1  Lo, the central thought of God

    Is that He be one with man;

    He to man is everything

    That He might fulfill His plan.

 2  Earthen vessel man was made —

    Body, soul, and spirit too,

    God as life that he may take

    And with Him have oneness true.

 3  By the flow of life divine,

    Man becomes a precious stone

    Fit for building God's abode,

    That His glory might be known.

 4  'Tis the city God hath built,

    'Tis the dwelling God requires,

    'Tis the new Jerusalem

    Which fulfills His heart's desires.

 5  'Tis the building of the saints,

    'Tis the blend of God and man,

    Purposed by the Father's will

    Long before the world began.

 6  In its center, as its pow'r,

    Is the throne of Christ and God,

    Whence doth flow the stream of life

    As the Spirit's living flood.

 7  Christ, the tree of life, is there

    In the flowing of the stream,

    Yielding fruit of life divine

    As the food of life supreme.

 8  God in Christ, the glorious light,

    Thru the city brightly shines,

    Scattering all the deathly night

    With its light of life divine.

 9  God in man and man in God

    Mutual dwelling thus possess;

    God the content is to man,

    And the man doth God express.