See my blog post: On Being Berean, Part 2 for context on this series. Today's song is Come Forth by CAIN. Listen to it on YouTube. The lyrics can be found as well.
I have very mixed feelings on this song. I do. I honestly don't know if this song is intended to be a wake up call for believers who are a bit lazy and sluggish. (Like some of the churches we see in Revelation, not to mention some of Jesus' rebukes to his disciples). OR if the song is intended as an invitational to nonbelievers, to seekers. If the song writers intended it to be a wake up call to those who are WITHIN the church, those that have genuinely trusted and believed in Christ, then perhaps I have less of an issue with the song??? Perhaps. But if the song writers intended it to be a song of invitation (think of the way Just As I Am is used for altar calls) to the unbelieving world, I have some major theological issues with the song.
The song opens with a vivid description of Jesus.
He is a grave robber,He’s a wave walkerThere ain’t nothing that He can’t doHe’s a storm stopper,He’s a death mocker
The song then shifts focus to how Jesus has work for us to do in his power. And for the most part this is where the song stays focused: the power that can be obtained by us when we respond to God's calling in our lives.
There is another verse about Jesus, by the way:
Oh with a cross they killed HimBut the Spirit filled HimThe gates of hell flung open wideNow That same spirit lives within usStep into the power of Christ
I don't particularly have issues with these verses about Jesus. I don't. Not really.
I may not have issues with the other lyrics--but it all depends on the intended purpose and audience. There's a big, big, big difference in interpreting the meaning of the lyrics. Are unbelievers in mind here????? Are believers in mind????? Or perhaps that "carnal" Christian???? Who knows for sure.
Dead man open your eyesThe Lord ain’t finished with youWake up You sleeperWatch what He can doDead man open your eyesJesus is calling you
and later
Dead man open your eyesThe Lord ain’t finished with youWake up You sleeperWatch what He can doDead man open your eyesJesus is calling youI hear HimI hear HimI hear Him callingStep into the power of Christ
The Bible has something to say about those without Christ. Unbelievers. Lost. Blind. Deaf. Dead. There's really no (self) recovery for the dead. (And not much hope for the blind or deaf). Those that are spiritually dead (and the Bible clearly teaches this) cannot open their own eyes, cannot come forth (in their own strength or power), cannot respond (not even a little), cannot step into the power of Christ (they are dead, dead, super dead). I love Ezekiel 37 and of course Ephesians 2.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10
The Bible does mention several wake-up calls to believers--to the visible church of believers. Perhaps they are using "dead man" to mean sleeping believer. It's possible. But just hearing the line Dead man open your eyes over and over again just bothers me somehow. Because it's just not possible---literally or spiritually. I do think it's as simple as those couple of lines.
To be fair their song Rise Up (Lazarus) is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite songs. For whatever reasons the lyrics in that song doesn't set off any alarm bells.
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