1. The Prelude to the Christ-Song: Creation
- The Prelude to the Christ-Song: Creation.
“The Lord is the Song!” (Genesis 15:2; Psalm 118:14; Isaiah 12:2).
The Song with a Body. There are a few ways to understand this recurring biblical passage… The Lord is the reason I sing. The Lord is Who I love to sing about. The Lord is the object of my singing. The Lord is Who we sing to. The Lord is the one Who inspires our singing. I sing because of the Lord, in honor of the Lord, in obedience to the Lord. Many translations put this verse as saying, “The Lord is my song.” But biblical scholars say that this passage could just as correctly be translated as, “The Lord is The song,” or even, “The Lord is the song of God.”
Jesus is The Song. So this important piece of Scripture captures the imagination as it makes clear that… Jesus Himself IS the Song. Christ is the divine song with flesh on. He embodies the Song of the universe. Jesus is God’s Song to the world. The life of Christ is itself a Song. The Christ-Song is a perfectly constructed piece of eternal music in the flesh. Just as a song is the composer’s method of self-expression, Jesus is God’s perfect and ultimate form of Self-expression. As our Savior, Jesus is the Song of Salvation. As the Redeemer, He is the Song of Redemption. As the Deliverer, He is the Song of Deliverance. As the Wonderful Counselor, He is the Song of Wisdom. As the Prince of Peace, He is the Song of Shalom.
Another I AM? Might we be so bold as to add another I AM to John’s gospel list? I AM the Song. The Lord is my song, He is The Song. This idea makes it practically sacramental. Christ’s claim, I Am the Bread of Life, for example, was fulfilled in the Eucharist when we literally welcome the Bread of Life, the broken body of Jesus, into our very being. Likewise, when we sing the Song of Jesus, when we participate in Jesus as the Song, He becomes a part of us, body, soul and mind. The Christ-Song is the spiritual music in our lives.
The Infinity of the Song. Just as music, God’s greatest gift to mankind and the very language of heaven, has an infinite number of possibilities, the Christ-Song has an infinite number of styles, applications, qualities, moods. So it makes sense that the life and mission of Jesus can be explored by taking a careful look at the elements of a song. To study the aspects of the Christ-Song in the Gospels begs us to explore the elements of a song, any song. Hopefully, this study of the elements of the Christ-Song will make Him unforgettable, much like When words are put to music, they become unforgettable. When the living Word becomes the lyrics to a song, much the same happens. Hopefully, embracing Jesus Christ as the Song will make Him unforgettable as well. The elements of the Christ-Song can be explored through the ten elements of any song. What better way to start the Song than with the prelude?
“He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers – all things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17, the New Jerusalem Bible).
Drum roll, please… The Hebrew Bible is proud to introduce to you the Christ-Song! To those with ears to hear, the listener can look forward here to the first appearance of God’s Song as it was sung at the creation of the world! This passage in Proverbs 8 prepares the reader for what is to come when the Song takes on flesh. What better way can there be to whet the appetite for the Messiah than by listening to the Christ-Song’s introduction?
It is important to remember that early Christian tradition maintains that Lady Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible is messianic, an anticipation of the person of Christ. (St. Justin, 150 AD). Ever since the early Church Fathers, when one reads about Wisdom personified in Jewish Scriptures, Christian believers can simply understand Christ as Wisdom. That’s the Christian tradition. Secondly, it is very clear that Christ was a co-creator of the world. He participated in creation with the Triune God. As the Orthodox Church puts it, “The Father made the world through the Son in the Spirit.” And St. John declared it to be true in the famous first chapter of his gospel, “Through Him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through Him.”” (John 1:3).
In the poetic version of creation as seen in Proverbs 8 below, we see the vital role of wisdom, or as it reads, Lady Wisdom. This was a poetic device in the Hebrew Bible that anticipated the attribute of wisdom being completed in the form of an actual Person. Wisdom as poetically seen as a person was completed in the New Testament in the real Person, Jesus Christ. What was an attribute of God in the Old Testament came to be accepted as a picture of God Himself, Jesus the Son of God, in the New Testament, early church and to the present day. “Christ, who is the Wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24). In Proverbs 8, Wisdom was an intricate part of creation, and Christians have believed ever since that Wisdom was in fact the Person of Christ participating in the creation of the world. “In Him were created all things in heaven and earth. All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:11). “Through Him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through Him.”” (John 1:3).
The following translations and paraphrases have been woven together by Steve Larson for this version of Proverbs 8:22-31: New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, the Passion Translation, the New King James Bible, The Message, the Amplified Bible, the Tanakh, the Revised Standard Version, The New American Bible.
“Lord Yahweh possessed me, Lady Wisdom, at the beginning of His work. I was the first-fruits of His fashioning, long before His deeds of old. I was appointed from eternity, firmly set in place from the beginning, established ages ago. I was poured forth, poured and anointed, before He created the universe, before there was even an earth, before the world began.” (v.22-23).
“I was brought forth before the ocean depths were poured out, before there were any springs with their abounding waters, before there were any glorious fountains overflowing with water. Before mountains were sculpted and settled into place, before the hills took shape, I was already there.” (v.24-25).
“Before He had made the earth, its fields, the countryside, before He made its first elements, the primal dust of the earth, the world’s first clumps of clay; Before He set the heavens in place, fixing the sky firm, I was already there. When He drew a circle on the surface of the deep, marking out the horizon of the earth, I was there.” (v. 26-27).
“When He thickened the clouds above, setting the heavens in place; when the fountains of the deep swelled and gushed forth; when he assigned the sea its boundaries, commanding the waters so that they will not encroach on the shore; when he traced the foundations of the earth, fixing its pillars; I was right there with Him, making sure everything fit.” (v. 28-29).
“I was there with Him, the master craftsman at His side, right beside Him as His artist and confidant. I was filled with delight day after day, enjoying His company, rejoicing in His presence, playfully rejoicing before Him. I laughed and played on the surface of the earth, so happy with what He had made. I delighted in mankind, happily celebrating the human family.” (v. 30-31).