Songs of Christmas; Songs of Truth

It has already begun; the beautiful Christmas songs playing in the stores and on the radio. I'm sure we all have our favorites but last year I realized so many of them have gospel truths smack dab in the middle of them. How cool to have them heard by so many each year!?

{Hark the Herald Angel Sing}
Those angels were harking because a baby boy was born, the baby born to die. As the 2nd verse states, He was ‘veiled in flesh – the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity’ and ‘Jesus, our Emmanuel’. According to Matthew 1:23, Emmanuel is translated ‘God with us’. Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel, the Savior of the world, left His throne and became a man. He left His heavenly home to save us from our sins, which all started in the Garden of Eden. Because that sweet baby was born we can join the triumph of the skies, we can have second birth, and we can be full of peace and joy because God and sinners have truly been reconciled because of the blood of Christ!

{Joy to the World}
I’ve shared before about my tendency to be like Martha when I know I should be more like Mary, so the ‘aha’ moment in this song is the line – “Let every heart prepare Him room”. He has come down to earth to redeem the whole world, if we will but come to Him and accept Him in our hearts. Once you have accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, daily you are relying on Him to give you His strength and wisdom. That is where the Martha syndrome comes into play. The trivialities of life often times seem like the most important things and distract us from God. Especially during Christmas time, there is a tendency to focus on the tree, the presents and the many activities. Jesus' birth is just an after thought. This should not be.. it is His birthday, after all, and you wouldn't have a birthday party for your child and leave your little one at home would you? This carol reminds us to make Jesus at home in our hearts- our first priority over all things. What a great reminder of putting Him first always!

{What Child is This?}
For an onlooker it is natural to ask- who is this child? What's all the fuss about? Scripture tells us of a coming Messiah long before He was born in a manger. There are 300+ prophecies fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. Some of them were prophecies of things like his family lineage, where he would be born, etc.. So who exactly is He? He is the Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Creator of all things, Great High Priest, Savior of the world, The Resurrection and the life, and the righteous judge. It is inconceivable* that the Creator of the universe would come in the flesh (incarnation= in carne {meat or flesh})

"Hail, hail, the Word made flesh, the babe, the Son of Mary"

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So now when you hear those old familiar songs playing in Safeway or other shopping center you can smile to know that the gospel is being spread for all to hear!