The Happy Christmas Comes Once More

The Happy Christmas Comes Once More

The happy Christmas comes once more, The heavenly Guest is at the door,  The blessed words the shepherds thrill, The joyous tidings: Peace, good will. 

O wake, our hearts, in gladness sing, And keep our Christmas with our King. Like the sound of mighty water rolls.

Come, Jesus, glorious heavenly Guest, Keep Thine own Christmas in our breast; Then David's harp strings, hushed so long. Shall swell our jubilee of song.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness.  The gift of God's Son, coming with a mission of love and salvation, was timed perfectly. For the Christian, this time of year is special, in that our world recognizes the celebration God's precious Gift to mankind.

When we look around us in the month of December, we may see preparations being made for celebrating Jesus. However, most of the things we see this month are geared toward a retail spending frenzy.  And while Christmas is a time of celebration, the celebrations are not centered around the birth of our Lord, but rather the celebration of us!

Think about this with me; we celebrate birthdays with family and friends and share gifts and exchange good wishes. Unless we are really famous, after we die, our family probably doesn't celebrate our birthday.  The reason is simple.......we aren't there anymore.  In the celebration of Christmas, this is our chance to become a part of a world-wide celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and He is present .  That is the message of this Christmas and every Christmas. Jesus is alive and present every year.

Jesus is waiting to be the special guest at your parties and gatherings this year.  In like manner, he wants to be the invited guest into your life every day. He longs to be welcomed into every activity, every decision, every event.  He is present for your family, your workplace, your school. He comes to reside in your heart. 

Come, Jesus, glorious heavenly Guest, Keep Thine own Christmas in our breast; Then David's harp strings, hushed so long. Shall swell our jubilee of song.

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Note:  One of the resources used in gathering these articles is the book, Christ in the Carols, by Christopher and Melodie Lane, available through Tyndale House Publishers.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O come all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.  Come and behold Him, Born the King of angels,  O come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord. 

Sing choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, O sing all ye bright Hosts of heaven above. Glory to God, ll glory in the highest,  O come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord. 

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning, Jesus to Thee be all glory given. Word of the Father Now in flesh appearing,  O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.

This song invites the faithful, those who are triumphant, to come to Bethlehem to behold the Christ child, the King of angels.  There is a verse in the Bible that lets us know there were some who did just that. Matthew 2: 11, "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."

The concept of "coming" to Jesus is one that started in Bethlehem and continued throughout his earthly life and even extends into eternity.  The fanfare and excitement surrounding his birth is accompanied with the invitation for us to "Come, and adore him."  Jesus himself, early in his earthly ministry, encouraged his chosen helpers to "Come, follow me."  It was during his ministry that he offered the plea, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

It is no wonder then, when Christians reach out to their friends and associates in the world, demonstrating their concern and love for the lost, do so with a message for them to "Come, to Jesus." We sing the song in our worship assemblies, "Come to Jesus, He will save you."

Today, we look at a familiar song of the Christmas season, "O Come, All Ye Faithful." In this season we are reminded of the story of the manger, the baby, the wise men, and the angels.  It is a story of the warmth of a family devoted to God; devoted to bringing up Jesus as he grew in "wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men."  Soon his ministry began and through his teachings the theme of love is seen. This is the one described in John 3:16 with the words, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life." His ultimate measure of love came with the torture of the cross where he gave his life, dying for our sins.

Perhaps the greatest of the invitations we have been given, is revealed in this song of the Christmas season, "O Come All Ye Faithful," as the chorus of each verse encourages us to "come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."  Come to him today.

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Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled."

 Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies;  With angelic hosts proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."

Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord; Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin's womb.

Veiled in flesh the God-head see, Hail, the incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. 

Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. 

"Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing" announces the arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem and shares the attributes of the King of Kings. With the miraculous birth of our Lord, God himself enters earth in human form. What better way for God to do that, than to make it happen with the excitement of a newborn baby? 

While the song, written by Charles Wesley in the 1700's, may be familiar to us, there is biblical power and truth in every verse.  Let me show you three verses of the song, and three important characteristics of the coming of Jesus.

1. Because "Christ is born in Bethlehem,"  the separation of man from God because of sin, is repaired. God and sinners may be reconciled. Jesus makes possible our victory over sin. 

2. God has physically come to earth. "Veiled in flesh" Jesus can in human form, yet he is also representing Deity.  Our Emmanuel dwelt among us and brings us light and life. 

3.  Laying aside his heavenly credentials, Jesus was "born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth; born to give them second birth." The birth of a baby; the salvation of mankind. 

That's the angels' message to mankind. Jesus was and still is that message for us. "Glory to the newborn King."

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Joy to the World!

Joy to the World!

Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing. 

Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, Repeat the sounding joy. 

No more let sins and sorrows grow, No thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove; The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love. 

In high school and a little while in college, I enjoyed participation in the band. Marching bands have changed somewhat since then, but "back in those days" every marching show began with a fanfare. It was the time for the big brass instruments to be heard, with loud percussion. It was an announcement that something important is happening. 

That is the same description I can give to the song "Joy to the World."  It is an announcement heralding the coming of Jesus into the world. It is an announcement of joy and excitement. The entire earth is receiving the King of Kings.  Heaven and nature celebrate his coming.

He is the Savior that reigns. His very presence should cause men to celebrate throughout the earth that our Savior reigns. That celebration is repeated, the joy is continuous. Jesus reigns.

Sins that plagued us like an infestation of thorns are  no longer going to overcome us because Jesus is here to make His blessings flow. The curse of sin now has a cure. 

The grand finale of this fanfare song gives us tremendous insight to the mission and message of Jesus. He is a ruler of truth and grace, which assures us our King is just.  He makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, and the wonders of His love.

During this season when we recognize the coming of the Christ child, let us also come to know Him in the fullness of his mission to seek and save lost mankind. The fanfare continues day in and day out, and never loses its power. This is a message we need throughout the year.  

Let there be joy in the world. Jesus has come. We are invited to know him, love him, and "prove the glories of his righteousness and the wonders of his love."

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The Music of Christmas

Psalm 98

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Throughout the month of December, we will be looking at the music of the Christmas season. The above Psalm served as the basis for the familiar, "Joy to the World."  While that will be the first of the Christmas songs we look at this month, the discussion for its meaning, motivation and application will come in tomorrow's blog. 

Every 2-3 days between now and Christmas we will be recognizing a different Christmas carol.  My studies have brought me to appreciate many of the older and long forgotten songs, and we will look at a few of those along the way;  some are dating back to the 1400's.   We will also see the music of the Christmas season through the lives of people who lived in places where  the celebration of Christmas was outlawed. And we will examine many of the Scriptures which are the motivation for the music writers. 

Plan on joining us often in December as we study and pray together during this special season, and learn how to better relate the Christmas story to others.   God bless. 

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