The words to this song bring to mind Revelation 21, which lays before us just how glorious our Lord is.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it…
The chorus in this song exhorts us to behold the Son of God. Two quotes from the great theologian John Owen help frame this for us:
“By beholding the glory of Christ we shall be made fit and ready for heaven. Not all who desire to go to heaven are fit and ready for it. Some are not only unworthy of it and excluded from it because of unforgiven sin; they are not prepared for it. Should they be admitted, they would never enjoy it.”
“Make up your mind that to behold the glory of God by beholding the glory of Christ is the greatest privilege which is given to believers in this life. This is the dawning of heaven. It is the first taste of that heavenly glory which God has prepared for us, for this is eternal life, to know the Father and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3).”
As a believer, my greatest desire is that learning, knowing, loving and obeying Jesus Christ would be my greatest desire! For this is how one proves he belongs to Christ (John 14), and this is God’s means of transforming us into the image of his Son, which is our destiny as believers (1 Thess. 4:3).
To behold Christ is to set the Lord before us (Psalm 16) by dwelling on who he is as described in his Holy Word and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we sing his praise, obey his commands and become more like Christ.
Additionally, I long for my family on the worship team at church and you brothers and sisters to view what we do on Sundays as a high calling, a privilege not to be taken for granted and certainly not as a hobby. We are helping others behold Christ, and by beholding him, they become more like him. We are participating in God’s plan to make his children more like his Son!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
This is why our hearts and minds must be devoted to the person (Christ) and purpose (his glory) behind the instrument we play, the investment of time into preparation and the investment of money we make into our equipment. When we are solely devoted to this purpose, this beholding of Christ, our involvement in the music ministry has little do with physically playing an instrument, flexing our skills, or trying our newest piece of gear; instead, our involvement in the music ministry has everything to do with glorifying our Lord, making him known and proclaiming his preeminence. In this way, he becomes the sole focus and we are simply participants in his plan to redeem a people for his own possession, a people whose sin has been washed away by the blood of the Lamb of God.
Coram Deo,
Troy, GFHG
