Is God Dead?  An Answer in Song Form!

Is God Dead?  An Answer in Song Form!

One of my personal favorite hymns we sing at church is “Our God He Is Alive.” I like this hymn for many reasons. The message reminds us that God exists and He plays an active part in our lives, while also being a good summary of the story of the whole Bible. But when I learned the background behind it, I appreciated it even more. “Our God He Is Alive” was written by Aaron Wesley Dicus in 1966, the same year Time magazine published a cover story titled, “Is God Dead?” In the 1960’s there was a debate among philosophers whether God was dead in the minds of people. This phrase, “Is God dead?” spread beyond philosophers and appeared in newspapers and on billboards and was debated widely. Aaron Dicus responded to this phrase by writing the song “Our God, He Is Alive.”

In the first verse of this song he writes,

“There is, beyond the azure blue; A God, concealed from human sight.
He tinted skies with heav’nly hue and framed the worlds with His great might.”

This verse tells us that God created the universe and with his great strength shaped the world. This encouraged those who doubted whether God existed and it still edifies us today. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen.” This verse tells us that while He is concealed from human sight, you can see God’s signs all around you and throughout the entire world.

God gave these signs to the prophets as shown in the second verse: 

“There was a long, long time ago, A God whose voice the prophets heard.
He is the God that we should know, Who speaks from His inspired word.”

This verse says that God spoke to the prophets in the times of the Old Testament and He still speaks to us through the Bible. In Acts 3:18 it also tells of God speaking through the prophets. It says, “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” This verse tells us that God spoke to the prophets of the coming of Jesus and it was fulfilled.

God has a role in our lives. He speaks to us and He knows us. Verse three tells us that God has understanding that we cannot perceive:

“Secure, is life from mortal mind, God holds the germ within His hand,
Though men may search, they cannot find, for God alone does understand.”

This tells us that God has a purpose for our lives and that while we cannot understand everything that is happening to us, God can. This reassures those who are struggling in life and tells us to trust in God’s plan for us. Job 42:3 says, “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” In this verse Job admits that he was wrong in assuming that he understood what was happening to him. Unlike Job, we need to trust in God even when we are facing difficulties in our lives.

To fulfill the Bible story, Dicus writes in the fourth verse,

“Our God, whose Son upon a tree, A life was willing there to give,
That He from sin might set man free, And evermore with Him could live.”

This tells us that God’s plan was fulfilled through Jesus’ death and that his sacrifice frees us from sin and lets us have eternal life. In Acts 13:33 it speaks of God’s fulfillment of his plan. It says, “God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus.” This verse also reminds us that Jesus’ sacrifice was for us, which shows just how much our God loves us that He would send his only son to die for us.

Lastly, the chorus proclaims,

“There is a God, He is alive, In Him we live and we survive;
From dust our God created man, He is our God, the great I Am.”

This reassures us that God exists, that He is active in our lives today, and that He is mighty. Two Bible verses that complement the chorus are Hebrews 11:6 and Acts 17:28. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Acts 17:28 says “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” These verses teach us that God will reward those who have faith in Him and that it is because of God that we exist.

This song does an excellent job of summing up the entire Bible, from the creation of the world to the sacrificial death of Jesus. It also answered the long-debated question “Is God dead?” And it serves its purpose in assuring us that despite what people think or say, Our God is alive and He is still working through us today.

-  Isaiah Harbin

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Let no one look down on your youthfulness,
but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity,
show yourself an example of those who believe.

1 Tim 4:12

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How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word. 

Psa 119:9

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