The Conclusion Ends in Praise

[copyright 2026 JP Brown] The arc and anchors of the song are 1) futility & judgment of Eccl. 2) foretelling redemption and indwelling of Isaiah 53/Ezekiel 36/Jeremiah 31 3) God’s son came in human flesh John 1, Phil 2 4) Satisfying the Divine Judgement in our place Eph 5:2, Heb 9:11-12,15,22-28 5) Freedom from the tyranny of sin, freed to live under God’s direction Rom 8;21,35-39, Eph 5:8, 1 Pt 2:9, Col 1:13-14, Rom 6 6) benediction Jude 24-25, Eph 3:14-21 (key=v20), Rom 16:25-27 [Verse 1 — Futility, sorrow, despair, echoing The Conclusion] I kept the conclusion, I feared and obeyed, but the dust of the wise looks the same as the fool's. Every hidden thing waits for the day of the Judge, and my best years still felt like they carried no weight. What profit is left for a man and his toil, when the sun keeps on rising on nothing made new? [Verse 2 — Foretelling, mysterious] But long before I was dust and returning to dust, a voice in the prophets was speaking a name — a child would be born, and the government His, a servant would carry the weight of our shame. A new heart was promised where stone used to be, a law no longer written on tablets of rock, but carved in the chambers of flesh and of blood — a covenant coming that death couldn't lock. [Verse 3 — Incarnation, a new beginning holding much hope] The Word who was with God, who was God from the start, took on flesh and blood and moved into the dark; emptied Himself, took the form of a slave, was found as a man, and walked toward the grave — not reaching for status, not grasping at throne, but low, and obedient, all the way down. [Pre-chorus — the turn] So let your mind be turned, not just to your Maker, but to the Maker who was coming for you — before the evil days, before "no pleasure," He was already writing the ending anew. [Chorus — Satisfying the Judgment, justice meets failure and justice wins] This is the conclusion when all has been done: not fear alone, but the blood of the Son. He gave Himself up, a fragrant offering, once for all, the better sacrifice bring. For every hidden thing has been judged at the cross, the record is settled, and nothing is lost — not by goats, not by bulls, but eternal blood, He entered the Holiest Place once for all. [Bridge, climax of a new horizon of hope and light] No longer slaves to the sin that once ruled, no longer bound to the dark we came from; He rescued us out, He brought us on home, transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son. Once we were darkness, now we are light, a people made His, called out of the night, to live not for self but for the One who set free — dead to the old, alive now in Him. [Final Chorus, resolution of the redemption] This is the conclusion when all has been done: not fear alone, but the blood of the Son. He gave Himself up, a fragrant offering, once for all, the better sacrifice bring. For every hidden thing has been judged at the cross, the record is settled, and nothing is lost — not by goats, not by bulls, but eternal blood, He entered the Holiest Place once for all. [Outro — Benediction] Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, to present you with joy, without blemish, before His throne — to the only God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, power and dominion, before all time, and now, and forever. Amen. Able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us — to Him be glory in the church, in Christ Jesus, to all generations, forever and ever. That's the whole story: not a conclusion that ends in dust, but a conclusion that ends in praise. The mystery hidden is now made known — to the only wise God, be glory forever, through Jesus Christ. Amen.