Hillsong Worship (Feat. Brooke Ligertwood, Chidima, Passion & Jenn Johnson) – Agnus Dei / King Of Kings

Hillsong Church is a megachurch founded in 1983 in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia.  It was formerly led by Hillsong Founder Brian Houston.  Hillsong possesses a massive discography, spanning across four music ministries.  These include Hillsong UNITED, Hillsong Worship, Hillsong Young & Free, and Hillsong Kids.

Hillsong has won several awards within their Hillsong UNITED and Hillsong Worship artist groups.  As of this writing, there are no awards for Hillsong Young & Free or Hillsong Kids.

Also, check out my entire list of Hillsong reviews and Christmas songs, Arrival, Seasons, and Prince of Heaven.

Side Note: This song is a combination of Michael W. Smith’s song Agnus Dei and Hillsong Worship’s King of Kings.  Why am I doing this separate review?  Because you asked for it and voted on it after I realized this.  I’m just giving the people what they want, even if it involves copy + paste from both reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Hillsong-worship-agnus-dei-king-of-kings-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.  I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

We praise God because He rules over His creation.  He is set apart and omnipotent.  He is the Lamb of God who was killed for us.

Hillsong strings together a series of truth claims about God and man:

Man

• Apart from the light of God, our life is darkness, dead in sin.
• We praise God for His great love for us, sacrificing Himself for our lawbreaking, redeeming us through His washing blood, and freeing us from our deadness in sin.
• Saints rose from their graves after the death of Christ.
• Holy Spirit entered into Christ followers, starting at Pentecost following the ascension of Christ.

God

• The person of Jesus left the glory and majesty of heaven and came to earth to rescue sinners from their deadness in sin.
• Jesus’ came through the virgin Mary as a physically weak and frail child.  This is an incredible act of humility on His part.
• Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant law and Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.
• God exists as a trinity and is worthy of praise.
• Christ came to preach about the Heavenly Kingdom.
• Jesus reconciles the dead sinners to Himself, redeeming us from the consequences of our lawbreaking.
• Christ conquered the grave, defeating death and giving man hope of eternal life with Him.
• Jesus is the foundation of the church.

There is also a statement about the angelic rejoining when sinners repent.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

This entire song aligns with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: The word “alleluia” is a derivative of the word ‘Hallelujah”, which is Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song”.  “Alleluia” is often used within liturgies, usually combined with Psalms or other passages of Scripture before proclaiming the Gospel.

Line 2: This references God’s sovereignty (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Chorus 1]

Line 1: God is holy; set apart from the rest of us (Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, and 1 Peter 1:15-16).

Line 2: According to Strong’s, there are 48 references in the Old Testament and 10 in the New Testament to God as almighty.  God as “Lord” is another reference to His rulership.  See Verse, line 2.

Line 3: That is, the Lamb that was slain, Jesus, is worthy to receive our praise (Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, John 1:36, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:12, and Revelation 13:8).

Side Note: The song’s title, Agnus Dei, is Latin for “Lamb of God”.

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

Lines 5-8: Essentially repeats lines 1-3.

Line 7: So be it.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Those who are dead in sin (Proverbs 21:16, Luke 15:11-24, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13, and 1 Timothy 5:6) are in darkness, outside the light of God (Proverbs 4:19, John 1:3, John 3:19-21, John 11:10).

Lines 3 and 4: He came not to do His own will (John 6:38) but emptied Himself to rescue us (Philippians 2:5-11).

Line 5: Christ did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He also fulfilled north of 300 Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself.

Line 6: References Jesus’ virgin mother, Mary, who will carry the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, and Luke 1:31).

Lines 7 and 8: Combines ideas in lines 3, 4, and 6 with the birth of Jesus, as recorded in Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 1:25, and Luke 2:7.

[Chorus 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Praise the Trinity!

Line 3: Many passages of Scripture that speak on the glory of God include Exodus 16:7, Exodus 24:17, Exodus 40:34-35, Leviticus 9:23, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 8:1, Psalm 19:1-4, Isaiah 6:1-3, Isaiah 40:5, Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 58:8, Isaiah 60:1, Habakkuk 2:14, John 1:14, John 17:22, Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 1:1-3, Revelation 21:10-14, and Revelation 21:23.

Majesty is a royal word. See next line.

Line 4: More praise offered to all members of the Trinity, with an added attribute of King of Kings existing in Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 136:3, Daniel 2:47, Matthew 28:18, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 1:5, and Revelation 19:16.

[Verse 3]

Line 1: Christ talked to His followers about the Kingdom of Heaven through many parables (Matthew 13:24-52, Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 20:1-16, Matthew 22:1-14, Matthew 25:1-30, and Mark 4:26-34).

Line 2: Yet another reason why Christ came (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Lines 3-8: The sacrifice of Jesus paid the penalty for our lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

[Verse 4]

Lines 1-4: References the events surrounding the glorious resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

Line 5: References the spiritually dead who are now alive because of Jesus (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24). It does not reference saints who broke out of their graves in Matthew 27:52-53 because this happened right after Jesus died.

Lines 6-8: Not just in awe, but rejoicing (Luke 15:7 and Luke 15:10).

[Verse 5]

Lines 1 and 2: Starting with the first recipients of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), with Christ as its foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Lines 3 and 4: Christ’s words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33).

Lines 5 and 6: By the blood of Jesus, we are washed clean (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Lines 7 and 8: That is, from deadness in sin to life with Him (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

[Outro]

Line 1: Repeats Chorus 2, line 4.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

This song contains several explicit references to God and the word “alleluia, which contains associations to Judaism and Christianity.  In addition, Much of what I listed in section 1 should be easily understood by an unbeliever.  At the very least, they will walk away thinking that it’s a Christian song about God redeeming mankind from their darkness.  If they can get that much out of it, then I think we can call this a success for evangelism.

Even if unbelievers aren’t initially aware that the Lamb of God is Jesus, they will figure it out after subsequent Verses.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as our Holy Lord and King, Christ’s rescue and redemption of sinners, and His glorious resurrection.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Hillsong Worship’s Agnus Dei / King of Kings is another great song produced by a popular artist, though with some lyrics borrowed from Michael W. Smith’s work.  It magnifies Christ as Lord, Holy, and the Lamb as the Sovereign Ruler of creation.  It also focuses on the Gospel message, that Christ came to rescue sinners from their darkness, rising again to defeat death and giving us hope of a new life with Him, bringing Him glory. Unbelievers will conclude that it’s religious worship, with its core message understood by most unbelievers.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Agnus Dei / King of Kings (listen to the song)

Artist: Hillsong Worship (Feat. Brooke Ligertwood, Chidima, Passion & Jenn Johnson)

EP: At Easter – EP

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 6:43

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