Last night Margie and I attended a beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service and at the close was a beautiful singing of O’ Holy Night. But instead of just singing the first verse, or even just the first two verses my ears had been trained to hear, we sang all three. My soul sat at attention as I heard Biblical truths set to this timelss melody that I had never before heard in the song. You see, classical hymns and worship songs were written in a very predictable manner. Usually 3-5 verses interspersed with one chorus to tie the song and its message together. But becuase of length many renditions will skip some of the verses. You’ve probably heard something like this before in church, “we’re going to sing verses 1,3, and 5 of Amazing Grace.” But what you’ll notice is that those poor forgotten verses are just as good as the others, in fact, sometimes better. And as voices rang out during that Christmas service, worshipping and praising the arrival of the Christ child, the often forgotten third verse of O’ Holy Night radiated amazing power into the still, quiet, candlelit darkness.
A funny thing about theologically accurate Christmas songs is that they’ve been mixed in with secular songs for so long, their message is diluted and sometimes completely lost to those singing them. For most today they don’t know the difference between Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The first is a colorfully told kid’s holiday song and the other an extremely accurate scriptural description of the arrival of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Blink and you’ll miss the true meaning of words that have reached your ears hundreds of times during the Christmas season.
The third verse of O’ Holy Night is filled with amazing scriptural truths about the true meaning of Christmas, that is, the arrival of a Savior that will take away the sins of the world. Let’s take a closer look at the often forgotten third verse of O’ Holy Night. Feel free to hum along or do as I did and listen to the song first. I recommend the Carrie Underwood version that includes verse 3, although ironically she skips verse two in this version. Find it at the link below, verse three starts at 2 minutes 15 seconds.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
One of the biggest and often forgotten theological truths in God’s Word, is that He simply asks us to love each other unconditionally in all we do.
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40
His law is love and His Gospel is Peace
The word gospel, means “good news.” It is the core foundation of God’s Word. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sin free life, died on cross and was resurrected three days later, all to be the perfect sacrifice for the death penalty of mankind’s sin. The good news of Jesus means that for all those that accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior, they have found permamnent, true, everlasting peace.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother
Salvation through Jesus Christ breaks the bondage of sin that all men and women possess. We are all born with a sin nature that separates us from our perfectly righteous Heavenly Father. As we are born, sin is our brother, an inseparable part of us that we cannot shed.
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” Ecclesiastes 7:20
And in His name, all oppression shall cease
Only through the name and salvation of Jesus Christ can anyone hope to overcome the eternal oppression of their sin and spend eternity in Heaven in the presence of God.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
The good news of Jesus Christ is the single biggest display of love that God has ever given to the world. It is a reason for us to constantly raise our voices and sing sweetly to God in thanks and joy for His gift of salvation.
“My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; and my soul, which You have redeemed.” Psalm 71:23
Let all within us Praise His Holy name
Holy means sanctified or set aside. God sent His only Son Jesus Christ here to die for a people, that beacuse of their sin and rebellion against Him, were separated from a God and Creator that loved them greatly. Christ was Holy, He was set aside, the only One that could be the perfect sacrifice to redeem all those that call upon His name.
“And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called Holy—the Son of God.” Luke 1:35
Christ is the Lord; O praise His name forever! Christ is Lord, He and He alone saves the people from their sins. For this, praise should ever be on our lips and in our hearts!
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done.” Psalm 105:1
Praise be to God for that Holy Night over 2000 years ago. Because that night happened in history, Jesus can save you from your sins in the present...today. I pray today that if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that this Christmas will be the milestone that changes your etrenity.
Merry Christmas ~ Dan
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