Song Spotlight: King of Kings
by Makayla Guzman
Raise your hand if you belong to the “Selective Memory Loss Club” .
The criteria for club admission: habitually only remembering things that you WANT to hold onto. This goes out to everyone who can remember every moment from their awesome summer vacation or every word to their favorite song but conveniently forgets about upcoming assignment deadlines. Welcome to the club; I am the president.
When it comes to our spiritual life, all of our sinful hearts can suffer from selective memory loss. We lean into this habit when we relax in our walk with Jesus, quickly drifting into a life where we have crowned ourselves king or queen. It is so easy for us to forget how much we need grace. We remember that we have been saved, but we forget all that we have been saved from. We remember that life without Jesus is empty, but we forget the infinite value of the gift of salvation. We remember that we need Him, but we forget just how desperately. We remember that He satisfies our every need, but we forget that He is the delight of our heart. And in the end, we end up thinking that we don’t ACTUALLY live in a deep need for grace every single day.
When we do not consistently preach the gospel to our hearts, selective memory takes over and produces passive Christianity. A lukewarm Church. Saints still eagerly tangled in sin. Lives that look more like the world than citizens of heaven. Meditation on the gospel should not be done in fear of losing our salvation - nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:31-39)! Rather, letting the gospel truth repeatedly wash over our hearts and minds has everything to do with keeping ourselves aligned with the heart of our Father.
Robert Robinson summed up the condition of selective memory loss well in his hymn. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”
“Letting the gospel truth repeatedly wash over our hearts and minds has everything to do with keeping ourselves aligned with the heart of our Father. ”
So how do we preach the gospel to our hearts? One way is to sing it during our times of both collective and private worship. Those moments when we lift our voices are opportunities to remind our souls of the story of redemption that points all glory to our God. One song that has been encouraging my heart lately is King of Kings by Hillsong Worship. Every verse is packed with theological truth as it unpacks the narrative of the gospel through beautiful lyrics.
“To fulfill the law and prophets
To a virgin came the Word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt” (Verse One)
The first verse of this song focuses on the utter need of creation for a savior, as well as reminds us how Jesus humbled himself from his position in heaven to take on the likeness of man (Philippians 2).
“To reveal the kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the cross” (Verse Two)
The second verse continues the road to the cross by showing the multifaceted purpose for why Jesus gave his own life. I love the language used here: reveal, reconcile, redeem. How marvelously gospel-centric! (Ephesians 1:7-14)
“And the morning that You rose
All of Heaven held its breath
'Til that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death…
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has given life to me”
The final verse culminates in the resurrection of Jesus, just as our faith stands on this event as the culmination of His victory! As the song builds, so does our hope in the resurrection power that defeated death and set us free from the brokenness of our sin (Romans 6).
Join me in singing the gospel message to yourself! If you’re looking for a good place to start, here’s a playlist of songs whose lyrics directly sing the good news. Of course, music is not the only way to remind yourself of the gospel. Pray for the Holy Spirit to continually bring it to the forefront of your mind. Memorize Scripture passages that shout the message of salvation. Surround yourselves with people who are fluent in the language of the resurrection.