Nicole C. Mullen – Redeemer

Happy Resurrection day!

Easter is a time to reflect on the incredible sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is God who became a man, lived a sinless, perfect life, and died a horrible death on the cross to redeem undeserving wretches.  We owe Him our gratitude for the great blessings He offers us.

To help celebrate this momentous occasion, I chose to review Nicole C. Mullen’s Redeemer.

Mullen is an American Gospel and Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter.  She released 12 albums, including:

• Don’t Let Me Go (1991)
• Wish Me Love (1992)
• Nicole C. Mullen (2000)
• Talk About It (2001)
• Christmas in Black & White (2002)
• Live from Cincinnati: Bringin’ It Home (2003)
• Everyday People (2004)
• Sharecropper’s Seed, Vol. 1 (2007)
• A Dream to Believe In, Vol. 2 (2008)
• Captivated (2011)
• Crown Him: Hymns Old & New (2013)
• Like Never Before (2018)

Mullen won eight GMA Dove Awards, including Songwriter of the Year (2001), Female Vocalist of the Year (2002 and 2005), and Pop/Contemporary Record of the Year (Redeemer, 2001).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Nicole-c-mullen-redeemer-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?

The main thrust of Mullen’s song is that Jesus is alive!  He is the God who:

• Directs the universe and sets its borders
• Heals the exhausted
• Fixes spiritually broken hearts
• Walked out of the grave, bringing hope to the spiritually dead
• Takes away the sins of the world

In response, Mullen talks with God and will spread Christ’s fame to the masses.

Score: 10/10

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

This song and the Bible agree.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-8: Rhetorical questions with an obvious answer: God.  These opening lines speak to God’s sovereignty over creation, that He sets the boundaries for the sun, moon, stars, and earth’s oceans (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).

[Chorus 1]

Line 1: That is, Mullen knows Jesus is alive! He rose 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).

Line 2: Essentially repeats Verse 1.

Lines 3 and 4: This will be demonstrated when every knee bows and confesses Christ as Lord (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).

Line 5: Repeats line 2.

Line 6: Yes.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-4: The God described in Verse 1 and Chorus 1 is the same Christ who gives rest to the weary and heavy-laden (Matthew 11:28-30).

Lines 5-7: The same God who mends Mullen’s spiritually impoverished heart (Psalm 147:3) conquered death, bringing hope of new life (Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, Luke 20:35-36, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, 2 Timothy 1:10, and Hebrews 2:14).

[Chorus 2]

Lines 1-5: Essentially repeats Chorus 1, lines 1-5, except that Mullen calls creation and herself to surrender to Jesus (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).

[Bridge]

Line 1: Mullen recognizes that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, His death would be meaningless, thus, she would still be dead in her sins (1 Corinthians 15:14-19).

Lines 2-4: Mullen proclaims that Jesus’ payment for her 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) and subsequent resurrection.

Line 5: When Jesus rose again, He left the tomb empty (Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:1-6, Luke 24:1-9, and John 20:1-8).

[Chorus 3]

Lines 1-5: Essentially repeats Chorus 2, lines 1-5.

[Outro]

Lines 1-4: Repeats all or parts of Chorus 1, line 1.

Line 5: Mullen can tackle the future with Jesus at her side (Matthew 28:20, John 14:16-17, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39, and Revelation 3:20).  This would be impossible unless Jesus rose from the dead!

Lines 6 and 7: Essentially repeats part of Chorus 1, line 1.

Line 8: This speaks to Mullen’s relationship with God (John 15:1-11, Acts 17:27, Romans 8:15, Romans 11:16-24, and Philippians 3:8-10).  Once again, this is impossible unless Jesus resurrected.

Line 9: Repeats line 7.

Line 10: See Bridge, line 5.

Line 11: Repeats line 7.

Line 12: Mullen will obey Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

If unbelievers didn’t already make the connection in Chorus 1, Mullen explicitly ties the first Stanzas together in Verse 2 by mixing every day and Christianese language that is palatable to them.  The God of creation died for her and defeated death.  This makes it easy for outsiders to conclude Christianity.  Her intentions are clear in Bridge and Outro, that she plans to tell others about Christ.

While some unbelievers may think sin is about mere mistakes, Mullen equates it with brokenness and humiliation.  This makes misinterpretation difficult.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as the One who is risen.  He rules, redeems, and rejuvenates Mullen.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Nicole C. Mullen’s Redeemer is an incredible song.  Mullen intends to tell others, that the God of creation died for her lawbreaking.  His resurrection brings hope to a sick and dying world, bringing glory to God.  Unbelievers would be hard-pressed to miss Mullen’s central message, much less all her points.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Redeemer (listen to the song)

Artist: Nicole C. Mullen

Album: Nicole C. Mullen

Genre: Gospel

Release Year: 2000

Duration: 4:55

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