Proclamation and Praise

Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship

Book Details

Discerning Reader Editorial Review

Reviewed 12/23/2008 by Mark Tubbs.

Recommended. Discover the Singing Christ in his continuing post-resurrection office of mediator.

I well remember a campfire ditty that my generation sang at Vacation Bible School and marshmallow roasts at summer camp: “King Jesus is all / My all in all / And I know that He’ll answer / Me when I call / Walking by my side / I’m satisfied / King Jesus is all / My all in all.” Later in youth group we sang Dennis Jernigan’s signature song, which was, like “King Jesus is all,” a round: “You are my strength when I am weak / You are the treasure that I seek / You are my all in all.” The reason I mention these worship songs from yesteryear is due to their seemingly nonchalant inclusion of a profound theological concept: that of Jesus Christ’s mediatorial work, echoing 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 and Ephesians 1:22-23:

For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under hin, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The grammar, style, and theology of these verses can be somewhat difficult to parse out, but there is gold in them there hills. In Proclamation and Praise, Ron Man has given us a handbook of Christ’s continuing mediatorial work. As endorser Gerrit Dawson mentions on the back cover, Man “takes us further into the heart of worship than many have ever been.” Man accomplishes this using a verse that few have exploited in worship seminars over the decades, namely Hebrews 2:10-12:

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

Man’s thesis, informed by these verses, is that Christ is not only central to our worship, He is central in it as well. Through five chapters of [mostly] ascending length (Chapter 1, “The Context of Hebrews 2:12,” is 6 pages; Chapter 2, “The Content of Hebrews 2:12,” is 10 pages; Chapter 3, “The Significance of Hebrews 2:12,” is 22 pages; “Chapter 4, “Contiguous New Testament Themes,” drops back to 14 pages; and Chapter 5, “Towards a Christology of Worship,” is the longest at 32 pages), Man carefully sets up his argument by exegeting the context, content, and significance of Hebrews 2:12 – that Christ is not only our Apostle and High Priest, but our Chief Worship Leader – then demonstrates how the themes of this verse are distributed throughout the New Testament. Chapter 4 ends on a high note, anticipating the content of chapter 5 in its charting of the “Revelation and Response” pattern we see in Scripture. Of this pattern Man says, “The rhythm of revelation and response is characteristic of all God’s dealings with man. This ordering of these two elements is tremendously significant, for it speaks of the initiative which God takes, and the lengths to which He goes, to ensure a relationship with those whom He chooses. Throughout Scripture we see God’s revelatory initiative with His people, with the result that all worship, obedience and service should be seen as a response to God’s prior activity in revelation and redemption.” Finally, Chapter 5 develops twelve themes of Christ’s importance to, supremacy in, and indwelling of our worship. As in the rest of the book, Man does not rely on his own knowledge, but conscripts many gifted theologians to help him make his point in different ways.

I cannot see any blatant issues with this book. There are some who will object to the lack of emphasis on the Father and Holy Spirit, but such emphases are outside the focus of the book. I also noted a predilection on Man’s part for the Torrance family of Scottish theologians, who are sometimes charged with problems regarding their ecumenism, neo-orthodoxy, Barthianism, rejection of the penal nature of the atonement, anachronistic historical work on Scottish theology, participation in the now-discredited Calvin vs. Calvinists school, tendencies towards modalism, belief that Christ had assumed a fallen nature. However, it is also widely acknowledged that the Torrances’ (one almost wants to mischievously use the homophonic nonsense adjective ‘torrancial’) theology marks the high point (thus far) in the development of the theology of the Trinity, and it is this strength that Man accesses for the purposes of his book.

A lightweight specimen at less than 90 pages of text, don’t let its small size fool you. I spent many evenings drinking in the import and impact of only one or two pages at a time; both Man’s own exposition and the legion of quotes he deploys are fresh and substantial, but never burdensomely so. An informed layperson should be able to plumb this book for many months, absorbing the Christocentric content. A worship leader will find many quotes with which to exhort the congregation to worship our Savior and Mediator Jesus Christ. And a pastor should discover rich material with which to teach the congregation about Christ’s continuing work on our behalf. 

So, Christ is indeed our all in all. He is our continuing mediator, until the point in time described in Ephesians 1 when the final consummation of all things will bring to end his mediatorial office. At that time, God will be everything to everyone; He will be all in all.(1)

Incidentally, I’ve just been reminded of yet another worship song from long ago, whose chorus lyrics were “Sing to the chief musician a glorious song.” Evidently a Hosanna Integrity songwriter from the 1980s understood the mediatorial office of Christ and David’s typological foreshadowing of it.  And so should we all, who claim to be hid with Christ.


1. I am indebted to Geoffrey B. Wilson’s 1 Corinthians: A Digest of Reformed Comment (Banner of Truth); William Hendriksen’s New Testament Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (Baker Academic); and Ray Stedman’s Letters to a Troubled Church: 1 and 2 Corinthians (Discovery House) for insights into the phrase “all in all.”