By Wilson Emmanuel
THE BELIEVER'S PRAISE.
Ephesians 1:3(KJV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
The Praise Songs of The Believer Unto GOD should so filled with a Bias for Christ's Redemptive Work that it would be uncomfortable for the Unbeliever to hear and maybe mistakenly sing it without getting convicted about the Gospel, the goodness of GOD revealed in Christ with no shades or shadows.
What GOD has done for Us in Christ has changed everything, and it should reflect in our disposition and perception of anything about GOD.
Singing about God's greatness and mightiness without a Bias Picture Of What Christ has done can be misleading sometimes. It could be some good sounding stuff with the mightiness and awesomeness of GOD from the Bible(and sometimes from even some of our experiences), His mighty works in delivering the Children of Israel from bondage in Egypt and the likes.
That's where we come up with terms like "Mighty Warrior", "Great In Battle" and the likes, and they sound all cool, but note, the heathen have such references to their gods too, nor will the person who thinks GOD is a figment of some human imagination take you seriously because the presentation of GOD in that light makes Him into a Being that is selective, and the destructive.
Whereas GOD is no respecter of persons, but accepts All Who would receive His Free Gift of Love and Salvation.
And that is not The Picture of GOD for Us In Christ.
In Christ, we have A FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP with GOD, and that changes how we would relate with Him or speak of Him.
All Of The Believers Praise, should Always Be A Revelation of His Relationship With The Father In Christ, not just some sweet sounding words. Whenever we have an opportunity to eulogize our Lord, Lover, Friend, Christ and what He has done should be the focus of the words we spell out.
It speaks highly of the value we place on His work for Us.
We(The New Creation) are GOD's Best Creation, because presently the World is out of course.
The New Creation Is GOD's Only Nation On The Earth.
Our Praise Cannot but Speak of these things, because this is or rather should be our experience of GOD.
Our vocabulary, words and lyrics should be In-Christed, Christ is Our Experience, not any wonder mentioned about GOD in the Old Testament Writings, except that Christ and His Work for Us is what we Picture out from there.
This is never to say we're doing away with the Old Testament Writings(don't read your own meaning into what I have said).
The Old Testament Writings is a documentary of GOD's plan of redemption being unveiled and experienced by Israel. It was written FOR US - for Our Learning(Romans 15:4).
The New Testament Epistles are written TO US to Live By and Practice, and create our experiences from, because that's where our Reality lies.
So it is out of place singing another's experience, understanding and revelation of GOD as Praise to GOD, when the revelation of Christ and His Work for Us should be our Praise and Testimony.
I hope this meets you well.
Loves.