After a win for Iowa State University, the crowd sings “Sweet Caroline” at the top of their lungs. Don’t ask me why, but it’s tradition. Singing is a form of celebration, and it is fitting to sing after a victory—to join with your victorious companions and joyfully proclaim your accomplishment. It’s been done on fields of play and fields of battle. And we do it every week as a church. We sing from a place of victory.
Not too long ago, we went through the book of Revelation. Before beginning the study, I asked our Veritas songwriting team to try and write a song we could sing together that captures the essence of what John is communicating through his letter.
The letter was written to a group of believers in the midst of some really challenging times, but the content of the letter is all about the imminent return of Christ and His certain future victory. There is a bit of a trash-talking tone in the letter that I absolutely love! A persecuted people, by faith, are proclaiming certain coming victory to the powers that be by saying something like, “You think you are in charge, but our God is coming on a white horse with a sword and an angel army, and He is bringing it!” That is something to sing about! And that is an important song for us to sing in the midst of hard times—to be reminded of the coming of our King and the place of victory we have in Him.
The result of my request to the songwriting team is our song, “Victorious.” My favorite lyric in the song is,
You will crush the serpent's head
Make him pay for what he did
You will conquer, You will win
That’s how this story ends
I LOVE IT!!! Victorious is what Christ is. Victory is what we have in Him. And it is the attitude and demeanor with which we should carry ourselves—not arrogantly, but confidently. Our King is returning. Justice will come. He will make all things new. He will establish his everlasting kingdom. We win!
I’m excited that our worship team is releasing a live recording of this song. I think it is a great song to start your day—to be reminded of the future that we have in Christ, and to enter it with the posture of freedom because you know what is coming! Who is coming! I also think it is a powerful song to end your day with—to be reminded again of the future we have in Christ, and to be able to rest well no matter what happened throughout the day, because you know what we have to look forward to. Knowing that despite all the pain and junk this world throws at us, in Christ,our future is bright. In Christ, we are victorious.