Image by Austin Schmid from Unsplash

“Child of Love” is a bop! From the first time I heard it, I loved the song’s buoyant, retro-pop/country energy. More importantly, I love the joy and gratitude it expresses at our redemption and adoption as loved children of God. But is “Child of Love” biblical? Who and what does it worship? Should you sing it on Sunday? Let us explore.

Focus

The main theme of this song is our adoption as dearly loved children. We describe various joyful responses to it, we explore some of its effects, and we rest in the unchanging nature of God’s love toward us. The fact that this adoption is by God has to be inferred from the context, since he is mostly referred to as “love” or “you.” When Jesus is mentioned in the chorus, it is as a friend, not specifically as our brother or father.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The first two verses are a generalized testimony in which We The Kingdom describes their pre-adoption state. They are alone and lost, wandering on a road, an appropriate metaphor, since Jesus is the true Way and any other road leads to destruction (John 14:6, Matt. 7:13). The singer is trying to find satisfaction in chasing worldly pleasure, which is an ultimately doomed pursuit (Isa. 55:2).

VERSE 2

More lostness. The singer is left in sorrow when the things they believed in turned out to be lies. Their tears are compared to rain, which pairs nicely with the lightning in the next line. This lightning serves as the pivot point in the singer’s life that brings us from the bleak verses to the joyful chorus.

Lightning in the Bible is a symbol of God’s vast power. He produces and controls it (Ps. 135:7), using it as a weapon (Ps. 144:6) or a sign of his presence (Ex. 19:16). In our cultural context, lightning sometimes represents a sudden realization or inspiration, so I wonder if the author is using this double meaning intentionally. In any case, this lightning strike marks the end of the singer’s lostness and the beginning of their identity as a child of love.

CHORUS
Singing “I am a child of love” is a way of declaring and celebrating our adoption by God as his children. One might even consider capitalizing “Love” in this line since God is love (1 John 4:16). Romans 8:15 tells us, “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” The following verses explain that having the Holy Spirit is the present evidence of our adoption, but we won’t experience the fullness of what it means to be God’s children until our future resurrection (Rom. 8:23).

Climbing mountains and shouting about being a child of love sounds a lot like evangelism to me! The mountain here isn’t symbolic of an encounter with God like it is in several places throughout other songs and Scripture. It’s just a very visible place from which to proclaim the Gospel. I also think climbing and shouting are meant as simple expressions of the energetic joy that the singer has at being God’s child.

Freedom in Christ is one of the central elements of our salvation, but it’s easily misunderstood. The “world of freedom” mentioned in this song is connected to our adoption as God’s children directly in Romans 8:21, and indirectly because his Spirit is the mark of that adoption, and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” (2 Cor. 3:17). But what kind of freedom are we talking about? This isn’t referring to physical or legal freedom; the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians not to worry about whether they are bondservants or free (1 Cor. 7:20-22). The freedom we have in Christ is freedom from sin, death, and the ceremonial aspects of the Old Testament Law, not the freedom to do whatever makes us happy (Rom. 8:2, 21). This freedom is the result of the Spirit’s work in our lives, and he leads us to use it in service to others (Gal. 5:13, 1 Pet. 2:16).

Jesus calls us friends if we obey him. He also laid his life down for us, which is something that he says is the utmost expression of love for one’s friends. (John 15:13-15)

VERSE 3

The first couple lines here are a reference to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship an idol. The flames did not harm them, and God (or an angel as his representative) was visibly present with them in the furnace (Daniel 3). This is a most apt example of God being with us when we suffer for doing good (1 Pet. 3:17), since the three Hebrews in this story were sentenced to death for obeying God. But it could also be applied generally as a metaphor for God’s nearness to us when we experience any suffering.

The next two lines restate the same idea but in more general terms. The singer thought he was a goner, but Jesus broke him free.

BRIDGE

The bridge draws heavily on Romans 8:38-39 and its firm assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We belong to God in the sense that we are his children, his people, his sheep (Ps. 100:3).

Accessibility

This song rates highly on the accessibility scale. While it teaches solid scriptural ideas, it relies on contemporary imagery rather than difficult allusions to Bible stories to communicate its meaning and feeling. Verse 3, for instance, makes just as much sense if you’ve never read the book Daniel or heard of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

One small barrier to understanding I notice is that most people have a worldly understanding of freedom, not a biblical idea of freedom in Christ, as addressed in the section on the chorus. Additionally, as described in the Focus section, it is never explicitly stated that we’re talking about being children of God, but I think most reasonable people will make that leap without much help.

Music

“Child of Love” is a lot of fun to play! I love the flat-major-VII in the chord progression. The basics of the song are easy for instrumentalists to grasp, but there’s also plenty of room for skilled players to add complexity to their parts. The retro country-pop vibe is greatly enhanced by using a multi-track, especially if you don’t have several guitars, an organ, a couple keyboards, and a choir.

The dynamics follow a pretty standard worship song arc. Start off mf, increase to f after first chorus, drop down for a mp bridge, and then build back up. The breakdown after the bridge is a nice change of pace and makes the following chorus more exciting.

I doubt the congregation will sing along to the verses much, since the melody there is a little trickier to follow, but the chorus and bridge are eminently singable, and this is a great song to clap along to, especially if you can get them to start clapping at the breakdown.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Full disclosure: we’ve already started singing “Child of Love.” The congregation and band love it. It’s a great way to start off a worship service by anchoring us in gratitude for the love of God and our adoption as his children. It’s not the deepest theological hymn I’ve ever read, but it’s a wonderful expression of joy and delight in God our Father and Jesus our savior-friend, so I’m gonna give it a solid “yes.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.