Rise up sons of splendor
and bow before His throne.
Rise up sons of splendor
and praise the Chosen One.
He is the Seed of Israel,
The Promised One of God.
He is our Priest and Sacrifice,
Our Covenant of Blood.
He is the Resurrected Son,
The Victor over death.
He is the Interceding One;
Let everything with breath
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
About seven years ago I was reading the book of Hebrews. It was a time that I had little direction, little focus and was daily asking myself what I was going to do "with the rest of my life." As I read, I began to write down a few strands of thought that grabbed my attention as biblical themes. These themes brought such a renewed sense of assurance in God's character and Christ's goodness, so I started looking harder at the "big picture" of the book of Hebrews.
Suddenly, I was arrested by a thought: Jesus, is my great high priest; Jesus is my sacrificial lamb. He is my priest and sacrifice. Only an amazing man - only an amazing God could accomplish this mysterious and wonderful double-reality. A wave of joy filled my heart and I dug through the text to find more connections, more themes, more joy and comfort. The inevitable happened. I found the blessed truth that the more I focused on God's amazing grace, nature, and salvation, the less I was concerned with me. I became less focused on what "I was going to do" and more amazed at what Jesus, my priest, my sacrifice, had done.
As the lyrics fell together (a simple set of statements - barely 100 words and nothing to impress by way of composition), I found how to begin the song. I had to begin with where I had been led - to utter surrender and utter allegiance to the King of Kings, the only Messiah, the only wise God. Chapter 2 rung in my ears: "10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." To be bought with such a price, the suffering of my captain, my king! This thought resulted in an unexpected reality: I am a son of the Glorious One - a son of splendor. The privilege and honor of such grace took shape in the first few lines. What should I do, then, in response to such privilege? Bow and rejoice.
Upon these simple lines of poetry rests my view of election. Jesus is the Chosen One. He is the one toward whom all history, all of God's gracious acts, all of the scripture was bending. He is the One in whom God the Father is "well pleased." He is the One to whom all honor is due. He is the one that deserves all focus and attention. Election is not about me. It is about Jesus. However it is that I share in this blessing; by whatever secret or obvious truth that I am brought into Him, by whatever process I become a child of the King, a son of splendor; I have only one response: bow and rejoice.
You will notice an intentional lack of the first person pronoun in this song. It is the lesson that I learned, the lesson that I hope encourages you today: focus on Jesus. He is the reason. He is the hinge pin of the entire created order - the point of it all. Avoid sowing the seeds of 'I' and 'me' today and, instead, reap the blessings of 'He' and 'Him'. Just think of who He Is.
