Bible study #1 on "God Of Nations" by Newsboys  [song lyrics]

• originally released by newsboys.com 2004/2005
• authors: Jim Laffoon and Peter Furler

	From the album "Devotion" (2004) Read the song lyrics...

GOD OF NATIONS

"God of all nations/Lord of creation
You've called us to restore your lands
And place them back within your hands
The church you build will never fail
No gate or border will prevail"

We live in a period of time when the Kingdom of God is advancing more rapidly than at any other period in human history. That's right, though many Christians consider the incredible earthly ministry of Christ or the amazing growth of the first century church to be the acme of Kingdom advancement, this is not the case. As God moves through His church to restore the lands of the earth to His dominion, whole continents are ablaze with the fires of evangelism and spiritual transformation.

With nation after nation being shaken by the Gospel, even China, long considered to be an impregnable bastion of atheistic communism is also being transformed. Today with over 100 million of its populace converted to Christianity, some experts believe that Chinese Christians will constitute 20 to 30% of the population within the next 3 decades.

As for Islam, even her massive demonic gates have not been able to prevail against the churches rapid advance. Jesus has appeared to so many Moslems in the Middle East, that these apparitions are now being called" the man in the white robe". In one radical Islamic university, a student immediately ask to be saved after hearing the Gospel, because only a week before Jesus had shown him both heaven and hell. What a time to be alive!

Yet, what does worship have to do with this amazing advance of God's Kingdom around the world? In order to answer this question, let me take a moment to describe two of the ways that the transforming power of God is released through worship: First, worship creates an atmosphere in which the presence and power of God can be manifested. This is critical, because the explosive manifestation of God's presence and power has the ability to shatter the barriers of unbelief that surround nations, cities and individuals.

Second, when we sing the words and themes of scripture, our minds are renewed and our faith is and strengthened. This is because whether you are speaking the word of God or singing the word of God, the effect can be just the same: Your faith grows. In Colossians 3:16, Paul also likens the effects of worship to those of preaching, because they both release the transforming power of the word of God into the human soul.

"Let the word of God dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God"

Furthermore, if a man becomes what he thinks about (Proverbs 23:7, KJV), will he also become what he sings about? I believe the answer is yes. Could it be as we sing about God's love for the nations of the world, and his powerful plan to rescue them, that our hearts will begin to beat has is heart beats? Surely there are a people somewhere whose hearts beat for a lost and dieing world; a people whose lives reflect the fact that they now live for the King and the advance of His Kingdom. Rising on the wings of their worship to a place beyond narcissism and self-absorption; they now yearn and burn to restore their father's lands back into His hands.

Can you see it now? Can you hear it now? Let these refrains resound in the deepest corridors of your heart, until they burst from your lips in an anthem that fills your inner most being with faith, and changes the world around you.

"God of all nations/Lord of creation
You've called us to restore your lands
And place them back within your hands
The church you build will never fail
No gate or border will prevail"