer in this hymn. Here is the text from the Heidelberg Catechism. Compare it with the lyrics of the song further into this study.
Q: What is your only comfort in life and death?
A: That I with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ; who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me form all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.
At the head of this team are Keith and Kristyn Getty, unquestionably the dominant force in evangelical contemporary hymnody. For 25 years, they have been championing the writing and singing of doctrinal rich and musically interesting congregational song. They have been doing so through their concerts, recordings, publishing, and conferences. Chief among the latter have been their annual SING! Conferences where they have performed their own work, featured other singers and song writers, offered a great variety of seminars, provided huge bookstores, and encouraged people to bring the very best in hymnody to their congregations back home. Between in-person participants and on-line distant registrants, tens of thousands have participated each year.
Their most recent venture has been several years in the making. It is the compilation and publication of “The Sing! Hymnal.” It is scheduled to be released at their September, 2025 annual SING! GLOBAL conference. In a recent published interview, Keith Getty answered questions about this new song.
Q: What is the message of your new song, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”?
Keith: This song is a declaration that Christ’s resurrection guarantees our hope every moment of every day, even as we face death. The message is that no matter what a believer is going through, no matter how dire the circumstances may seem, the reality of the resurrection transforms every aspect of our lives. We can sing “hallelujah” even when the waves are crashing over our lives, because we know and trust the One who conquered death.
Q: What inspired the Getty Music writing team to write a song about hope? What do you think the church can gain from singing about hope and facing death?
Keith: One of our good friends, Matt Boswell, had a child who felt fearful at night because he was afraid of death. Matt wanted to sing a song of hope in Christ to help soothe his son’s fears. He got the idea to write a hymn based on the first article in the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563: “What is your only comfort in life and death?” At the same time, Jordan Kauflin and Matt Merker had brought me an idea for a song about hope, because they felt their congregations needed a stirring hymn of confidence about eternity. So, along with Matt Papa, the five of us joined the two ideas together and “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” was born.
We wrote this song because we are burdened for believers to think biblically about death. Unless Jesus returns first, death is the one experience all people can count on. And yet so few modern songs talk about death. We are convinced that facing the reality of death head on, with the hope that comes from trusting in Christ’s resurrection, is what leads to confidence and assurance in the Christian life. So we wrote this song for our churches and our children, because we want them to find their “only confidence” in the reality that Christ is risen.
In a brief video interview with the whole song-writing team, Jordan Kauflin shared that the song basically began with him, and was then shared with Matt Merker. They took their ideas to Keith, agreeing that “hope” was the main idea they wanted to communicate in the song. Keith developed the jubilant chorus before inviting Matt Papa and Matt Boswell to help finalize the whole to get it to the finished product we can sing today. It was apparently Matt Boswell who made the connection with the Heidelberg Catechism. That video also touches hearts with Jordan Kauflin’s announcement that his young son’s leukemia has returned after an initially successful round of treatments. Facing the future together with his son, with this song as testimony to which they can both pin their hope “in life and death,” beings to mind Paul’s powerful testimony in Philippians 1:21 (written from his first Roman imprisonment), “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Each stanza has a central, repeated phrase, which serves as a confession of faith for believers who have embraced these gospel truths. It is a phrase that answers the questions which we ask in each successive stanza as we sing our faith. In stanza 1, it is “Christ alone!” In stanza 2, it is “God is good!” And in stanza 3, it is “Christ, He lives!”
Stanza 1 poses a series of questions for which every human being today, across the world, and across the centuries, have faced. These ask if there is anything that can sustain us through life’s numerous challenges, give our lives purpose and meaning, and carry us all the way to death and beyond. The answer is: “Christ alone!” Notice that the melodic line repeatedly follows a generally downward curve.
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to Him belong
Who holds our days within His hand?
What comes, apart from His command
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ in which we stand
The refrain then moves the melodic line away from that downward curve in the stanza, to leap upward very suddenly in a jubilant shout of joy, confessing as our confidence that we have a hope that will stand up to all those challenges, because it’s hope in a Savior who stood up to life’s biggest challenge on our behalf, the challenge of overcoming the guilt, power, and penalty of sin.
Oh, sing hallelujah
Our hope springs eternal
Oh, sing hallelujah
Now and ever we confess
Christ, our hope in life and death
Stanza 2 asks a second series of questions, this time delving more deeply into the emotional, psychological, and especially spiritual challenges that every human being must answer. Our souls are troubled, not just by material and physical difficulties. Our bigger problems are those dealing with the soul, souls that are troubled by the guilt of sin and the alienation from God that threaten to abandon us to hopelessness in this life and beyond, But the goodness of God is the truth that brings lasting calm. Just as looking to Jesus kept Peter above the waves in that stormy Galilean Sea, so trusting in the shed blood of our Redeemer will keep us from destruction and carry us safely to heaven’s shore.
What truth can calm the troubled soul?
God is good, God is good
Where is His grace and goodness known?
In our great Redeemer’s blood
Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore? The rock of Christ. [refrain]
Stanza 3 asks a third set of questions that looks beyond this life to that which will come to every human being after the grave. Where will we be? What will we sing? What reward will be ours? Will sin and death truly be destroyed? Will we really be raised up to meet the Lord? Will we actually feast in endless joy? Yes! And it’s because Christ lives, and lives in us. He is described in Scripture as the firstfruits of the resurrection. And since He is the first, then we, the rest, will surely follow. So let’s Sing, Hallelujah!”
Unto the grave, what shall we sing?
“Christ, He lives; Christ, He lives!”
And what reward will Heaven bring?
Everlasting life with Him
There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore [refrain]
Songwriters: Matt Boswell / Matt Papa / Keith Getty / Jordan Kauflin / Matthew Sherman Merker
Christ Our Hope In Life And Death lyrics © 2020, Love Your Enemies Publishing, Getty Music Publishing, Matthew Merker Music, Jordan Kauflin Music, Messenger Hymns, Getty Music Hymns And Songs
Here is a link to the song when performed by the team that wrote it, joined with conference participants at the 2020 Getty SING! GLOBAL Conference.