Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it
For by His power each tree and flower
Was planned and made
Jesus is Lord! The universe declares it
Sun, moon and stars in heaven
Cry, ‘Jesus is Lord’
‘Jesus is Lord!’ ‘Jesus is Lord’
Praise him with Hallelujah’s
For Jesus is Lord!
I was looking for a creation creed that we could say together at Forest Church and Richard Horn made the very helpful suggestion of using this older Pentecostal hymn. The other verses declare more of the gospel story but for the sake of space I would just like to consider this verse
In the beginning was the Word… as John’s Gospel affirms – Jesus is Lord is the place to start. How is this stated? By creation proclaiming it through what has been made. Let’s take a moment to think about that. Even before the writer of the song states what part of creation proclaims the Lordship of Jesus, we can think of the obvious proclaimers such as humankind. The words that we use in our worship declare his Lordship. If we don’t proclaim that Lordship, Jesus himself said “…if they kept quiet (his disciples) the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” (Luke 19:40 NLT). We can then think of other parts of creation that sing praise – maybe not so obvious and clear as people do but singing all the same – like the birds. Birds do this not just for practical reasons but also for sheer joi de vivre.
Interestingly the song refers to ‘each tree and flower’ being planned and made, take a moment to consider that. In church we might hear that we as people are planned or that God has a plan for us but what of the plants? As you well know plants are used often for food but again like the birds they also give us joy. This subject is better dealt with by lots of the New Nature writers. One writer gives the argument that joy is or should be one of the main reasons for looking after nature. (The moth snowstorm; nature and joy by Michael McCarthy – Environmental editor of The Independent). Of course there is the other scripture which poetically states that ‘the trees and the fields shall clap their hands’. I’m sure you can think of other verses.
To state the obvious, the song is divided up into the creation here and the creation out there…! The next part of the song speaks of the universe. That word universe sums up quite a lot. By saying that puts me in mind of our solar system which is set out in the song by the words sun, moon and stars. As studies show us the universe contains more than our galaxy, think of all those stars! (Louis Giglio in his Indescribable DVD deals with this subject in a way that points to a creator, worth watching). Space is a massive subject and I have not much space to write about it let alone the expertise!
There are many other songs both in the bible and in Christian culture that have creation as a theme these help us to remember and include the creator and the creation in our worship. We are not encouraged to worship creation but it does help us to turn our thoughts to the creator. We join what creation already does but with the language from our mouths and sometimes unspeakably in silent awe and wonder which is an expression of our hearts. Quite something to think that creation has been celebrating in this way since the beginning even though the fall affected it.
We are going to consider more how we can include creation themes in our praise and worship over the next few months as we look at becoming an Eco-church! Watch this space!