re and work of God's kingdom, the
following is one of the most favored.

Founded our Lord has upon earth a realm of the Spirit
Wherein He fosters a people restored by His merit.
It shall remain
People its glory attain,
They shall the kingdom inherit.

Forward like light of the morning its message is speeding,
Millions receive and proclaim it with gladness exceeding
For with His word
God doth His Spirit accord,
Raising all barriers impeding.

Jesus, our Savior, with God in the highest residing,
And by the Spirit the wants of Thy people providing,
Be Thou our life,
Shield and defender in strife,
Always among us abiding.

Then shall Thy people as Lord of the nations restore Thee,
Even by us shall a pathway be straightened before Thee
Till everywhere,
Bending in worship and prayer,
All shall as Savior adore Thee.

The kingdom of God is the most wonderful thing on earth.

Most wonderful of all things is
The kingdom Jesus founded.
Its glory, treasure, peace and bliss
No tongue has fully sounded.

Invisible as mind and soul,
And yet of light the fountain,
It sheds its light from pole to pole
Like beacons from a mountain.

Its secret is the word of God,
Which works what it proposes,
Which lowers mountains high and broad
And clothes the wastes with roses.

Though foes against the kingdom rage
With hatred and derision,
God spreads its reign from age to age,
And brings it to fruition.

Its glory rises like a morn
When waves at sunrise glitter,
Or as in June the golden corn
While birds above it twitter.

It is the glory of the King
Who bore affliction solely
That he the crown of life might bring
To sinners poor and lowly.

And when His advent comes to pass,
The Christian's strife is ended,
What now we see as in a glass
Shall then be comprehended.

Then shall the kingdom bright appear
In glory true and vernal,
And usher in the golden year
Of peace and joy eternal.

But the kingdom of God here on earth is represented by the Christian
church, wherein Christ works by the Spirit through His word and
sacraments. Of Grundtvig's many splendid hymns of the church, the
following, in the translation of Pastor Carl Doving, has become widely
known in