October 20, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Never Been a Moment” by Micah Tyler which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
Today’s song is a subjective reflection on the goodness of God which might be sung honestly by a Christian applying solid theology to the lyrics of this song. It is not an evangelistic song, it doesn’t share the Gospel, and it really doesn’t do much in the way of encouraging other believers, it is purely subjective and introspective. Let’s give it a listen and then look through the lyrics.
I’ve been sinner
I’ve been a saint
A little bit of both every single day
I’ve been lost
But somehow I’ve been found
There’s been some pain
Been some regret
Been some moments
I’ll never forget
But when I look back
From where I’m standing now
There’s never been a moment
I was not held inside Your arms
There’s never been a day when You were not who You say You are
Yours forever, it don’t matter
What I’m walking through
‘Cause no matter where I’m going
There’s never been a moment That I was not loved by You
You’ve been the rock
You’ve been the peace
Always showing Your good heart to me
My days are marked by grace I don’t deserve
You’ve been the price I could never pay
You’ve been the light that has led the way
No matter where I am, I am sure
So where could I go that I could wander from Your sight
Where could I run and never leave behind
Your all consuming
Heart pursuing
Grace extending
Never ending love
Your love
There’s never been a moment, no
Publishing: Fair Trade Global Songs (BMI) (admin. by Music Services, Inc.); Meaux Jeaux Music / Da Bears Da Bears Da Bears (SESAC) (admin by CapitolCMGPublishing.com) Writer(s): Micah Tyler; Jeff Pardo
Discussion
Okay, so in this song the target audience is presumably God. The song as a whole is targeting the Christian who can relate to a similar “experience of God” as the singer. Experiences are not objective, so they are a horrible place from which to build theology. That which is not Biblical, is not theological. As I said in the intro, there is a specific context in which a person might honestly sing this song reflecting on the goodness of God in a way that affirms scripture. However, that context is narrow and not without its problems.
Verse 1. Scripture teaches us that as Christians saved by Grace, we are simultaneously sinner and saints, not merely alternating between the two. As long as we live in these corrupted bodies of flesh, we are sinners and we sin from our hearts. But, by the Grace of God through faith, we are also saints, forgiven of our sin because of what Christ has done for us in His death and resurrection.
Romans 7:22-25 (ESV) For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
There’s a way of limiting the meaning of the opening lines of this song to fit into this Scriptural doctrine, but the listener has to do it.
The next couple of lines are playing coy with what should be an appeal to the Gospel and this frustrates me. I’ve been lost but somehow I’ve been found. This wouldn’t be a problem if the truth of the Gospel were more clearly proclaimed in the lyric of the song somewhere. Christ “finds” us, He draws us in, He saves us. He is the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to rescue the one that is lost (John 10:11-18; Luke 15:1-7). We are all that one that is lost. He came to rescue us, to pick us up, throw us onto His shoulders and carry us home. We were born lost due to Adam’s sin.
The rest of the verse needs to be translated into “sin”. These lines invoke modern-day evangelical speak intended to pad the punch of the Law, to soften the conviction of sin. These days you rarely hear of Sin being our primary problem; rather, you’ll hear people go on and on about “mistakes”, “regrets”, and “poor choices”. A penitent believer will see through this rhetoric as talking around the depth of our sin and depravity if looking at it through the Law of God. However, the flesh clings to the softer tones of “oopsies” and ever seek to self-justify. This first verse is very self-centered. Considering that we had an opportunity to point to the Gospel, it didn’t happen.
Chorus. The first couple of lines are truish of the Believer, if the perspective being drawn is that of God (being outside of time and space) knew His sheep from before the creation of the world, and redeemed us from all eternity for all eternity (Hebrews 10; Revelation 13:1-8). This is heady stuff and can be expounded upon Biblically, but it also can be taken in weird directions without solid theology supporting the thoughts. Without invoking the mystery of God’s timelessness, we might be led to think of this in a way that down-plays or even overlooks the fact that we are born dead in sins and trespasses and hostile to God. For those who grew up in Christian teaching that affirms paedobaptism, this intro to the chorus might also ring true as a reminder of what God accomplished for them in the waters of Baptism. For those of you who reject sacramental Baptism, this corrective measure will not aid you.
The third line, There’s never been a day when You were not who You say You are, is objectively true.
