Staring at the computer screen, a lump formed in my throat as music filled my ears and images flashed before my eyes. Tears streamed down my face as an overwhelming sense of awe swept over me. Once the final note of the song had played, I brushed the tears away from my cheeks and tried to fathom why an awesome, all-powerful God would choose to have a relationship with a finite and sinful person like me (and really with any person at any point in history).
It all started as I was looking for a worship song to accompany the first week of a new Bible study, Jen Wilkin’s God of Creation. I didn’t anticipate ending up in a heap of tears when I clicked “play” to watch a lyric video of Hiillsong United’s “So Will I (10 Billion X),” but that’s exactly what happened. I guess the visuals helped me realize how the song brilliantly and beautifully sums up the message of Scripture.
As I read the lyrics and watched the accompanying images on the screen, the song gave me a deeper understanding of the wonder of God’s creation, sovereignty, and grace. Scattered throughout the lines are references to key points in Scripture. In a span of about ten minutes, I located numerous passages with direct correlations to the song’s lyrics. Each one tells something about the wonder of God’s creation and His redemption of humankind. Here are a few of them:
-God was there at there at the start of creation, before the beginning of time (Genesis 1:1-3)
-The vapor of His breath formed the planets (Psalm 33:6-9)
-The heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1-4)
-Everything God created reveals His nature and points praise back to Him: angels, the heavenly hosts, sun, moon, stars, creatures of the sea, lightning, hail, snow, clouds, wind, mountains, hills, trees, animals, birds, kings, princes, rulers, young and old, men and women (Psalm 148)
-No word God speaks is in vain, nothing He says comes back void (Isaiah 55:11)
-Rocks cry out to Him in praise (Luke 19:40)
-God chases down our hearts through all of our failure and pride (Matthew 18:10-14 & Romans 8:1-4)
-Jesus was abandoned in darkness to die (Mark 15:33-34)
-As God speaks forgiveness, our failures disappear (Psalm 103:12, Romans 6:23, 1 John 1:9)
-Jesus lost His life so that we could find ours and He left the grave behind, just as we will (1 Corinthians 15:22)
-Jesus gladly chose to surrender His position of equality with God and died to save us. He calls us to surrender our lives to others in love, just as He did (Philippians 2:4-8)
-God never leaves us behind (Matthew 18:10-14, Hebrews 13:5b)
Fixating on how, why or when God created the earth distracts us from the most basic fact laid out in Scripture—simply that He did create it. Realizing that our lives are tiny blips in the Lord’s grand scheme is both inspiring and humbling. He has always been and always will be. He knows what came before we existed and what will happen long after we’re gone. He sees the big picture that we’re incapable of grasping. He stands outside the boundaries of time and intellectual comprehension that limit us.
I’ve intentionally kept this post short so you’ll take the time look up a few of the Scriptures listed above. (If you only have time for one, read Psalm 148.) Take a moment to watch and listen to the video. Read the lyrics and enjoy the pictures that illustrate them so beautifully. Let the words of praise overwhelm you in the very best way. Although people today overuse the word “awesome,” this is one place where it’s exactly the right word to describe who God is and what He’s done for us.
Click on the link now and enjoy Hillsong United’s “So Will I (100 Billion X).” Trust me, you’re going to miss out if you skip over this part of the post. Taking a few minutes to reflect on the awesomeness of God is well worth your time.
Jen Wilkin, God of Creation: A Study of Genesis 1-11, Lifeway Press 2017 (Week 2)