Theology in Christmas Songs…
Well, once again the Christmas season is upon us. Although the season seems to get longer the older I get, it is still the most beautiful time of year. Whether we are seeing the joy on a child’s face, reminiscing of fond memories or mourning with those who are hurting and lonely; there seems to be a classic Christmas song that fits the occasion. Notice if you will, I said classic song. Maybe it’s because there is nothing new under the sun, but I feel the modern songs have shifted focus from Christ to man. Just like a large portion of modern preaching, but I digress.
My all-time favorite song is “O’ Holy Night”. This well-known song was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847. It was loosely based on a poem written by Placide Cappeau.
I’ll dissect a few lines in particular for our consideration today.
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn”
The first time I noticed this was three Christmases ago. I was playing Christmas carols while getting ready for a family Christmas party at home. I already loved this song but for some reason was actually listening to the words this night. As joyous as this season is, we only need to look at the evening news for a few moments to see that it is riddled with pain, loss, and chaos. The world is in sin and error because of the curse brought about by Adam and Eve's sin against God. This sin brought about an intense curse, not only for mankind but for creation as well.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Rom 8:20,21)
Later on, I was reading in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and saw these verses…
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
The world and mankind were thrust into chaos and disobedience through the sin of Adam, however, God did not throw up his hands and give up. Long before this event ever transpired God had a plan for HIS creation. He would not only “make all things new” (Rev 21:5), he would redeem a race of people, holy and righteous just as he is.
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Although this plan was from eternity past, the crux of the whole matter is the very reason we are singing and celebrating..“Till He appeared”, We call it Advent. It's a time when the Christian church looks back in humble awe and also looks forward in anticipation to the return of our Sovereign King! At that moment the very creator himself condescended into his own creation. He wasn't merely the best or greatest part of the creation. He was HOLY, totally separate from the creation. Yet in his love and mercy towards us who had committed cosmic treason against him, he laid aside his glory and entered the very creation that had betrayed him. He took on flesh and lived out a totally righteous life on our behalf. God had demanded absolute perfection and we were incapable. Praise be to God!
“Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;”
We live in an era when it is easier to talk about love than anything else. Everyone agrees we should love our neighbor, that is until we start DEFINING what love is. Truly God has a lot to say about love in his word because he IS love. This section has really taken on new meaning for me recently in my personal life and in my worldview. As we see in the first line Jesus taught us to love each other. This is explicit in the parable of the good Samaritan. It's not only the guys we agree with who look like we do, but it is also the ones our culture tells us we should hate. They are our neighbors in God's eyes. The great debate of our generation is HOW do we show love to them. I think this answered for us in the second line. “His law is love”. In order to rightly love anyone, you must have an objective definition of what love is.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple (Psalm 19:7)
“His gospel is peace”. Now admittedly when i began to think about this part my mind went straight to Jesus saying… “I didn't come to bring peace but a sword…” Maybe I watched Rambo too much growing up, who knows. It is, however, no secret that there will be division when Christ invades the life of a rebel on the run from him. But i think the peace that we are singing about here can be summed up in one verse…
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1)
Ultimately, it isn't peace with our neighbor or even peace with our family that we so desperately need. No the peace we need is peace with our maker, the true and living God! That peace only comes through Jesus Christ. He is our ONLY mediator with the Father. We must repent of our sins and be reconciled to God, through Faith alone.
As we get nearer to the Christmas holiday may we all search our hearts and determine where we have placed our faith!
