The God We Love

1,700 years ago, the First Council of Nicaea adopted the Nicene Creed. It is preceded by and borrows most of its foundational structure from the Apostle's Creed, written sometime during the 2nd Century. Although the Apostle's Creed is older, the Nicene Creed remains relevant today because it was created to clarify and settle theological differences arising from the Arian heresy, most notably, the deity of Christ. 

I did not grow up knowing the Nicene Creed. I was raised in the Evangelical Free Church of America denomination, where the creeds were simply not taught. Either that or I wasn't paying attention that day in Sunday school. Could've been the latter, but we'll never know. Fast forward about 20 years or so, and I bump into an Anglican bishop, now retired, who took the time to speak truth into my life and pointed me in a new direction that would ultimately lead me to the Reformed Faith. You could say he missed the mark on converting me to Anglicanism, but even he doesn't see it that way. Nevertheless, he explained to me the importance of the Creeds.

It is from that very recognition that many grow up without knowledge of the Nicene Creed, which inspired English singer-songwriter Matt Redman to share the creed in song. At some point in the process, he reached out to Rich Thompson from CityAlight, a volunteer-based songwriting group from Australia, to collaborate on the project. The result is this song, "The God We Love."

Song-writer Jonny Robinson of CityAlight said, "I think there is a very strong link between speaking the truth and knowing the truth, and what the Nicene Creed offers is this really well-tested, battle-tested declaration. For 1700 years, people have kept getting this out and saying, 'Does this still speak for us? Does this still represent us? Is this still what our church believes today?' And then the answer keeps coming back, 'Yes, it is'. (Judy Adamson, SydneyAnglicans)

About the song, Robinson goes on to say, "So, because there is so much content in the verses, we really wanted the chorus to be a release. You're taking in so much as you sing through the verse; the chorus is a moment where the church can give out and lift their voices, so the chorus is very simple:

All glory to the Father now

All honor to the Son

And praise the Spirit, now and always

- This is the God we love."

Collectively, the writers of the song offer, "We pray there would be that balance between truth and beauty, between the historic creed and singability in such a way that people can take ownership of this declaration and make it a corporate declaration as well."