Anyone who has sung songs in their church over the past decade is most likely familiar with the modern hymn songwriting of Keith and Kristyn Getty. The Ireland-born couple has made it a mission field to write songs filled with biblical truth and in the style of the hymns of the faith, and have blessed worshippers with their songs "In Christ Alone," "The Power of the Cross," "By Faith," and many others. The beauty of their songwriting is that the words are all based on Truth and every word has deep meaning and is filled with rich, passionate and living, active theology.

One of their newest offerings of praise is "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed" from Live at the Gospel Coalition. It is a song with which the worldwide Church can loudly sing along, celebrating and proclaiming to each other, and to Jesus, "He's Alive!"

The title of the song is a customary church greeting, and is a Truth that is the basis of our faith as followers of Jesus. As Paul stated in 1st Corinthians 15:13-14 (NKJV) "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty." I had the great opportunity to interview Keith Getty in person about the song.

Please tell me the story behind writing this song.

We wrote the song with Ed Cash. He is a renowned national producer and we're just so thrilled to get to meet him, get to know him, and then just start writing for the songs. We wrote the song with him, and he also produced the song. People laugh at the idea of us writing a song with Ed Cash. He's known for the opposite of how we write songs, working with Chris Tomlin. We are friends and decided to write this song together. It looks clearly at the Resurrection story. It holds the pastoral greeting, "Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed", which is the oldest greeting that Christians have been using for centuries. It is the most universal Christian greeting and is translated in over 110 languages, and it seemed curious to us that we couldn't find a song written about it. We started with that theme for the song and we began to explore some other ideas in the verses.

My wife's uncle is Professor John Lennox, and he is well known for his debates with Richard Dawkins about faith. In a debate with Dawkins they were looking at the story of Thomas in the Bible. The fact that Jesus says, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed," means to Dawkins that Christians have a blind, mindless faith. Christianity is not mindless. Christianity is very much based on worshipping Christ with your mind. In the Bible, Paul reminds us that all the evidence in Creation is there for us. The song comes from the perspective of and the story of Thomas and the disciples in general, and how they were all wrestling with doubts about the Resurrection. Then they went out and told the world about Him. 

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

John 20:24-29 (NKJV): Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV): For we walk by faith, not by sight.

What is the takeaway message?

To be able to sing "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed," and to think about the story of Thomas we hope is a faith-building song. We hope that that the story of Thomas inspires Christians to overcome their doubts and go tell the world about the risen Jesus.

When we wrote the song with Ed Cash, he wanted us to include a bridge, and we told him that we don't really write bridges. He told us we have to have a bridge. Eventually we decided to agree to add the "He's alive, He's alive, Heaven's gates are opened wide, He's alive, He's alive, now in Heaven glorified" bridge which people can either sing in a worship setting or leave out if they are singing out of a hymnal. It is also a great celebratory response section of the song, where people can sing along and respond to the rest of the song. We sang it at a Pentecostal Church recently and we sang the bridge about twelve times. It covers every different background. It is a song that can be sung for Easter, of course, and something we wrote for our home church.

The story of Thomas connects to the very real struggle that we have with doubts, but then the historical realities and the safe decision of trusting in the Lord, who is risen. We celebrate the Resurrection on Easter, but it is something we celebrate every time we gather as a church. Ultimately, any emotional or intellectual struggles with faith are handled when I think about the Resurrection. We want the song to provide repetitive emotion with theology, and we want the song to build faith.

The Resurrection brings us intellectual convincing and life change, through the Holy Spirit. Christ's Resurrection changes how we think about everything. The power that raised God's Body is real and is alive in us. It is as real as the power that maintains our blood flow and our internal organs. It if you don't really believe in that Power of God, then you aren't really believing. We hope that our songs don't make people more proud in their theology but makes them more active to live out their faith.

Lyrics:
How can it be, the One who died, 
Has borne our sin through sacrifice 
To conquer every sting of death? 
Sing, sing hallelujah. 

For joy awakes as dawning light 
When Christ's disciples lift their eyes. 
Alive He stands, their Friend and King; 
Christ, Christ He is risen. 

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! 
Oh, sing hallelujah. 
Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed; 
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. 

Where doubt and darkness once had been, 
They saw Him and their hearts believed. 
But blessed are those who have not seen, 
Yet, sing hallelujah. 

Once bound by fear now bold in faith, 
They preached the truth and power of grace. 
And pouring out their lives they gained 
Life, life everlasting. 

The power that raised Him from the grave 
Now works in us to powerfully save. 
He frees our hearts to live His grace; 
Go tell of His goodness. 

He's alive, He's alive! 
Heaven's gates are opened wide. 
He's alive, He's alive! 
Now in heaven glorified. 

This song is an excellent call to worship for the Church. It is something to proclaim at every gathering as an encouragement and to strengthen the faith of fellow believers. This song is a great way to focus on what is most important as we start a new year of fellowship with each other and with Jesus Christ. You can get on your feet and proclaim loudly the Truth that "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet sing Hallelujah!" 

The message of this song challenges listeners to think about our own doubts and how Jesus calls us to rely on Him and the power of His resurrection and to remember that He has overcome death and fear. That's cause to celebrate and gives Christians everywhere the faith to believe and tell the world, "He's Alive, He's Alive! Now in Heaven glorified." 

We serve a great and glorious God, worthy of all of our praise. The best gift you can give someone this year is the Good News of the Resurrection of our Lord. We meet together as believers precisely to celebrate the exciting fact that Jesus is alive. As the song sings, "Go Tell of His Goodness!" Amen to that!

(Listen to the song here.)