Over the course of 24 Sunday mornings, Abundant Life walked through a verse-by-verse study of the Book of Hebrews. Throughout Hebrews, the author reminds his readers that Jesus has all authority and power over all the earth. The main theme we picked as our anthem for the series was “Jesus is better.”
This idea was repeated during every sermon to remind us that nothing can compare to Jesus. He is better than angels, better than prophets, priests, and kings, better than the law, better than anything our minds can comprehend. Following along with this theme, our worship team wrote the song “Better” as a way for us to praise Jesus for the fact that He is better.
The Story of “Better”
Our songwriting team was inspired to capture the message of the Book of Hebrews in a song. The fruit of those efforts was a song simply titled “Better” which calls us to behold Jesus as better than all the things our hearts are prone to chase after.
Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. If we want to run the faith race set before us, we must believe that Jesus is better and keep our eyes focused on Him.
- “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”—Hebrews 12:2
While the things of this world will eventually fade away, Jesus stays constant and unchanging. Because of His unchanging nature, we can have confidence that He is a better Person to place our faith in.
- “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”—Hebrews 13:8
We purpose in our hearts to follow Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who intercedes for us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He deserves all our attention and praise.
What Happens When We Believe That Jesus Is Better?
A few things happen when we begin to see that Jesus is better:
- He gets our praise and gratitude.
A.W. Tozer famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” If what comes into our minds when we think about God is truth, we can’t help but praise Him and thank Him for who He is and all He’s done. The Psalms are full of examples of this, and our song “Better” was written to express our awe and wonder of God’s character.
2. He gets our trust and surrender.
Ultimately, whatever gets our praise and thanksgiving will get our hearts. If what we think, believe, and declare about Jesus is true, our lives cannot stay the same. When we are captivated by His power, majesty, sovereignty, beauty, splendor, holiness, justice, mercy, grace, and love, our hearts grow in their capacity to trust, and we surrender our lives to Him.
“Better” is a song that incorporates these two results of believing that Jesus is better. The song declares the truth of His incomparable worth and our response to that revelation.
Applying the Lyrics to Your Life
Each verse of the song compares Jesus to something that fights for our attention and affection. The end of each verse reminds us that Jesus is better than whatever things consume our attention.
“Better than my wildest dreams / All the things my mind conceives / Open my eyes to see, You are better”
“Better than the wealth of kings / The stores of false stability / You carry my every need, You are better”
Often, we have dreams (good and righteous dreams, even) that become idols. We pursue these things at the expense of our relationship with Jesus and the priority it should have in our lives.
Our pursuit of these dreams is often rooted in a belief that Jesus isn’t enough. We think we need to add to what He’s done to experience true fulfillment and satisfaction. We believe things like money, possessions, and power will bring us peace and security, but only Jesus can truly satisfy us. Reflecting on this truth brings us to a chorus proclaiming who Jesus truly is:
“Author and Perfector / Heaven’s highest treasure / Yesterday, today, and forever / Faithful intercessor / To You my hope is tethered / Yesterday, today, and forever / Jesus, You are better”
This proclamation points to Hebrews Chapter 12 where we’re encouraged by “so great a cloud of witnesses” to run after Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). When we fix our eyes on Jesus, our praise and trust flow to Him because of who He is.
The song goes on to echo the first several chapters of Hebrews, proclaiming that Jesus is better than the angels and prophets of old:
“Better than the best of men / Even angels bow at Your command / Who could against You stand? You are better”
“Better than my vain pursuit / The thing I thought I couldn’t lose / I count it all loss for You, You are better”
The song also points to the Apostle Paul’s perspective in the New Testament:
- “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…”—Philippians 3:7-8a
The things we elevate as good and glorious pale in comparison to the redemption and relationship afforded to us in Jesus Christ.
The end result is trust and surrender, as we sing in the bridge:
“All that I have, this is my heart’s surrender / All that You are, Jesus my one endeavor / All else will fade, You will remain forever / Jesus, You are better”
Takeaway
What else can we say in response to who Jesus is and all He’s done? We can only passionately pursue Him and all He calls us into, offering our very lives to Him as an act of worship. He alone is worthy of that kind of surrender, and we’re compelled to give our all to Him when we believe the anthem of this song.
Listen to Abundant Life Worship’s song, “Better” on all streaming platforms and declare the truth that Jesus is better than anything!