Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross...Forever

I've been using Nancy Guthrie's new book, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, to help me preach the gospel to heart.

The title of this book has me singing the old hymn by Fanny Crosby that I haven't sung in a long time.

However, I'm troubled by some of the words of this popular old hymn.

I like this line:
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;

Yes, we will glory in the Cross forever!

I don't like this line:
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

What? Does that not contradict the other line?
What does "till" mean? Let the cross be my glory "until" I don't need the Cross anymore?
The implication of "till" is that there will come a point when the Cross is no longer my glory.
So, does "ever" in the first line mean "while I'm still alive on this earth"?

Friends, we won't even know what it means to really glory in the Cross until we find rest beyond the river. Heaven will be the realization of Galatians 6:14. There will be only one boast reverberating through the halls of Heaven:

"Worthy are you (Lamb of God)...for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation..." -Rev. 5:9

In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that we don't belong there.
In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that all this was purchased for us by the blood of Christ.
In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that everyone else there (from all nations) is clothed in the garments given to them by Christ.
In Heaven, there will be a deep sense of gratitude for what Christ accomplished on the Cross.
In Heaven, there will be much glorying in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

I'm reminded of these quotes by Jim Elliff:
“One is taken aback by the emphasis on the cross in Revelation. Heaven does not “get over” the cross, as if there are better things to think about…Heaven is not only Christocentric, it is cruci-centric, and quite blaring about it."

“When we are prone to think of the cross in a diminutive way, forgetting its grandeur, its accomplishment, its power, then remember what the angels think of it all and what we will see and sing at a future date when things are clearer.”

So, sing this hymn; just sing it with an understanding that "till" should actually be "especially when."

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.