Hey everyone! Thanks for taking time to check out this new series: More than a Song! In this series, we're going to be taking a deeper look at the theology of the songs of FBC Tecumseh - the Scripture behind them, what they teach us, or sometimes just weird stuff we don't usually think about, like what's an Ebenezer? (Hint: not Scrooge.) Hopefully, this will help us to better connect with the songs we sing week in and week out as a church. I know better than most how easy it is to fall into the habit of just repeating words on a screen, following a melody, and not having a single active thought relevant to actually worshiping the Lord. Hopefully, this will revitalize your understanding of our worship or even help you to love for the first time a song that you never really paid attention to. If one person gleans one nugget of wisdom or inspiration from this series, I consider that a success.

Now, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this new series with a new song: Christus Victor by Keith and Kristin Getty. Depending on when you read this (and how long it takes me to write), you may or may not have heard it yet. Regardless, it is an especially dense song and there is a lot we could explore. I don't have the time or space to exegete or explain every single bit of Scripture that informs this song, but we'll look at a few central passages, as well as some of the theology behind it. Additionally, the Getty's have a great article on the writing of this song on their own website. This post will be a mix of expanding on things that they said, as well as adding my own insights. Again, hopefully something here helps you to connect with the song just a little more and allows you to worship God through knowledge and understanding. With that in mind, let's dive in!

O Most High, King of the ages 
Great I AM, God of wonders 
By the blood You have redeemed us 
Led us through mighty waters 
Our strength, our song, our sure salvation

In this verse, the writers connect the Old and New Testament in a subtle way. If you look at lines 3 and 4, you see them connecting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to God leading Israel through the waters on their way out of Egypt, all the way back in Exodus. This is a common theme in the Gospels - that Jesus is a new Moses, redeeming his people out of captivity and leading them to new life. Our captivity may not be an outward one - we may not be physically enslaved in the same way that the Israelites were to Egypt - but we are inwardly enslaved to sin.

Sin dictates our lives in many ways. It tells us that we know better than God, so that we begin to trust our own wisdom. Maybe we dictate good and evil for ourselves, without the guidance of the revelation of Scripture. Maybe we seek good things, but we want them on our terms and not God's terms. Sin also tells us that we are better than others. We can justify abuse and mistreatment of others because sin tells us that we are better than them, more deserving than them, or worth more than them. In one way or another, we all live at some point as slaves to sin.

But this song reminds us that, just as Moses led God's people out of captivity to Egypt, Jesus leads his people out of captivity to sin. His sacrifice pays the price of our freedom, and as we follow him through the waters of baptism, he leads us into a new way of life that is not dictated by sin. He shows us what it looks like to live in complete obedience to God, trusting his wisdom over our own. He also shows us how to love our neighbor as ourselves, seeking the good of others through sacrificial service, rather than taking from them in pursuit of sinful self-exaltation. Jesus even sends us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us and transform us as we live in obedience to God, so that we don't have to do any of this on our own. Praise God that he hears the cry of his suffering people, redeems us by paying the price of our freedom, and leads us into a new way of Kingdom living!

Now to the Lamb upon the throne 
Be blessing, honor, glory, power 
For the battle You have won 
Hallelujah! Amen
With every tribе and every tongue 
We join the anthem of the angels 
In the triumph of the Son 
Hallelujah! Amen

This chorus pulls from Revelation 5:13. (Scroll back up if you want to read this verse.) As I've reflected on this chorus and the Scripture behind it, I noticed a small interpretation the Getty's make that I think is helpful to point out. In the larger context of Revelation, the One who sits on the throne is distinct from the Lamb, so that it has traditionally been understood that the One on the throne is God the Father, while the Lamb is God the Son, Jesus. The Getty's, however, do NOT make this distinction. Instead, as you'll see in the first line of the chorus, they present an image where the Lamb himself sits upon the throne. Now, before heresy hunters start complaining about altering Scripture or collapsing the Trinity, I think the song makes an important interpretive point. The Lamb who was slain to "purchase persons for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9) is the same God who sits on the throne, rules and judges heaven and earth, and receives worship from every part of Creation. In other words, the same Jesus who died and was buried also lives and reigns over all Creation. A full picture of who Jesus is and what he does requires that we remember not just his death and sacrifice, but also his victory over the powers of sin and death, as well as his resurrection and ascension to rule over the heavens and the earth. (More on this in a later section)

I also want to make a quick note about the word "amen." I think it would be fair to say this word gets used more than almost any other word in the Christian vocabulary, other than maybe God or Jesus, but ironically I think it's also one of the least understood. We know that we're supposed to say it at the end of prayers, and sometimes when the pastor says something you agree with. (Not Baptists, though. God forbid we show any emotion.) But outside of knowing when we should use it, most of us probably couldn't tell you what it means. It's actually a Greek word that we transliterate - or write in English letters - that simply means "truly." Eventually, it came to be a response of affirmation, like saying "let this statement be true."