Hebrews 13:7-9 (ESV) Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
The chorus, though, comes right back to “me”. So the eternal quality of the Love of God ends up being invoked to say how special I am… which, at least for me, distracts from Praising God for Who He Is. Guard your hearts against this theology of glory.
John 3:16-18 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
I bring this verse up to serve as a reminder of the Message of the Gospel. It isn’t merely that God loves you; it is that He loved you despite your total wretchedness, He died in your place taking the punishment you deserve, and rising again on the Third day to forgive you of your sin, in His Name. He paid the price you couldn’t pay, to give you a forgiveness you don’t deserve. That’s the message of the Gospel. Thankfully, the next verse of the song steers a little closer to this understanding of the Gospel.
Verse 2. Closer, but the message is being conveyed subjectively, as if the singer is having a special experience or revelation of God’s grace, peace, and love. I don’t think that’s the singer’s intent, but that’s how the song reads. It’s not a song that says, “hey, this is Truth from God’s Word”; rather, it is a song that says “hey, I now see that this is how God’s been to me”. That’s a stylistic choice that seeks to carve out a “personal relationship” of Christianity in a culture that tries so hard to make all “truths” subjective. Still there are gems in this verse that are worth acknowledging: My days are marked by grace I don’t deserve You’ve been the price I could never pay (though I’d rather it say “You paid”, because I’m not sure what going on theologically behind the “you’ve been the price”).
Adam and Eve deserved instant death for their sin in the Garden (Genesis 3). God extended His Grace to them and to all of us who were born to them.
Verse 3. This verse is a collection of descriptors of the Greatness of the Love of God. It’s not the Gospel, but it is good news and nothing that is said here is wrong.
1 John 4:8-11 (ESV) Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Conclusion
This song doesn’t clearly present the Gospel, though it does proclaim the greatness of God’s Love. There is a narrow context where this song can be a helpful reminder of the Love of God for us, but it requires a lot of solid theology on the part of the listener/singer. With its best construction, it is still a bit self-centered rather than Christ centered. It’s not a song for the unbeliever, there is really no Law and the Gospel is implied and a bit muddled (which generally happens when you try to present Gospel without the Law). Now, for a Christian who is struggling with the gravity of their sin already, being crushed by the weight of condemnation from a different source, then this song might provide some comfort… but please share the clear Gospel of Jesus Christ to just such an individual. This song doesn’t go the full distance from despair to repentance and absolution.
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 (ESV) Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
October 04, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “One True God” by Steven Curtis Chapman which currently sits at #9 on the K-Love top 10 Songs.
It is such a pleasure to find a song on a top 10 CCM chart that we can place in the “Approved” category. This song does a great job of filling a void in current popular CCM radio, that being the clear declaration of the Deity of Jesus, God the Son. I wish the lyric addressed repentance and the forgiveness of sin, but I’m so grateful for the clear proclamation of Jesus as God that I just didn’t feel right leaving it in the “middle ground”. Let’s listen to the song and then work through its lyrics.
One voice in the dark
A song that lights up the stars
One breath that gives life
One sovereign in power
Who speaks with thunder and fire
One Lord, one King
There is no other that can compare to You
You are
The One alone in greatness
The One who never changes
Jesus, You are
The One who rose in power
The One who reigns forever
Jesus, the One true God
One man on a cross
One light of the world
One Name, one Word
One Way to be saved
One Lamb that was slain
One Love above all
There is no other that can compare to You
You are
The One alone in greatness
The One who never changes
Jesus, You are
The One who rose in power
The One who reigns forever
Jesus, You’re the One true God
You’re the One true God
We have seen the glory of
The One and only Son of God
Yes, we have seen the glory
The One and only Son of God
It’s so wonderful to have a CCM song so clearly proclaim the Deity of Jesus.
John 1:1-18 (ESV) | The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as awitness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Forthe law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
John 14:8-9 (ESV)
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
This song is a great example of Praising the Name of Jesus. It does it so wonderfully and without a single instance of the phrase “sing Your praises”. So, without singing about singing His praises, the song simply sings His praises. I love that.
