From the start of my new life in Christ, the music of Christmas has increasingly captivated me with its rich theology in repetitive phrases. As I listen, my days are filled with an unrelenting call to worship, and long after I’ve turned them off I seem to carry those words with me as I hum about my work—lyric upon lyric teaching my heart in all I do.
Each year I find that as I grow in my knowledge of God, I experience these hymns differently, and my new growth culminates in deep and overwhelming worship as I see my Lord wrapped in the swaddling clothes of Christmas. These Christmas hymns, without failure, elicit unbridled tears and I am again reminded of how different life is on this side of Adventism.
That simple but profound lyrics can elicit such a reaction in me is still startling to me, and that they come unbidden is a grace I can’t explain. I suspect that many of you can relate. I often hear former Adventists who’ve discovered the gospel discuss this shared experience of suddenly feeling deeply the things of God. I suspect this is the witness of the Holy Spirit within us who Himself worships the Christ child and who is causing our own hearts to respond to Him in new ways.
This time of year I can’t help but think of Paul’s words to the church at Colossae, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16). The songs of Christmas which proclaim the truth of the Christ child find their place within the lineage of those who sing the songs of salvation, and the impact of these carols upon our hearts is exactly God’s will for His people.
I’m forever grateful to those who worship our God through the faithful creation of music and biblical lyrics—many while in the midst of great trials!
I’m forever grateful to those who worship our God through the faithful creation of music and biblical lyrics—many while in the midst of great trials! These musicians and poets have forever gifted the church with beautiful proclamations of ancient truths which don’t easily leave the heart or mind. They’ve given us a method of worship and teaching that can be handed down from one generation to the next, and they unite us in worship with the saints who’ve gone before us.
What Child is This?
This year, the song I find myself singing and pondering most often is “What Child is This?”. This was one of the first songs to startle me during my first Christian Christmas. The lyrics that stopped me mid-song and left me overwhelmed were, “…Good Christian fear, for sinners here, the silent Word is pleading…”. That one line contained both the deity and work of Christ and highlighted the tender vulnerability of His human infancy. As it reverberated in my heart, I was undone not only by the truth of the words, but by the fact that I’d sung them so many times before but had never seen them until that moment.
This hymn was written by William Chetterton Dix in 1865 after falling seriously ill and suffering from severe depression while bedridden. While recovering, William experienced a spiritual renewal and read the Bible comprehensively. Coming from a family of writers and lovers of poetry, William used his gift of writing to respond to his Lord in worship and to bless the church with words that would unite us in singing His praise. As a man who endured both severe illness and depression, William also understood the urgency of the call to faith, and I believe we can see that in his lyrics.
Written in question and answer form, this song creates a picture of evangelism with a call to respond to our Lord without delay. William clearly understood the deity of Jesus, the great need of humanity for His intercession, and the fact that that this need is met in the prophesied cross of our Messiah. In this hymn we marvel with him at the humility of Christ’s birth and the gravity of what He came to do. We join in worship with kings and in the evocative lullaby of Mary as we adore the Christ child and call others to come and worship.
The first question the song asks is a simple one, “What child is this?”, followed by descriptions of the fascinating details of the events surrounding His birth. These details draw observers to wonder at this child even today. What child is this that causes so many to worship and to celebrate His birth after all these years? The details that surround the worship of this child are intriguing and create a great and timeless opportunity for believers to proclaim the truth of who He is and what He’s done.
The answer to the question—a proclamation of the baby Jesus as Messiah and King and the call to respond quickly in worship—begs the next question. Essentially, If He is who you say He is, “Why lies He in this mean estate…?”. With no response regarding the humble conditions of His birth, the answerer draws the attention of the questioner from these curious details to the immediate call to fear the Lord who has come to intercede for sinners. The lyrics draw our focus from the signs pointing to Jesus to Jesus Himself and to our desperate need for Him. He then proclaims the gospel in prophecy and gives yet another call to respond with the appropriate worship Jesus deserves, thus ending the cycle of inquiries.
This beautiful carol highlights the contrasting reality of the poverty of the Lord in His birth with the innumerable riches of the Lord in His person. It also reveals the condescending love of our great God who came to us in the most vulnerable form a human can be—weak, unable to lift His own head, to focus His eyes, or even to touch His own fingers—all while holding the stars in place. Jesus allowed Himself, the treasure of the universe and the Great Shepherd of our souls yet helpless to meet His own physical needs, to be guarded by weak and lowly human shepherds in sincere and earnest watch as He lay in the care of a young virgin girl and her new husband.
When I sing, “…This is Christ the King whom shepherds guard…” I am undone again. These words are pregnant with meaning! Here we see our infinite and omnipotent God entrusting His infancy and childhood to the provisions of weak and fallen humanity. I can’t help but think of how this picture also seems to foreshadow the work of the shepherds of the church who would, in all their weakness as mere men, humbly and earnestly guard the gospel as they are called. Both groups of men stand guard at the bidding of God and by His power doing what He called them to do— guarding and bearing witness.
This great and tiny King was already interceding for His people while simultaneously sustaining our very existence.
The beautiful message of this song is the person and work of the Christ child and the immediate response He deserves from us. This great and tiny King was already interceding for His people while simultaneously sustaining our very existence. In love and mercy He came to bring us salvation and to reconcile us to Himself. Our only right response is to recognize all He is and give Him all we are.
United in the worship of Christ
The bonds of Christ and His church transcend time and space, and hymns like these unite us in our proclamations of the truth throughout the ages. All hearts enthroned by Him, both in this weary world and in Heaven, are forever joined together in Spirit rejoicing in and worshiping our God and Savior! It’s no small wonder that this season elicits so many unbridled tears!
I thank God for the men and women who, in the midst of their various situations of life, took a moment to pen the words that would fill our hearts and hymnals with the truths of Scripture. I thank Him for the Scriptures and for how they fill our lyrics of faith with meaning and deepen their message year after year as we grow in our knowledge of God by His Spirit through His word.
Do you know the Christ child?
I pray that if you don’t yet know, love, and worship this Jesus of Christmas that you will hasten even now to give all your efforts to seek Him in His word. As William knew well following his own brush with severe illness and depression, this life is fragile, and there is no reason to delay!
This very child is the eternal God who created you and who became flesh to die for your sin so that you could be redeemed and reconciled to Him forever! We know Him by reading His own testimony about Himself in His word, not by relying on the teachings of self-professed leaders or the detailed visions and ideas of fallen men and women. The call to us is to put aside the hindrances of humanity and to submit to the Jesus of Scripture. The Bible will never lead you away from the God of the Bible. So come, and discover the answer to the most important question any human will ever ask, “What Child is This?”.
May God bless us all as we walk together in Christ through all that’s ahead for us, and may our hearts be kept in peace and sustained by the joy and power of the Lord come what may! Merry Christmas, dear brothers and sisters!
LYRICS:
(Question)
What Child is this who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
(Answer)
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
(Question)
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
(Answer)
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
(Call to submit and worship)
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby;
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
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