Behind The Song: Son Of God/God The Son

The phrase "Son of God and God the Son" leapt out while I was listening to a sermon on John ch.1 by one my elders. I felt it was a great way to sum up the mystery of the incarnation, which C.S. Lewis called "the grand miracle". The verses flowed easily, but the chorus didn't. Eventually I settled on this-

This is the miracle of God made flesh -

The life that bridged the great divide.

This is the miracle of God made flesh -

The blameless cursed & crucified.

This is the miracle,

The miracle of Jesus Christ.

We introduced it at Grace Church and though it was well received it never really seemed to take off into the chorus the way I felt it should. In hindsight I thought the chorus needed to be to God rather than about God & be a simpler 'outburst of praise' in response to the amazing truth the verses were trying to express. Over the next two years I wrote four completely different choruses before I found the right one.

And so all we long to do

Is grow more in love with you

Jesus Christ, with all our hearts

We worship you.

To you be the loudest praise

Your name far above all names

Jesus Christ, Risen One

Son of God, God the Son

We worship you.

The overall theology and particularly the line "You became what You we're not" were influenced by the book "The Glory of Christ by Peter Lewis.

The song is in the minor key throughout (which I have a bit of a fixation on) and, unusually, the melody starts one the second degree of the scale rather than a chord tone. I worried that it would be too weird but everyone seemed to pick up ok. The opening melody line

"Son of God, God the Son",

reappears in the chorus a scale tone higher, on the line

"Jesus Christ, with all our hearts".

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