Now, normally what I’m looking for in the lyrics of these songs in determining its disposition (approved, disapproved, middle-ground) is a clear articulation of the Gospel. This one doesn’t quite reach that directly, though it does indirectly in the lines One Way to be saved, One Lamb that was slain. The missing element in this song is the call to repentance and the forgiveness of sin. The writers of this song all tend to push a revivalist (also known as Finneyism) version of the Gospel, one that relies on an act of human will to “invite Jesus into their hearts” or “make a decision for Jesus” or “dedicate your life to Jesus”… none of which is taught in Scripture. The particularly frustrating thing here is that given the synergism in their theology, since they treat repentance as an act of their will one might think it would be readily included in CCM. It isn’t. Sin is a dirty word in CCM. But if you aren’t willing to address sin, you cannot share the comfort of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sin by the Blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross for you.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (ESV) | The Full Assurance of Faith
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The song does rightly proclaim Jesus as LORD and Savior. When we understand that He is the Word made flesh, we know that to see Him we look to His Word, not our own emotions or acts of the will. It is Christ who saves us, He draws us, He grants us saving Faith according to His Word. He who promised is faithful, indeed. Alleluia!
Conclusion
This is probably the best song on either of the CCM Top charts right now. I pray we see more songs clearly proclaiming Christ and Him crucified for our sin… the Gospel of forgiveness, mercy, and Grace. Preach the Word, call all men to repent and be forgiven in Jesus’ Name.
2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
September 27, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Mended” by Matthew West which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
This song is written as a sort of love song from God to the Christian. As such, Matthew West is speaking in the place of God to offer encouragement to the listener. I generally advise against this approach because it leaves room to speak in God’s Name what He hasn’t spoken (runs the risk of blasphemy). There are some themes in this song that I have no doubt many find personally engouraging and even precious. Please understand that we understand there are specific hurts that need to be addressed, but we need to address them Biblically. I’m not discrediting the hurts that this song is targeting. We all have real hurts. Rather than having someone like Matthew West put words in God’s mouth, we really should be pointed to God’s Word and His Promises. Let’s watch the lyric video and then dive into the lyrics.
MatthewWestVEVO (Lyric Video)
Another hyper-individualistic music video. One hurting person struggling alone, the singer (also alone) offering words of comfort to the hurting person. Christianity isn’t an individualistic thing. Christians are not individuals unto themselves; rather, we are members of the Body of Christ. Interconnected and corporately engaged as the Bride of Christ. We are the sheep, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. A sheep on its own is lost. Wolves seek to islate and seperate a lamb from the flock, so that they can devour it in solitude without having to deal with the Shepherd. We’ll deal with the lyrics now, but I wanted to address what seems to be a growing trend. A spirituality that marginalizes the Body of Christ and emphasizes the individual experience leads into the snare of mysticism. This is a dangerous trend in American Evangelicalism.
How many times can one heart break?
It was never supposed to be this way
Look in the mirror, but you find someone
You never thought you’d be
Oh, but I can still recognize
The one I love in your tear stained eyes
I know you might not see it now
So lift your eyes to me
When you see broken beyond repair
I see healing beyond belief
When you see too far gone
I see one step away from home
You see nothing but damaged goods
I see something good in the making
I’m not finished yet
When you see wounded, I see mended
You see your worst mistake
But I see the price I paid
There’s nothing you could ever do
To lose what grace has won
So hold on, it’s not the end
This is where love’s work begins
I’m making all things new
And I will make a miracle of you
I see my child, My beloved
The new creation you’re becoming
You see the scars from when you fell
But I see the stories they will tell
You see worthless, but I see priceless
You see pain, but I see a purpose
You see unworthy, undeserving
But I see you through eyes of mercy
The song is presented in a parental tone like a song of encouragement. I think the first time I listened to the song I was hoping the singer was going to be in the role of parent, big brother, or even a Pastor. But the final line in some of the stanzas remove that understanding of it, lines like “So lift your eyes to me” and “I will make a miracle of you”. So, the singer is speaking in the place of God. The listener is someone who is hurting. No mention of repentance, faith, just hurting and what society would call a “broken self image”. Is the hurt real? Yes. Do Christians still suffer from broken self image? Yes. Christians still struggle with sin and its consequences. We still live in a broken world and walk in broken flesh. So whether the person being sung to (the woman in the video) is a believer or an unbeliever the answer to the struggle being presented is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, repentance and the forgiveness of sins. For the Christian, it becomes ever so important to emphasize “your sins are forgiven”. When Satan cannot prevent the Gospel from being preached to an individual, he shifts into full accuser mode, lying to the believer prompting and prodding him to believe that now its up to the believer to maintain his own salvation. But that is not how the enemy is conquered. Christ has already defeated sin, death and the devil.
