Jesus Music – Number One

Jesus Music is a newcomer band that hails from Vancouver Island Canada.  They asked me to examine the title song from their newly released EP Number One.

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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

God, who is our true Lord and Savior, offers us His grace.  When we receive Him, we become immersed in the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.  We are His children, loved and cherished.  He gave us freedom to choose Him or another, expecting us to obey His every command.  For His lovingkindness, we offer our praise, worship, and loyalty.

Score: 10/10

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

The entire lyrics are consistent with the Bible.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

Since this song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

We belong to God / God loves you

We who follow Jesus are children of God (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 3:18-23, and Ephesians 1:5).  We know God loves us because he sent Jesus to die for us while we were sinners (John 3:16 and Romans 5:6-8).

Don’t ever say it’s not true.

Don’t believe the Devil when he lies about God’s love (John 8:44).

[Stanza 2]

God lives in us, with free will for you

Combines the Holy Spirit who lives in us (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14) with the concept of free will, that we can make choices consistent with or contrary to the will of God.  This is shown in Genesis 3:1-7, where Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God, and in 1 John 2:1, where the word “if” denotes choice.  God expects us to use our freedom to do good and not evil (1 Peter 2:16).

Listen to what God wants you to do

Not just merely hear, but to put it into practice (Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Luke 6:47-49, Luke 11:28, John 13:17, 2 Corinthians 13:5, James 1:22-25).

[Stanza 3]

Some say God is my friend,

That is because some people read the first part of John 15:14 without reading the part about “if you do what I command”.

Well, He’s a whole lot more than that
All Grace comes from God

God is not merely a friend.  He is our Savior who offers undeserved favor (Genesis 15:6, Exodus 33:19, Psalm 32:1-2, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 4:3-8, Romans 5:1-2, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 5:15-21, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 9:14-16, Romans 11:5-6, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:6, Galatians 5:4, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 2:4-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, Titus 2:11, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, and James 2:23).

[Stanza 4]

Glory to God
Glory to God
All Glory to God
Hallelujah

The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound 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” when we use this word.

[Stanza 5]

God in Your Heart / God in your mind

See Stanza 2, line 1.  Also, see Romans 12:2.

Always Number one / He won’t leave you behind

Putting God first requires complete and total surrender to God (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).  When we do that, He will not forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:8-9, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 118:6, Lamentations 3:22-23, and Hebrews 13:5-6).

[Stanza 6]

God is NUMBER ONE

See Stanza 5, line 2.

Jesus is Truth / Jesus is Lord

Christ doesn’t just have the truth, He embodies it (John 14:6).  He is also Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15 and Revelation 19:16).

God is Number ONE

Repeats line 1.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those outside the camp of Christ should easily interpret similarly as I stated in section 1.  Jesus Music combines easily recognizable terms such as “Jesus” and “God” to point them to Christianity, showing that we Christians worship our Maker, belong to Him, and intend to become His obedient servants.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God that this song calls us to action, that we would yield to the will of a gracious and loving God.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Jesus Music’s Number One is awesome.  It proclaims the goodness of God, that He offers His compassion and grace to those of us who choose to receive Him.  In response, we surrender to His will, immersed in His Holy Spirit.  This glorifies God. Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.

I have no recommendation to offer for corporate worship.  While I personally enjoyed it, others might find this ancient style distracting.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Number One (listen to the song)

Artist: Jesus Music

EP: Number One

Genre: Independent

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 3:16

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2021 Jesus Music. All rights reserved. Used with permission.