Famous One

by Tom Michael
bass guitarist for Sonicflood

When Sonicflood got together to decide who would write Bible studies for the new songs from the Cry Holy CD, I jumped at the chance to write on the song, Famous One, written by Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves. There are a couple reasons I wanted to write about this song. First, I think it is a wonderfully written song. Secondly, I think the idea of God’s “fame” is right at the center of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It also reminded me of a chapter from one of my favorite books, The Pleasures of God by John Piper (author of Desiring God). The chapter is titled “The Pleasure of God in His Fame.” The biggest thing the church needs to keep at the forefront of our teaching today is the God-centeredness of the gospel. The idea of God’s fame is an important aspect of that. I will try to lead us into that concept through God’s Word applied to our minds by His Holy Spirit.

“But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate My holiness.” Ezekiel 36:20-23

The above verses are some of my favorite in scripture. The reason I love them so much is because they root our salvation in something greater than ourselves: God’s concern with His reputation or His “fame.” We all know that God saves us because He loves us. But is His love like our love, fickle and changing? Does it have a foundation beyond emotional attachment to us or is there a condition that we must somehow live up to?

There are other clues in scripture that indicate that God’s passion for His fame is a driving force in what He does. Here is an example of how God’s desire to be famous keeps a ruthless dictator in power for a while longer:

“For the scripure says to Pharoah, “For this very pupose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Romans 9:17)

God could have jumped right to Plague #10 or just breathed death onto Pharoah right away but He keeps him around a few plagues longer just so that the fame of the God of the Israelites would spread around the world. As we see later in scripture, this works. God’s reputation is spreading. In fact, the account of Rehab in Joshua 2:8-13, tells of how she was converted by the fame of God’s glory as revealed through this Egyptian episode! (Please read it.) Joshua 9:3-4 talks about how God’s fame has put fear in the Gibeonites. Isaiah 63:11-14 says to God that He did these things  “to make for Yourself a glorious name.” And Psalm 106:8 says, “Yet He saved them for His name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.” Because of their link with Jehovah, they are being spared from death over and over. God’s concern with His fame has become a great benefit to His children.

But is it right that God’s desire is to be famous? We are called to be humble–shouldn’t God be humble, too? But, of course, true humility is an accurate view of one’s self. So, for God to not be God’s number one priority would cause God Himself to be an idolator. May it never be! God’s most valuable being is Himself, and rightly so.

What makes this so great is what I stated earlier. Our union with Christ through faith is what makes the “God-centeredness of God” so precious to us. Because we are united with Him and He has Christ’s best interest at heart, He has our best interests at heart, too! Our good and God’s glory are inseperably bound together. That is why the Psalmist says, “For Your name’s sake O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” Peter says that we were chosen, “that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Paul goes into more detail about how God’s holiness is proven in his letter to the Romans. He talks about the conflict between God’s justice and His mercy. How can He save the people that He loves and yet “vindicate His holiness” as was stated in our Ezekiel passage? If He doesn’t honor both parts of who He is then His reputation is ruined! Has He backed Himself into a corner? Not at all.

(We) “are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

God is “just” and He is the “justifier.” Thanks be to God that He has maintained his pristine reputation and included us in the benefits of that!

This is also good news for those of us called to proclaim the gospel through world missions. If God is this concerned with His fame, He will surely bless His Church with success in the world. What encouragement to missionaries to know that a primary concern for God is that His reputation spread! Look at the following promise the all-powerful Famous One makes:

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14

Hopefully, we have a better idea of God’s fame, how important it is to Him, why it is and what that means to us. Again, if you are interested in this, much of what I have written in this study is from the book, The Pleasures of God (Multnomah, Portland, OR) by John Piper.

His insight was priceless to me, both in writing this study and in how I view my life in the Famous One, Christ Jesus.

Thought/Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of when someone mentions “fame?”
2. Name a few famous people and what they are famous for.
3. What sort of accomplishments keep people famous though they have been dead for a hundred years or more?
4. How can you take care to keep God’s reputation of holiness clean?
5. How does being justified by faith instead of by keeping a list of rules keep God’s reputation holy? (hint: By whose righteousness are we justified?)
6. What kind of reputation do the gods of other world religions have right now?
7.  In what ways do you see God’s fame spreading throughout the world?
8. What would you have God do through you to make more His name more famous?

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