Glory to the newborn King

As normal, protestant, evangelical Christians, we tend to sing the same Christmas carols every year. And as a normal, evangelical Christian raised in a Christian home, I have my set of favorite Christmas carols that I sing every year. The older I get, the more I look at the meaning behind these songs. After all, the birth of Christ is one of the most important doctrines in our belief system.

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" has become one of those favorites over the last couple of years. Not because it's a catchy, beautiful tune, but because it is so doctrinally heavy. Think about the meaning behind these lyrics.

Hark the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.
The beauty behind the birth of Christ is that for the first time since the Garden of Eden, God reaches down to man to save him from his sins. It's the basic plan of salvation. Christ's purpose was to reconcile man to God, something that man couldn't do by himself.

Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Christ came not for one nation, but for all nations. The prophets foretold that all nations would be blessed through this savior.

Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
This baby born in a manger is the Lord of all the earth. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." God's promise to David was that his descendants would reign on his throne for all eternity. The virgin birth is also one of the central doctrines of what we believe. Isaiah said, "Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son." Over and over again Scripture emphasizes this virgin birth, which preserved Christ's sinless nature.

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.
Philippians says that Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. Can't you just picture it? Christ lays aside the crown in heaven, that he so richly deserves, to come down to this sinful world. His purpose was to die. Jesus said that He came so that we might have life, and have it to the fullness. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." Christ's purpose was to suffer and die so that we could experience eternal life.

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.
Jesus said that He is the Light of the world. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He said that Light has come into the world, chasing away the darkness of our sins. He is the Great Physician, providing physical healing and spiritual healing from the chains of sin.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This Word, the Word that was and is and is to come, wrapped himself in flesh and dwelt among us. Our "God with us." God himself, here. It's almost too wonderful to comprehend. People sometimes accuse God of being unconcerned about what goes on here on this planet. But God cared enough to become one of us. Just so he could die to save us.

I wonder how much we really understand about the personhood of this Baby in a manger. This was God, wrapped up in the tiniest of packages. He wasn't born in a palace like he deserved. He was born into poverty. He knew what it was like to be one of us. There was nothing about him to capture our attention. But the blood that pumped through this tiny heart would one day be poured out to save all mankind. The tiny fingers that grasped his mother's had fashioned the earth. The little eyes had seen the face of the Most High. His ears had heard the praises of a thousand angels. This little baby was the great Yahweh, the Great I AM.

This is not something that we should just think about at Christmas. In the words of Charles Dickens, this Baby born in Bethlehem does not live in men's hearts one day of the year but in all the days of the year. Don't think about this little baby just on Christmas. His sacrifice, his love, his wonder, should be present in our minds all year round. Maybe then, we would actually live like it.