Revelation 12:10-11 (ESV) And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, forthey loved not their lives even unto death.
The word of their testimony is not a testiment of themselves or who they’ve become; rather, it is the word of their testimony of who Christ Is.
Verse 1
The first four lines are odd as far as who is the one voicing these thoughts. Is the singer anticipating the questions in the audience’s mind? We’ll suspend this question a bit for the sake of artistry. What’s the dilemma being presented? Disappointment. We could assume “failure” or “misfortune”, but the wording is intentionally vague, because the point of this lyric is to apply to as broad a spectrum of emotional hurting as possible. Right or wrong, at this point we can only put our finger on disappointment in what the listener sees in the mirror, because it doesn’t match what the listener thought “should be”. The next four lines facilitate the turn from the problem to the proposed solution without offering any clarity. The song is banking on the listener finding their own struggle in this first verse and then rightly coopting the solution for themselves. Is it a sin to turn out differently from what you thought you’d be? Not necessarily. In some cases, the sin could be in what you’ve become… or the sin could be in the desire of being something you aren’t. The song is vague and completely wide open for any interpretation… because the focal point isn’t a knowlege of sin but the emotion of disappointment.
Chorus
Well, this chorus could almost be a Joel Osteen lecture set to music. Rather than offering up the objective truth of God’s Word, the song engages in reshaping what we “see”. This is supposed to be voicing from God’s perspective. The problem is it’s still speaking of things only as potential truths. God’s Word isn’t written in potentials. God has revealed Himself in Scripture, and His Promises are True. Our forgiveness is assured in Christ Jesus. Our resurrection is also assured in Christ Jesus. What is this song offering as the solution to the problem? An unseen progression of mending and goodness. It’s a very “positive” declaration of “you’re looking at it the wrong way”. Just change how you look at it, how you think about it, and you’ll see. Seriously, this is very Joel Osteen here.
Verse 2
At least here we’re getting close to the idea of sin. Sin is the central problem to all of this temporal life. All of it. Sin. Not mistakes, sin. Our flesh is sinful. Our hearts are sinful. The solution isn’t some hidden potential within us… the solution is Christ and His Blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sin. The song that won’t name sin, cannot offer forgiveness. We get that here, too. Still a perception only sort of problem here. You see it one way, but God sees it another way, so it’s all good, you’ll see… someday. The last four lines of this verse are quite bold. This is where love’s work begins? In this emotion? No. Constantly moving the goal posts is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t encourage Christians to keep looking for the moment they feel saved, we point them back to the It is Finished when Christ secured their salvation.
Romans 6:1-14 (ESV) | Dead to Sin, Alive to God
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Notice how Paul isn’t talking about your baptism or your Salvation in “potential” terms; rather, he’s working forward from what God has already done for you. This is what it means to preach the Gospel to believers. To remind them of what God has already done for them, that He has already paid the penalty, forgiven you of sin, and sealed you in His Righteousness. We do look forward to the Last Day, not for our own earthly perfection, but for the Day of the Resurrection.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Instead of constantly looking for an indication you are saved, or an internal aknowledgement that you’ve been mended, trust in the Work Christ has done to save you.
Now, to the hurting, the discouraged, the disappointed, and even the depressed… place your hope and trust in Christ Jesus, who laid down His life for you, for the forgiveness of your sin, so that He can clothe you in His Righteosness. So that by His Grace, through Faith, God no longer sees your unrightousness… He sees His Son, Jesus Christ. He’s not relying on your “potential”, He sees Christ.
Isaiah 61:10 (ESV)
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV)
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
We, the Church, the corporate Body of Christ, are His Bride. He washes us, cleanses us, sanctifies us, clothes us, and covers us in Salvation and Righteousness, to present us to Himself holy and without blemish. This is made objectively clear in God’s Written Word, despite what you feel. When your feelings betray you, hold onto the objective Word of God.
Conclusion
This song is trying to do a good thing, but going about it sloppily. The hurting and the lowly in spirit need to be comforted. But we need to do so in Truth and we need to point them to God’s Word. It’s dangerous to start creatively speaking in God’s place. I disapprove of the approach and focus of this song, but not the goal. The goal was to offer encouragement to the broken and the weary. There is hope and comfort for all, and it isn’t something that has to be imagined, preach the Gospel to the believers, too. We need to hear that our sins are forgiven in Jesus’ Name, that we’ve been clothed by His righteosness. Call the haughty, arrogant, and proud to repentance through the preaching of the Law… but one who is aware of his/her sin needs the healing balm of the Gospel preached.
