Destined for Greatness

Have I ever mentioned that I love Christian rap music?

Well, I do. It’s one of my all-time favorite things. This past week, Ty Brasel’s Destined for Greatness (side B) came out. To explain, the album came out in the spring. However, he only released half of the album. The other half came out the other day. Quick plug— it’s really, really good. The album is great. I legitimately like every single song on the album, which is rare for me. The content is terrific. The last song on the album, “Greatness,” has really struck a chord with me since I heard it. So, I must share. Here is the final bar of the album:

In three days, risen came the King of Glory/ If God can bring life from the dead then rest assuring/ there’s two sides to the story, and this [is] where kingdom comes/ I wrote this song to tell you that you[‘re] the one.

Means nothing to you, maybe. Or maybe it means something. Let me tell you why, to me, it means essentially everything.

In three days, risen came the King of Glory. Psalm 24:10 calls God the King of Glory. That’s just what He is. The One who hung the stars, who put my bones together, who gave His only kid for me. He lived the life I couldn’t live, died the death I deserved, and restored creation’s access to Himself. That’s the King of Glory. Not only that, He looked His disciples dead in their faces, told them He would die, and three days later come back to life. We know this to be irrefutably factual. In three days, risen, from the dead, came the Son of Man, proving that the only certainty in life— death— answered to Him. In three days, we saw one phenomenal example of the Lord’s ability to always and unequivocally fulfill His promises. That’s powerful. And that’s humbling.

If God can bring life from the dead, then rest assuring. The most ridiculous and humanly impossible claim made in the Bible is that Jesus would come back to life. And He did it. If the Lord is capable of doing that, He is capable of much, much smaller things. If God’s nature inherently means that He always stays true to His own Word, and I know that His Word says I will no longer be the old me, I have less than 0% of a reason to doubt Him. Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Matthew 6— let the worry cease and the anxiety vanish, for Christ has His nail-scarred hands on the wheel.

There’s two side to the story, and this [is] where Kingdom comes. There are two sides: Heaven and Hell. There are two statuses: with Christ or without Him. There are two conditions: lost or found. There are two sides to your story. There is the side of your story where you are wandering, hoping for fulfillment in things from places, possessions, and people. There is the side of your story— of my story— where we would be better off by saying, “Nice to meet you, I’m sinful,” because we can’t help but trip over our own selves. There is the side of the story where, were you to die your earthly death, you would have to look God dead in His face and hear Him say, “I never knew you.” But there are two sides to the story. There is the side where you took the progression of hopelessness serious and decided to hang yourself on the Cross. There is the side where God will look at you, smile, and tell you, “Welcome Home.” That side is where Kingdom comes— or to be more accurate, Kingdom came. That’s what side I’m on. What would you say for yourself?

I wrote this song to tell you that you’re the One. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. If anyone is in Christ, they are truly Destined for Greatness. Greatness is not necessarily winning. I have most definitely lost more “competitions” since joining the Family. Greatness is not necessarily monetary success. I’m a broke boy all of the time, and God does not hand out cars and paychecks— regardless of what some pastors will tell you. Greatness is not defined by statistics, for no matter in what we are ‘First,’ we are ‘Last’ at an infinite amount more. Greatness is not what Cooper has planned for Cooper. I have failed at 100% of my own willful actions because I was controlling what was already in someone else’s control— in the control of Christ. Greatness is not measuring what Christ can do with worldly parameters. Greatness is Christ showing the world, through me, what it looks like to measure Greatness by His standards. Psalm 35:27 says, “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say forevermore, ‘Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of His servant!'” Let the world see one of us Sons and Daughters of the King and only notice the Blood that we’re covered in. Know Christ. Reflect Christ.

Greatness is God looking at me and shaking my hand and hugging me and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Greatness is knowing that the battle is already won. Greatness is knowing that the only thing keeping me from New Creation is that Christ needs me to tell a few more people about it before He brings me home. Greatness is knowing that “should I die before I wake,” my soul is most definitely the Lord’s to take. A dear, dear friend of mine who has since gone to be with the Lord as he lost a battle with cancer used to always quote to me Shakespeare. But I don’t care about Shakespeare. So, I’m going to plagiarize for Coach Putnam and credit this quote to him— for the rest of my life. He would always say to me, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” And I agree. The least of us can become the greatest among us. Matthew 20:16. There’s a fourth camp there, though: some had Greatness won for them. 

I’m one of those.

Once upon a time, I shook hands with God. And I can say, typing this with tears in my eyes, that I am overwhelmed spiritually at the burden of love and gratitude I feel for Christ, who owed me nothing, yet gave it all for me. I carry the immeasurable pain that some people around me might never know what this type of love looks like— or truly is like. But I can assure, as certainly as the sun rises and the Son rose, I’m going to be just fine.

If you don’t know what it’s like to be a part of the Family of Christ, I (or someone) could introduce you. It’s very simple and immeasurably more than you could ever, in your life, even think of.

I need not fret over the things that have and will come to pass.

I’m destined for true, authentic, righteous Greatness. 

–@CShort_116