This coming weekend in church we are going to be doing a new song called King of Kings by Hillsong Worship. This is a song that I am so excited to bring into the life of our church and sing together collectively!
Before a song is brought in on a Sunday, there are a few different questions that need to be answered. One of those questions is: “Does this song align with Scripture and point us toward Jesus?”
The answer in the case of King of Kings (as with every song we sing together) is a resounding YES! In fact, one of the most beautiful qualities about King of Kings is how every line is almost directly pulled from Scripture and how it so authoritatively walks us through the grand story of the Gospel.
Sometimes, we find ourselves becoming familiar with these seemingly simple foundations of our faith. One of the reasons I was personally drawn to this song is because it reminds me how much more the Gospel — the story of Jesus and His life, death and resurrection, the beginning of the Church, and the way the Holy Spirit now lives in and empowers you and I — is full of depth and meaning that is meant to continually transform and shape each of our lives for the rest of our lives.
Romans 1:16-17 (NIV) says, “ For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed — a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (see also Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38)
The idea that the Gospel is the power of God is almost alarming in the sense of the absolute nature of the Gospel that is presented in that very statement. The reason I say it is alarming is because it is almost as if that statement is meant to be in neon with flashing lights jumping off the page at you.
When Paul writes in Romans that the Gospel is the power of God, one of the things this means is that the very nature of God and all of His plans for humanity can be summed up and made evident in the story of the Gospel. It means that no other thing can save me. It means that we can never move beyond the Gospel. Our journey of relationship with our Holy God is rooted and lived out in the context of the Gospel; our salvation is lived out in the story of the Gospel.
The Gospel isn’t a story that played out in the past; the Gospel doesn’t just end when we have entered into relationship with Jesus. Rather, it is a continual journey that we are on — a journey to more deeply understand and live out the Gospel that saves us and is sustaining us.
My hope and prayer for Grace Fellowship is that as we sing King of Kings together in worship we would all remember the gravity and power of the Gospel and respond in worship and adoration to our God who loves us deeply and sacrificed for us so greatly.
