Matt Boswell – Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Contemporary Christian pastor artist Matt Boswell is the Pastor of Ministries and Worship at Providence Church in Frisco, Texas.  He released two albums and two EP’s, including:

• Enter In (2005)
• Gravity and Gladness (2010)
• Messenger Hymns, Vol. 1 – EP (2012)
• Messenger Hymns, Vol. 2 – EP (2015)

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Matt-boswell-come-behold-the-wondrous-mystery-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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Matt Boswell invites his audience to look upon several marvelous secrets about God:

• He became a man
• He paid for the penalty we deserve; our sins cast upon Him
• He grants us undeserved favor; eternal life with Him
• The God-man Jesus is sinless
• Christ resurrected from the dead

We respond to these glorious mysteries with adoration and worship.

Score: 10/10

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

Every jot and tittle aligns with the Bible.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: Jesus, who is a ruling King (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16), left heaven to become human (John 1:1, John 1:14, and Philippians 2:5-8).

Lines 5 and 6: He is the Light that destroys darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).

Lines 7 and 8: Christ came to pay for our sins (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).  Also, see commentary in lines 1-4.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.

Lines 2-4: References the sinless nature of Jesus (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:24, John 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Peter 2:21-23, and 1 John 3:5).

Line 5: Jesus is compared to the first Adam as the “last Adam”.  While the first Adam “became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7), the second Adam, Christ, is a “life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45-48).

Line 6: Given that our hearts are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and that we’ve all violated God’s Law (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Job 15:14, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and 1 John 1:8-10), we deserve eternal separation from God (Matthew 18:8, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Jude 1:7, Revelation 14:11, and Revelation 20:10 ).

Lines 7 and 8: Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17).  It is on Him that we stand firm (Deuteronomy 32:4, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 22:47, Psalm 18:31, Psalm 28:1, Psalm 62:2, Psalm 94:22, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, Ephesians 2:20, 2 Timothy 2:19, and 1 Peter 2:6).

[Verse 3]

Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.

Line 2: “Upon the tree” references Acts 5:30, Acts 10:39, Acts 13:28-29, Galatians 3:13, and 1 Peter 2:24, which itself references the cross.

Lines 3 and 4: Our sins were placed upon Jesus (Isaiah 53:4-11, Matthew 8:17, John 1:29, Galatians 3:13, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Line 5: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 7 and 8.

Line 6: It was foretold in Isaiah 53:1-12 that a “man of sorrows” would be “crushed for our iniquities” and ” bore the sin of many”, among other things.

Line 7: Quotes part of Hebrews 2:10.

Line 8: To what could we measure the love of Jesus that grants undeserved favor to us who are wicked, undeserving lawbreakers through sacrifice (Romans 5:6-8)?

[Verse 4]

Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.

Line 2: Jesus is God (Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 43:10-11, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26, John 1:1-3, John 1:14, John 5:17-18, John 8:23-25, John 8:28, John 10:30-33, John 14:9, John 20:28-29, Philippians 2:5-6, Colossians 1:16-19, Colossians 2:8-9, Titus 2:13, 1 Timothy 6:14-16, Hebrews 1:10-12, Revelation 1:8, and Revelation 22:13).

Lines 3 and 4: He resurrected from the dead (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29 Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)!  We respond with praise and worship.

Lines 5-8: Stated specifically in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope that we will spend eternity with God (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4).

[Outro]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Verse 4, lines 1-4.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

With a mix of everyday language and some Christianese, those outside the camp of Christ are invited to “taste and see” the goodness of God (Psalm 34:8).  Though they may not comprehend the “new Adam”, the tree is the cross, that sin is breaking God’s laws, or that Christians will experience a resurrection of sorts, they will easily interpret it as a Christian message, that Jesus died for them, He was perfect, and that He rose from the dead.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God that this song exalts the sinless Christ as the risen King who takes away the iniquity of us, spiritually dead people who deserve eternal separation.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Matt Boswell’s Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery is a great song.  It invites us to gaze upon God’s goodness through the Son, whose sacrifice and resurrection makes possible the forgiveness of sins to undeserving individuals, bringing God glory.  Those who do not yet know Christ will get the gist of Boswell’s message, even if they do not comprehend some of his terminologies without further research.

I highly recommend this for corporate worship for services that can handle solid meat.  Those whose congregational focus is milk should look elsewhere.

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery (listen to the song)

Artist: Matt Boswell

EP: Messenger Hymns, Vol. 2 – EP

Genre: Hymn

Release Year: 2013 (single), 2015 (EP)

Duration: 3:48

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

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.