by Kevin Lorow, Cuyahoga Valley Church, Worship Arts Assistant
“To God be the glory, great things He has done! So loved He the world that He gave us His sin, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the life gate that all may go in.”
“To God Be the Glory” was first written by the legendary songwriter Fanny Crosby in the 1800’s. The lyrics have long been staples in many churches across the world, declaring the glory of the Lord! Over the past few years, the Cuyahoga Valley Church (CVC) Worship team led by Nate Green and Bryan Karas revised the melody of the song. This new version of an old hymn has been used often at CVC and is the title track of the album we released this year!
This song’s lyrical strength comes from its simplicity. God should be glorified because of who He is and because He has demonstrated Himself to be worthy of it! How has He done this? Romans 5:8 says that
“God demonstrated His love to us in that, while we were still sinners, He died for us.”
Notice the word used there, “demonstrated”. To manifest, testify, to provide evidence of. This word choice reminds us that God was always love, but he proved it through His son Jesus. God has always been who He said He is! His glory and worthiness is not based off of what He has done, but rather declared through it! God isn’t merely worthy of our worship because He sent Jesus to die in our place, He proved that He is worthy of our worship! Jesus is the revelation of the glory of the Father! He shows us and reveals to us the splendor of Yahweh! John 1:14 reads
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The actions of Jesus Christ are not simply the reason why God is worthy of our worship, but through what He has done, we can know who He is. Love. Grace. Justice. Mercy. Compassionate. What an amazing God we serve!
