This Week’s Songs
- God So Loved,
- Every Giant Will Fall,
- Jesus, What a Beautiful Name,
- In Christ Alone,
- Your Love Awakens Me,
God So Loved
Key Scriptures
- John 3:16,
- Matt 11:28-30,
- Eph 1:3,
“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). We have all probably heard this verse, some of us have this verse memorized from hearing it repeated over and over again. It is true that this is probably the most recited and used verse in all of the Bible, and I think that is excellent! What better verse to have promoted than one that speaks of God’s love for us?
The problem is that when we hear something over and over again, the effects of the message begin to wear off. The excitement we once felt at the sound of this message begins to almost be an irritation (‘yeah, yeah, we get it – God so loved the world….’). Ihis is our natural tendency, and I want to just take a moment right now to encourage you to look at that verse one more time as though you were reading it for the first time, only this time read it by inserting your own name into it.
“For God so loved “Your Name” that He gave His one and only Son, that when “I” believe in Him “I” will not perish but “I” will have everlasting life!” How did that feel to say? Was it exciting? Keep saying it until it does excite you!
I love that this song reminds us of this truth, God loves us! I also appreciate its reminder that we are to come to the Lord, no matter what condition we are in. The verses call sinners to come, the weary to come, the thirsty, the addicted, and those that are considered failures. “Come lay them all at the foot of the cross” is a lyric that we sing, and I know that this is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are all sinners, and we all need to come before God at the foot of the cross in order to find forgiveness and healing for our lives. It is because God so loves us that we are able to find a new life in Him and find the grace needed to overcome any of life’s hurts, habits, and hangups!
Every Giant Will Fall
Key Scriptures
- Ps 56:9,
- Jer 32:27,
- Luke 1:37,
- Matt 19:26,
- Phil 2:5-10,
- Rom 6:6, 17-18,
What giants are you facing in your life right now? Ok, so you may not be David facing an actual giant (Goliath), but are you facing a financial giant, or a relational giant, or a giant decision, etc.? The great news of the Bible is that we have a God who is, or wants to be, involved in our daily lives. Not only that, but He wants us to call upon Him when we face those inevitable “giants” in our lives so that He can display His mighty power to fight them for us!
I love the lyric in the first verse of this song, it says, “Though there’s pain within the plan, there is victory in the end. Your love is my battle cry!”. As we seen in the first song (God So Loved), the love of God is what gives us the confidence to come to Him with all of our problems, trusting that He desires to help us in our times of need. Yes, there is going to be pain and hurts in this life. Yes, there are going to be “giants” that we face. But our hope and confidence is in the fact that nothing is too hard for our God.
My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; I know that God is on my side.
Psalm 56:9 (NET)
The Bible reminds us that nothing is impossible with God. Check out what Jesus says to His followers in Matthew 19:26;
Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26 (NET)
Are you facing what looks to be an impossible hurtle? If so, please look at that text one more time (or as often as you need to!) in order to regain the confidence you need to call upon the name of the Lord and ask Him to do what seems like an impossibility to you! There is no greater name, no higher name, no stronger name than Jesus – so call on Him now for that giant in your life to be moved!
Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20–21 (NET)
Jesus, What a Beautiful Name
Key Scriptures
- Rev 5:12,
- Phil 2:8-10,
- John 1:16-17,
- Isa 53:3-7,
There is power in a name, especially in THE name of Jesus! I want you to read this passage in Philippians 2 and meditate upon its meaning:
He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death —even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow —in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8–11 (NET)
To be beautiful is to be pleasing to the senses, to be excellent, to be of a very high standard. I can’t think of a better way to describe Jesus! He is the highest standard in humanity! He is the most pleasing sacrifice offered up to the Father on behalf of a sinful world! He carried out His life on earth in such an excellent way that He was without sin! He is Jesus, and there is none like Him!
Jesus is the lamb that was slain to take away the sins of the world. We see a worship service happening in heaven when we read Revelation 5, and in that text those that are worshiping are singing this line;
“Worthy is the lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!”
Revelation 5:12 (NET) {Partial}
They are worshiping the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for His sacrifice made on behalf of humanity. It is my conviction that we should all join together with them and do the same here on earth too! How about you?