Romans 16:24-27 (ESV) | Doxology
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mysterythat was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
September 20, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Magnify” by We Are Messengers which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
Musically, the song is quite nice. Emotionally impactful. The singer has a great voice. Lyrically, the song is missing one major ingredient, the Bible. God’s Written Word. The revelation of Christ to His Church. This sort of Bible-less Christianity is the result of American Christianity having been infected by gnostic mysticism. To rescue this song, the listener needs to already know where to look to see Christ. Not in our emotions (not even the positive ones), not in nature (though it declares His Glory), but in the Word of God. As we read Scripture, we rely on God the Holy Spirit to open up our eyes to the Truth that is there, in plain sight. Let’s take a look at the Official Music Video and then the Lyrics.
Verse 1
I’ve been trying to make sense of the sorrow that I feel
Holding on for life to the only thing that’s real
I’ve only scratched the surface, I’ve barely had a taste
But just a glimpse draws my heart to change
And one sight of you lays my sin to waste
I don’t need to see everything just more of you
(chorus)
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you
Verse 2
My sight is incomplete and I’ve made you look small
I’ve been staring at my problems for way too long
Re-align where my hope is set, until you’re all that’s left
But just a glimpse draws my heart to change
And one sight of you lays my sin to waste
I don’t need to see everything just more of you
(chorus)
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you
Bridge
Oh God be greater, than the worries in my life
Be stronger, than the weakness in my mind
Be louder, let your Glory come alive
Be magnified
Oh God be greater, than the worries in my life
Be stronger, than the weakness in my mind
Be louder, let your Glory come alive
Be magnified
(chorus)
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you, to you
Take it all, take it all away
Magnify no other name
Open up, open up my eyes
To you, to you
The problem being presented in the song is real. We, sinners, are distracted by our temptation to sin. To worry. To despair. It’s a very real problem that is addressed in Scripture. Let’s look at what Christ taught.
Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV)“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? It means to seek Christ and Him crucified for your sin, repent and be forgiven in His Name. The righteousness of God is the forgiveness He gives to you in exchange for your sin. This is by faith alone in Christ’s finished work on the cross. When our flesh tempts us to earn our own righteousness by lawkeeping, well… that’s when the anxiety, fear, and condemnation sets in. Such is the concern we see the Apostle Paul having for the Galatians who were misled back into works-based righteousness by submitting to the Law of circumcision. Paul isn’t only concerned about this unnecessary surgical act, but in the return to Mosaic Law-keeping rather than faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:1-12 (ESV) | Christ Has Set Us Free
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
These are extremely strong words from Paul, because this is a serious issue.
But, Jorge, what does this have to do with the song? Good question. This is only the first point I want to drive home, that Scripture teaches us to look to Christ and His kingdom rather than ourselves, our good works, our provisions… because to look to anything else is to be severed from Christ. If we’re giving this song its best construction, we have to view the over arching appeal of the song to be anchored in this truth. So, this is a strength in the concept of the song, that we are to be focused on Christ, not our circumstances, emotions, fears, or our own good works (or utter lack thereof).
The problem with the song is in its offered solution. It suggests that we are somehow supposed to see Christ directly. There is absolutely no mention of finding Him in His Word. The video doesn’t suggest it in any way… nor does it even suggest finding Christ among fellow believers gathered around the Preaching of God’s Word (definition of the Church). This is a giant hole in the theology of this song. To presume to see God apart from where He has revealed Himself is to engage in Mysticism. There is a bit of gnosticism rumbling in the background of this American ideology that is currently driving this closed-Bible Christianity, or even anti-Bible preaching of Andy Stanley.
It is important that we counter and guard against this gnostic mysticism. God has revealed Himself to us. Let’s examine this in steps. God the Father has revealed Himself fully in God the Son, Jesus.
John 14:1-9 (ESV) | I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
We don’t see Jesus in the flesh today, for He is in Heaven at the Right Hand of the Father. He will return. His Promise is sure. What we have is Christ fully revealed to us in Scripture. To make this case, I’d like to first pull a very clear teaching of Christ to His disciples, one from Luke’s account of the sending out of the Apostles, and another from John’s account of the night He was betrayed.
