Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer

I hesitate to say that I have a “favorite” Bible passage. But if you forced me to pick one I would pick Colossians 1:15-20. In this passage we find what has been called a “Christ hymn” wherein the Apostle Paul rehearses essential truths about Jesus in a rhythmic fashion that would be easy for his audience to memorize and repeat as those around them were trying to diminish Jesus’ glory. I don’t know how anyone could read this passage and not be mesmerized by the Jesus revealed in it. It reads like this,

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:15-20).

In this text we see Jesus revealed as our creator, our sustainer, and our redeemer. He is our creator in that he is “the image of the invisible God” in whom “all things were created.” He is our sustainer in that “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” And he is our redeemer in that “God was pleased…through him to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” As I prepared to preach through the book of Colossians I was most excited about preaching this passage and proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus who made us, holds us together even as we turn from him, and redeems us by bringing us back to him. Yet I wanted to do more than just preach it. As I considered that Paul intentionally wrote this in what F.F. Bruce called “rhythmic prose” so that it could be easily learned and easily repeated, I wanted to put these same truths into a musical form that would be easy for the people of Emmaus to learn and repeat. So I wrote this song to an instrumental I received from my friend HR Crump.

In writing the song I followed the outline of the Colossian Christ hymn as best as I could. You’ll notice that the first verse focuses on who Jesus is as our creator, the second verse focuses on who Jesus is as our sustainer, and the bridge and vamp focus on who Jesus is as our redeemer. It is my prayer that this song could serve both as a tool for teaching and as motivation to worship. As we rehearse the doctrine of Christ through songs like this may we be more in awe of who he is and more opposed to any teachings that minimize his greatness.

WHERE: Emmaus Church (4046 NE MLK Jr Blvd)

WHAT: Have you ever been guilty of thinking “if only” this one thing would change than I’d be happier, more content, more fulfilled? If so, you know that such thinking only distracts and disappoints. How, then, do we overcome “if only” thinking? Join us as we begin our study of Colossians to find the answer to this question.