God is eternal and was fully God before (and after!) creation. The beauty of the Gospel is that God’s solution was not to come down from heaven to airlift us out of earth, but rather to bring heaven down to earth in such a way that it would renew everything”. I agree completely. Through the incarnation and ministry of Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven has been brought down to earth ( Matt 4:17). But sin fractured the union of heaven and earth.

In a recent exchange on the first two lines of this verse, my friend Glenn Packiam, who I admire as a great thinker and songwriter suggested this clarification of context: “Heaven– God’s space– and earth– human space– were one. In verse 2, we wanted to describe the love of God, who, though in need of nothing, so loved the world that He chose to send His one and only Son, so that we may not perish but have eternal life with Him ( John 3:16). While God is all-sufficient, all-powerful and all knowing the God of creation and of eternity He is also God whose love surpasses all knowledge ( Eph 3:19). “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” John 17:24 (NIV) When Jesus took on flesh we (humanity) got to see the glory of God ( John 1:14) the Name of Jesus reveals the beauty and glory of God. The mysteries of our infinitely beautiful and glorious God, once hidden for generations, have now been revealed through Jesus ( Col 1:26). Verse 1 begins with Jesus (the Word) at the beginning of all creation ( John 1) He was with God and was (and is!) God ( John 1:1). Brooke and I are so encouraged by the apparent diversity of churches singing ‘What A Beautiful Name’ and wanted to provide some insight into the revelations that we referenced as we wrote this song. So with that said, I wanted to take a moment and share some of the scriptural inspiration behind the song ‘What A Beautiful Name’. SEE ALSO: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME SONG STORY I am certainly grateful for my pastors who continually challenge us to serve our church and beyond with a new song and to continually push for truth and accuracy in our lyric writing. My prayer is that the use of poetry and song would never obfuscate the immutable truth and power of the bible but only ever help to further our understanding and worship of an indescribable God, and promote unity in the Body of Christ. Though I also believe worship, especially through corporate singing, has great potential to unify the diverse Church around our commonly held beliefs. I have experienced firsthand how enriching diversity within the Church can be to shaping a thoughtful theology. I grew up in a Baptist church, went to an Anglican (Church of England) school and now my family and I call Hillsong (a Pentecostal church) home.

I am an ardent believer in the necessity for the songs we sing in our churches to be firmly founded in the scriptures.

Hold the line lyrics meaning