Luke 10:16 (ESV) “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
John 13:20 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
And where do we find the teaching of those whom Jesus sent? In the New Testament. Most of the Epistles were written by the Apostles themselves, and the others contain their teaching. Receive their teaching and you receive Christ. Receive Christ and you receive God the Father. How do we receive this? By the work of the Holy Spirit in preserving God’s Word, drawing us, granting us Faith, and delivering the forgiveness and the Righteousness of God (Jesus Christ) to us. He saves us by Grace through Faith.
Romans 10:17 (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The flip side of this is that if we reject the teaching of Christ’s Apostles we reject Christ and God the Father. Sidenote: There are no living Apostles. Only charlatans and blasphemers claiming a level of authority they weren’t given, making promises in the name of God that He doesn’t make, twisting scripture to gather disciples unto themselves. These are the same as those against whom Paul was writing to the Galatians.
Is it wrong to want to see Christ? Absolutely not. We all long to see Him return in the way He has promised in His Word.
Acts 1:10-11 (ESV) And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
But to attempt to reach around where Christ has told us to find Him (In His Word and in the teaching of His Apostles) is to repeat the error of Thomas.
John 20:28-31 (ESV) Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.
So this is the great error of this song. The attempt to skip right over the Scriptures and to demand to see Christ directly. Those singing the song haven’t seen Him directly, yet they present this as the goal or solution to the problem being presented in the song.
Conclusion
On its own, the song lyric fails to present the Gospel in any meaningful way. However, if we reshape the arch of the song to have all points leading to the Scriptures as the sole solution to the problems presented, we can rescue most of the themes in this song. I’m happy that this song can be rescued, but frustrated that it relies solely on the listener’s solid theology to rescue.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will,working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
September 06, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Jesus” by Chris Tomlin which currently sits at #18 on 20TheCountdownMagazine. There is some good in the song, or that can be made of the song. Where this song suffers is in how these attributes of Jesus are being presented as a veiled promise that calling on the Name of Jesus will yield a temporal fix to your problem. It doesn’t clearly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so it doesn’t stand on its own. This song is only as good as the theology being applied by the listener.
In this long review we’ll spend a lot of time brute-forcing a best construction by looking at the Scripture passages being referenced by the short lines of the songs. If we focus on what Scripture is teaching in these passages, we should be better suited to guard against false teaching.
Verse 1
There is a truth older than the ages
There is a promise of things yet to come
There is one born for our salvation
Jesus
Verse 2
There is a light that overwhelms the darkness
There is a kingdom that forever reigns
There is freedom from the chains that bind us
Jesus, Jesus
Chorus
Who walks on the waters
Who speaks to the sea
Who stands in the fire beside me
He roars like a lion
He bled as the lamb
He carries my healing in His hands
Jesus
Verse 3
There is a name I call in times of trouble
There is a song that comforts in the night
There is a voice that calms the storm that rages
He is Jesus, Jesus
Chorus
Who walks on the waters
Who speaks to the sea
Who stands in the fire beside me
He roars like a lion
He bled as the lamb
He carries my healing in His hands
Jesus
Bridge
Messiah
My Savior
There is power in Your name
You’re my rock and my redeemer
There is power in Your name
In Your name
Climax Chorus
You walk on the waters
You speak to the sea
You stand in the fire beside me
You roar like a lion
You bled as the lamb
You carry my healing in Your hands
You walk on the waters
You speak to the sea
You stand in the fire beside me
You roar like a lion
You bled as the lamb
You carry my healing in Your hands
Jesus
Publishing: sixsteps Songs / Worship Together Music / S.D.G. Publishing (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Alletrop Music (BMI) (admin. by Music Services) Writer(s): Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash
Discussion
Let’s begin by recognizing the good in the song lyric. What is said about Jesus in the song isn’t wrong. That’s a good thing. The lyric pulls from a few passages of Scripture that point to Christ, one of which is a good example of seeing Christ in the Old Testament.
Verse 1. To put the best construction on this song, I thought we’d try a brute-force, heavy-handed attempt at completely super-imposing Scripture over this verse in hopes that whenever you hear this song play on the radio, you think of the Scriptures first, and treat this lyric as a breath of a cliff’s note. Modern-day evangelicalism suffers from post-modern gnosticism (secret-knowledge) infecting everything, so I don’t want to leave vague open ended allusions to Scripture floating without an anchor.
