Redemption's Reign

By Jared Crossley

Jared lives in Langley, BC with his wife Ruth Ellen and is writing songs about Easter and remembrance for his Integrative Project in the Arts & Theology to be performed in spring 2014. He also works at Trinity Western University overseeing its chapel program and training students in worship and the arts. You can learn more on his website.

I believe that truly redemptive and creative work are inseparable and that God is in the business of doing both. In fact, the Father’s redemptive work in history is the work of new creation in and around us through Jesus, in the power of the Spirit. We inhabit a world that is sick unto death yet abounding in life through God’s sustaining and redeeming creativity. The fact that we—and the whole of creation—groan and suffer is not a sign that all is lost but a sign that the best is yet to come (see Rom. 8:22-25). I wrote “Redemption’s Reign” several years ago to give voice to my longings for God to reign in and around me. The song meditates on the ways in which our generous God graces us with signs of kingdom life even in moments that seem far from profound. It describes the delight of being an embodied creature, the sorrow of being a fallen creature, and the assurance of being a redeemed creature.