I remember the first Christmas after I came to faith in Christ. I came to faith in the spring of my freshmen year in college. I was so excited about my new found faith, it changed everything in my life. So that first Christmas was the middle of my sophomore year. My family always went to the Christmas Eve Service and as I sang the very familiar Christmas carols, I understood for the first time what they were saying. My eyes were open to the message of those carols. It was like, now I know what that means and I was so excited that I didn’t even listen to the sermon or the rest of the service. I was just reading these carols and for the first time my eyes were open to their meaning. The theology in them is so rich. For example, the second verse of Hark the Herald Angels sing says this:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
This talks about Jesus being God and stepping down to become a man and make his dwelling among us. This powerful hymn communicates that we don’t have to despair in this time because Jesus is with us. He came in the flesh to show us what God was like, to teach us and ultimately to die for us, so the curse of sin could be broken.
In Joy to the World it talks about him defeating sin and breaking the curse sin has on us:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
This song was written by Isaac Watts in 1753. But the words are just as true in 2024 as they were in 1753 and still stir our hearts 271 years later. One of the proofs that Christianity is true is the amazing similarities in experiences from one century to another. I remember reading a book about William Wilberforce the great abolitionist who was a contemporary of the Wesley brothers. From his journal Wilberforce described his coming to faith in Christ. As I read it, I thought that is exactly what happened to me. That very similar to my coming to faith in Christ, and it happened to someone 250 years before me in a different country. Because this message of the gospel is true no matter what century or country you live in.
We sing O Little Town of Bethlehem and where it says, “where meek souls will receive him still the dear Christ enters in.” and I thought that is exactly what happened to me. When we humbly receive Jesus into our lives and surrender to him, he comes in and changes us and leads us. So this Christmas listen to the words of the great Christmas songs and be reminded anew of what Jesus has done.
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