John 1:1-18 (ESV) | The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
This is the Salvation that Jesus brings to us, the right to become children of God. Christ, who was with God in the beginning and Is God, became flesh and dwelt among us for our Salvation. How did He save us? John the Baptist announces, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29 ESV). How did He take away the sins of the world? By paying the full price of sin, by bearing Himself the full wrath of God against the sins of the world in our place.
Verse 2. For the first part of this verse, we are still in the first chapter of John. But then it shifts to speaking of the Kingdom that forever reigns. Guard yourselves against “kingdom theology” that flows from Dominionism (which is dominant in NAR teaching, and present in Hillsong, Passion theology but is generally more spiritualized in their gnosticism). The error is in looking for an earthly Kingdom (whether political or oddly spiritualized dominion) where the Earthly Church is victorious and in charge, as if she would create a throne upon which Jesus might return. Jesus never talked about returning for a church like that, nor did He speak of a world where the church dominated in such a way. In fact, Jesus gave the opposite prophecy, a world where if He didn’t cut the days short none would survive (Matthew 24). But let’s look now to what Jesus preached at the start of His earthly ministry, as we see recorded in the Gospel According to Matthew.
Matthew 4:12-17 (ESV) | Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The Kingdom isn’t an earthly kingdom of dominion, but the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of the Gospel of Grace, the body and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Sins. And this Kingdom is here now, not something we are responsible for building or establishing, or ushering in. Christ came to us, died for us, resurrected from the dead ahead of us, ascended to the Right Hand of the Father for us and will again return for us to judge both the Living and the Dead. We have been baptized into His death and resurrection and have been sealed by God the Holy Spirit. His is the kingdom that forever reigns. Focus on this promise of the Gospel, that you’ve been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection so that in the Last Day you will be with Him in Glory. Amen.
Chorus. The list of demonstrated abilities found in this chorus is out-of-order. We’re going to address them in order, because the point of these events is to point to Christ alone. If we get sloppy with how we pull together references to scripture, we can end up implying promises that aren’t there. All of Scripture points to Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, through Jesus Christ our Lord as both the beginning and the end of the story.
He speaks to the sea. Yes, He does.
Matthew 8:25-27 (ESV) And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Jesus is revealing Himself as the Son of God to the disciples and to us who now read the Scriptures and hear them preached. Faith comes through hearing the Word of Christ. Not a faith of its own existence, Faith in Christ Jesus, God the Son. Notice how Jesus first rebuked the disciples and then rebuked the winds and sea? They were afraid for their lives, for they lacked faith. Should they have expected Jesus would quiet the storm? No, that’s not what the text is pointing us to, the text is pointing us to Jesus. We are being called to have faith in Jesus through the circumstance, not faith in a favorable outcome in the circumstance. What does it matter if they perish in the storm? They are literally in the presence of God. Christ IS our salvation, that’s is the anchor of our faith, not the notion that “if we have enough faith then God will save us from the storm”. When it comes to perishing or living, the storm is irrelevant. Jesus was sleeping from it, and then rebuked it after rebuking the men for their lack of faith in Him.
Jesus walked on the water. Because He is God, and His disciples needed to understand that Truth.
Matthew 14:22-27 (ESV) | Jesus Walks on the Water
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
I really wish the visible church would stop allegorizing this text and so quickly taking the focus away from Christ, Son of the Living God, and onto some empty promise that you can walk on water just like Peter does in the next portion. That is not the point of the text. Not even remotely. The point of the text is made clear in closing verses of this account:
Matthew 14:32-33 (ESV) And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
That’s the point. That is the only point. Stop with the narcissistic eisegesis that only leads to bondage. Peter failed at walking on water, even with Jesus right there in the flesh. We all fail at walking on water. We aren’t called to do it. Stop trying. Focus on Christ and His promises that are articulated in Scripture.
Who stands in the fire beside me. Okay, so kudos for rightly understanding Jesus in the old testament, but this has already been allegorized a bit in a way that minimizes what the text is saying. We’ll be pulling portions from Daniel 3.
Daniel 3:12-18 (ESV)There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
This is a very real life-and-death trial. It infuriates me to hear this treated allegorically such that whatever temporary setback or disappointment in our daily lives suddenly becomes a fiery furnace encounter. But this story isn’t pointing to the resolve or determination of these three Jews; rather, it is pointing to Christ saving us from an eternal punishment for sin.