There is a lyric that repeats in this song in each of the verses. Here is what it says, “Grace that blows all fear away”. Oh, I love that line! It is in Jesus that we find grace and truth (see John 1:16-17), and it is in Him that we are able to access the grace we need to overcome any and all fears we have in this life! We are living in unparalleled times right now, where fear is running rampant. We need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to “blow” on the fear and overcome it in each of our lives! We need not live in fear when we have a name like Jesus that is our stronghold and refuge! Let’s run to it and look for Him to bring us joy and peace, strength and hope, love and freedom, life and warmth, forgiveness, security, power and love! Jesus, what a beautiful name!
In Christ Alone
Key Scriptures
- Rom 15:13,
- Eph 2:20,
- Heb 4:9-10,
- Matt 28:6,
- John 10:29,
I appreciate the depth of theology in this song, and the power of the declaration made in the bridge! This is a newer song (2001) that has the feel of an old hymn, and that is one of the reasons I like it so much. Stuart Townend wrote this song, and Keith and Krysten Getty originally recorded the song and put it on the charts in a big way! The arrangement we have grown to love here at Eagleville Bible Church is the Kristan Stanfill (Passion) arrangement, mainly because of the ending bridge that makes such a strong declaration of faith. Thank God for people who write and record these songs for us to worship the Lord through!
In Romans 15:13 we see this prayer by the Apostle Paul;
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NET)
The first line of this song says, “In Christ alone, my hope is found”. Where is your hope found? In that relationship you are in, in the amount of money you have in the bank, in the amount of work you can accomplish, in “fill in the blank”? Is your hope rooted and established in the God of the universe? If it is not, then I would implore you to redirect your hope and to make Jesus the source of your hope in this world! It is going to be the best decision you ever make, trust me!
The problem so many times that we have is that we look to other things in this life to provide our hope, strength, security, love, etc. We must learn to look to Jesus and Him alone to meet all of our needs. It is only when we do this that we start to experience freedom and life to the fullest!
I love the 3rd verse of this song, where it says, “No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me!”. When we are in Christ then we no longer have to carry around the guilt our past failures! We can look forward and forget what was behind! We can fix our eyes upon the one who overcame death and provided the opportunity for all of us to enter into the fullest life of abundance that we could ever hope for! Eternal life and destiny is found in Christ Alone!
Make this declaration right now, “I find my strength, I find my hope, I find my help in Christ alone. When fear assails, when darkness falls, I find my peace in Christ alone. I give my life, I give my all, I sing my song to Christ alone. The King of Kings, the Lord of lords, all heaven sings to Christ alone!”
Your Love Awakens Me
Key Scriptures
- Eph 2:14,
- Ephesians 2:4-5
- 2 Cor 5:17-19,
- 1 Pet 2:9,
- 1 Thess 4:16-17,
- Eph 3:14-19,
- Heb 2:14-15,
Are you living? I know that sounds like a pretty silly question, I mean anyone reading this would have to be living right? Wrong! There are some people who are breathing but dead. This is a sad truth, but it is definitely a doctrine in the Bible. You see, everyone is spiritually dead before they come to Jesus Christ for salvation. When we come to Him, He gives us a new life!
The reality of the situation is that without Christ our sins have caused death in our lives, death spiritually. Now the only way to receive life (spiritually) again is to call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus and to ask Him to be our Savior. “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love for us, even though we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ – by grace we have been saved” (See Eph 2:4-5)! That is why we declare in the pre-chorus of this song that He called us out of the grave and into the light! That is what the love of God does for us!
In the bridge we sing that the love we have found stops death from having the power to hold us down. Are you afraid of dying? It is one of the greatest fears in the world – to die. Check out what Hebrews says about this though:
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.”
Hebrews 2:14–15 (NET)
If you are held in captivity by the fear of death I pray that this will unlock freedom in your life! Our Lord overcame the power of death so that we who are His may experience life forever! His love really does awaken us, always!
I want to end this with a prayer from Ephesians 3:
“I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God”
Ephesians 3:16-19
May God’s love awaken you to new life in Him, full of abundance and peace!
Summary Statement
When we find the Truth of God’s love displayed by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save it, then we can use that Beautiful Name to overcome any and all the “giants” in our lives. We will see that in Christ alone we will overcome the spirit of fear and death, and trust His love to awaken us to the abundant life that He promised us through His Word!
God bless you this week!
