Hi. Last year … though I needed some recent reminding, I wrote a child-friendly song of the Cross. I called it Love You, wanting our response to Jesus’ action for us on the Cross to be emphasised.
Ever since, while continuing to be happy with the song itself (economy of words, singable, lends itself well for reflective actions etc) I’ve been uneasy with the title. Is the Cross ultimately about us and our response OR first and foremost is it about God’s initiative through his Son.
Yes, it’s the latter – so Love You is no more. Those coda words remain, but the title is changed. You can now know it and sing it as You, Me, Everyone, because that points us to back to where the initiative comes from – from God toward us.
I plain forgot (until once again things “dawned” in the middle of the night – that this time last year I wrote a simple kid-friendly song called Love You. Here it is:
Just written a song of the Cross, the cross of Christ. In fact, I surprise myself as I recall writing very few songs of the Cross over the years. Several concerning the rising of Christ, but really light-on when it comes to the Crucifixion.
And then …
I was at a worship service elsewhere on Saturday. Great service, which ended with a contemporary classic: In Christ Alone. I have a growing problem with just one line of the song; namely that line which sings “The wrath of God was satisfied”.
OK, I’m well aware of Christian teaching and theology down the ages on the atonement, but really … is that what “the Cross” is all about? Not for me. It’s ultimately a sign of God’s love. So, along with many others I prefer to sing “The love of God was realised” … and have been doing so for about a decade now. Interestingly, the Christian church’s theology of the Cross for its first 1000 years or so, was one that saw the Cross an the ultimate forgiving expression of God’s love, with also that aspect of Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father. Wrath? That sort of thinking seemed to come later in church history.
And then … last night, I sense I woke up in the middle of the night with the embryo of a song of the Cross … a basic tune and some key phrases. Too tired to get up and hurriedly and sleepily-eyed write my thoughts down. If it’s worthwhile at all, I’ll remember it in the morning.
I did! Here it is, with full piano score, lyrics, mp3 demo backing and a YouTube version of that.
Thanks to Isaac Watts for the last line: Love so amazing, so divine: demands my soul, my life, my all. Feel free to use it. The last verse is meant to be hummed.
Ultimately for me, of course, this is not so much a response to what is an otherwise wonderful, worthy song, but hopefully my heart response to God’s love for me and all creation through Jesus.