Daniel 3:19-25 (ESV) Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God was that fourth man, the one like the son of the Gods. This was before He had taken on human flesh, but Christ is there, the same Christ who later took on human flesh, died on a cross, paid our penalty for sin, and rose again on the third day. This is pointing to Salvation in Christ Jesus, salvation from the fiery pit of eternal punishment. In Christ Jesus, the flames have no charge over us, not even the smell of smoke, because in Christ we’ve been washed clean and forgiven completely.
Daniel 3:26-29 (ESV) Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
Indeed, there is No Other who can Save. In Daniel 3, we see the faith of these men was in God who has the power to save eternally, and temporally, but their hope wasn’t set on God saving them simply from the fiery death. Their hope was in the God who Saves. Contrast that a bit with the men in the boat we looked at, whom Jesus rebuked before rebuking the storm. We serve a God who Forgives and Saves eternally, graciously, and perfectly. These men didn’t even smell of fire… and when God forgives you of your sin, it’s forgiven, buried, forgotten in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Christ bled and died on the cross as the substitutionary sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice, for the sin of the World. It is Finished. In Revelation, John recognized the Lamb who was slain, but His return will not be humble, it won’t be meek, it will be as King, LORD, a roaring lion. He will return in the clouds with a shout of command, and this will not be a secret return. All of Creation will stand still and bow… those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life will rejoice, the rest are condemned already for their unbelief. Some may plead, bargain, curse Him, but He has already told us what He will say to them.
Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
He carries my healing in His hands. Indeed, He does. The one promised to us is the healing from sin, death, and the grave. The stain of Adam. The condemnation of hell, the Wrath of God. Christ heals us from all of that, that promise is sure, in Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Savior, and Healer. In Christ we will be given new bodies, perfect bodies, eternal bodies, forever healed of sin, suffering, and death. That’s real healing. That’s the healing promised to all who call upon the Name of the LORD. The promise of scripture is eternal. It is often lifted out of context to make it a temporal promise, one that the word-of-faith (WoF) crowd push as they demand your money. But doing so ignores the context found within the single verse, much less the whole chapter 53 of Isaiah:
Isaiah 53 (ESV)
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
And we get a similar teaching, with the same contextual focus, from the Apostle Peter:
1 Peter 2:23-25 (ESV)When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
So please, stop tossing this passage around like it’s some sort of blank-check for temporal healing, or worse, some sort of litmus test as to whether or not you are “truly living in faith”. Bondage. Blasphemy. Lies. This promise of healing is of eternity. We will all die here, for our flesh is still corrupt and it must be put off. Some of sickness, some of persecution, some of old-age, but all will die. This Promise of healing is far more important and far greater in value than what the WoF and prosperity-false-gospel wolves are selling you. Focus on the Healing that Scripture Promises, the Healing that is assured. Pray for earthly healing, too, but as a petition, a request. Scripture doesn’t give us room to make demands of temporal healing from an Eternal God.
The rest of the song is intended as a crescendo of repetition building up to the climax of the allegorizing of all of the Scripture passages into the notion that “and Jesus will do all these things for me in my circumstances, too”… at least, that’s how it comes across to me. It is what we should expect from folks whose doctrine of “worship” fits this formula. Every song that ends with trailing musical instrumentals with repeated choruses (or anthemic bridges) is following this formula. It’s emotional manipulation designed to give the impression that the Holy Spirit is moving in the room. If reading the lyrics straight doesn’t convey the message, it’s an emotional experience, not Biblical worship.
Conclusion
There is some good in the song, or that can be made of the song. Where this song suffers is in how these attributes of Jesus are being presented as a veiled promise that calling on the Name of Jesus will yield a temporal fix to your problem. Scripture doesn’t promise to rescue you temporally, His promises are eternal. God is all-powerful, and nothing can tie His hands from acting in time and space, and God’s Word testifies to His Lordship over all of creation. God’s Word also teaches us to focus on eternal things, to lay up treasures in Heaven, not on Earth. We will face trials of many kinds, testing the genuineness of our Faith in Christ Jesus. When we stumble and doubt (we will), we have a God who is ready to forgive and restore those who humble themselves and repent in Jesus’ Name.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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