Posted June 12th, 2008
The gospel, the good news of Jesus’ death for our sins and new life in Him, is sometimes regarded as a message that only unbelievers need to hear. When we preach about Jesus’ death for sinners only at “outreach” or “evangelistic” events or when we think to ourselves “I’ve heard this a hundred times… can’t we move on?” we demonstrate this kind of thinking. We tend to act as if Jesus’ death only has relevance in getting us in the doorway of the Christian faith. But scripture paints a much bigger picture than this. The gospel’s relevance stems from its inception in eternity past when God devised a plan to redeem people from the sin they would plunge themselves headlong into. The first verse of this song explores the themes of God’s sovereign plan of salvation and the death and resurrection of Jesus. The second verse remembers how the gospel arrived into our lives at conversion and goes on to remind us that even now we stand forgiven before God and do not need to get on God’s “good side” or get out from being on God’s “bad side.” Lastly, we rejoice in the fact that the gospel affords us our only true hope and comfort in death and will be the subject of our songs of worship for eternity as we sing the praises of the Lamb who was slain for our sin. May God’s glorious gospel of grace be sung and cherished in our lives and in our churches!
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Posted March 14th, 2006
The best modern songs, whether they be for worship or part of pop culture, tell a story. The story at the heart of Christian worship is the gospel of Jesus and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). There Is No Greater Portrait is the first product of the new collaboration between songwriters Eric Schumacher and David Ward and reflects on the gospel story in a way that helps move us to thanksgiving and awe. In the first verse, we sing that remembering the sufferings of Jesus should move us to sorrow because it was our sins that caused Him to suffer so dearly. We then reflect on Jesus' ministry and final days and how they were culminated in His great act of obedience and love to His heavenly Father when He gave up His life on the cross. On the cross Jesus was displayed for all the world to see, only He was not worshiped as He deserved, but rather mocked and scorned by both His own people, the Jews, and the Romans. After pondering all of these things, we ask the Holy Spirit to be our salvation and apply these things to our hearts so that we can love Jesus more and more.
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Posted May 28th, 2004
The text of It's All of Grace is perhaps the strongest and deepest text that we have ever worked with. Watts is arguably the best hymn-writer of the western world, and these verses show his mastery of poetry and theology. Many of us that have a very strong conviction about God's sovereignty in salvation have struggled to feel the joy and tenderness in this choice. Watts takes us through the gospel story, beginning with confessing our sin, and moving through acknowledging that we are saved only by sovereign grace, in a way that is very touching. Of particular note is the second verse (which was borrowed from another Watts hymn in the same collection) - He "fixed our standing more secure than 'twas before we fell". We understand that to speak of the fact that since we have fallen and then been restored and are now secure in Christ, we have more hope and stability than before we (mankind) had fallen into sin. How amazing! Watts' conclusion is powerful as well - he refers to Ezekiel 37 about the Spirit breathing life into our dry bones, then reminds us of the certainty of appearing before our Father justified.
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Posted July 11th, 2003
One of the most precious songs to the Reformed Praise writers, this hymn, based on Psalm 130, was penned by Martin Luther himself. Luther was a Monk in the Roman church who diligently sought peace with God through his holy life. As he studied the Bible, he became confronted with the doctrine of justification and imputed righteousness and understood and accepted the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone, apart from the works of the Law.
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Reformed Praise presents Martin Luther's setting of Psalm 130 in a fresh, reflective, piano-driven setting suitable for a wide range of worship music styles.
