Prepare your heart for this season of celebrating the Messiah’s birth. Begin singing now.
On that holy night, when the angel announced, “good tiding of great joy for all people,” Heaven’s proclamation became God’s manifestation through the incarnation. The Son of God was born to mankind (Luke 2:10). “O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!“
“Out of you O Bethlehem,” so exclaimed the prophet Micah, “comes One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). Such a small and seemingly insignificant location to the eyes of man became the threshold from which entered all of heaven’s glory wrapped tightly around the Christ child.
“O little town of Bethlehem. How still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years. Are met in thee tonight.”
Isaiah’s prophecy from long ago rings with the same profound majesty today. For the Lord God Himself will give you this sign of His fulfilled promises: “behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Emmanuel.” From the Hebrew meaning, we literally read, “God with us.” God in the flesh. God fully demonstrated through Jesus so that we can know Him intimately, personally, and eternally. O what a wondrous name!
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Can you imagine being among the first to embrace this revelation of Heaven coming to earth in the fulfillment of the Messiah, Christ our Lord? What joy and peace that must have flooded the human soul as the long-awaited Messiah had finally come! In the fullness of time, Christ came to earth (Galatians 4:4).
Come, Thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.
Oh, the personal embrace that must characterize our hearts today. Jesus Christ came. He was born, lived, died, and rose again. He came to release us of our fears, and to overcome our darkness. He came to bring freedom from oppression. He came to usher us right into God’s presence through a personal relationship. He came to tear down dividing barriers. He came to prove love. Perfect, pure, and undefiled love. He came for us. He came for you.
So today, return to the above songs, and many others alike, and begin now to embrace afresh and new the message of God with us. Prepare your heart for this season of celebrating the Messiah’s birth. Begin singing now. Make a joyful response to the God of our Salvation, who has heard us, and has come to our rescue.
Let us not remain quiet or indifferent. Let us not simply go through the superficial motions of yule tide. Let us celebrate the Messiah’s birth. Christ has come indeed. Rejoice.
Blessings as you enter this Advent season.
“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, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”