This also helps to understand the point of the song's bridge a little bit better. I won't devote a whole section to it, because it's only one word repeated. And, admittedly, singing the word "amen" over and over again seems odd at first glance, but we can understand it as simply an affirmation of everything we just sang in the rest of the song. Singing it three times (three bridges, each with three "amens") is following an old Hebrew tradition. Repeating a word once was a way of upping the degree or intensity of it. Repeating it three times was taking it to the max. This is why we sing "holy, holy, holy." God is not just holy, or super holy, he is the most holy. Likewise, saying "amen" three times is a way of affirming something to the highest degree. I don't just agree with this a little bit, or a lot a bit, but I affirm this with every ounce of my being, so that I am willing to devote myself completely to the truth of this thing. Now I'm probably interpreting a little bit, but you get the idea. "Amen" is a way of affirming the truths we proclaim, both through our prayers and through our songs.

O Most High, King of the nations 
Robed in praise, crowned with splendor 
On that day who will not tremble? 
When You stand Christ the Victor 
Who was, and is, and is forever

I know I'm skipping the second verse, and it bothers me, too. But, as I said in the beginning, I simply don't have the time in this little blog to look at every single detail of the song. So don't think it's because verse 2 is shallow or not as rich. You should definitely take time to meditate on what it teaches as well. I skipped ahead because I want to hone in on one phrase in verse 3 that is central to this whole song: "Christ the Victor." If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is the title of the song in English.

"Christus Victor" is the Latin version of the phrase, which is where the song gets its name. It kind of sounds like the English version if you say it like an Okie. Interestingly, however, this phrase doesn't pop up in the records of the early church, who actually spoke Latin. It was actually coined much later, in 1931 by a Swedish theologian named Gustaf Aulén. Aulén used it to refer to his theory of the atonement. Before we go any further, let's ask the question most of you are already asking: What is atonement theory? (Some of you just rolled your eyes or groaned. That's fair. Unfortunately for you, this is my favorite part.)

First, atonement is the theological term we use to refer to Christ's death on the cross, as well as the effect that it has on humanity. Atonement theories are ways of attempting to understand and explain what exactly that effect, or those effects, is or are. For example, the atonement theory the majority of people are most familiar with, whether or not you know it by name, is penal substitution - penal referring to penalty, and substitution referring to... well... substitution. This theory of the atonement explains the effects of Christ's sacrifice as a substitutionary suffering of the penalty that we deserve. In other words, because of our sin, we deserve a certain penalty, namely death. Rather than paying that penalty ourselves, Jesus serves as a substitute on our behalf and pays our penalty by his death on the cross. Those who believe in and follow him have their penalty paid and are not condemned to the penalty of death anymore.

Aulén's theory, Christus Victor, describes the effect of the atonement as Christ having victory over death. This theory doesn't get as much airtime in Baptist theology, so there is a lot about it we could explore. But most simply, this theory says that the effect of Christ's death is that he is established as the victor over sin and death. On the cross, Jesus let sin and death, embodied in the Jewish opposition and the Roman Empire, do their worst to him. But in his resurrection, he demonstrates his mastery over sin and death by rising again, and in such a way that death can never touch him again. Additionally, in granting the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the dead to his followers, Jesus robs sin and death every time someone steps into new life with him.

Now a bit of interesting (to me) background. Aulén developed and put forth this theory in response to the dominance of "satisfaction" theories, like penal substitution, in the Church. In his view, during the medieval period and especially the Reformation, the Church had become almost too fixated on one aspect or effect of the atonement, at the cost of other important ones. Now, we can have a debate about whether Aulén was right or about which theory of atonement is most important (I tend to think they're all equally important), but the point is that, without a healthy recognition and celebration of the resurrection, we run the risk of seeing Jesus only as the slain Lamb. Again, this is an essential aspect of who he is. But just as essential is the view of him as the King who has victory over sin and death and who reigns even today. Both are equally true and equally important. Likewise, our worship and the songs we sing should celebrate not just the cross and its effect on us, but also the resurrection and its effects on all of Creation.