Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Each week that I’ve preached one of these, I believe I have said that it was one of my favorite Christmas carols! And that is true, but this week we have reached the crescendo.

Hark, The Herald is my favorite by far. It combines all the themes that we have looked at this Christmas.

Kingship, Peace, Mercy, Joy, the Incarnation, the Lordship of Christ, Light, Life, the Resurrection, the Second coming, everything!

It would take weeks to cover every topic scripturally that this carol addresses, but we will have to suffice with a few examples for this morning.

The Hymn was originally penned by none other than Charles Wesley, which is really no surprise, as we’ve already seen a couple of his Christmas hymns, and they are, as the rest of his writings, very Biblical.

But there is an interesting detail behind this hymn that edges its way into another interesting story. The words that we traditionally sing to this Carol, while still largely Wesley’s are actually an edited version. And who was that editor?

Well, none other than George Whitfield!

Wesley and Whitfield are both well known for their leadership and involvement in the Great Awakening in the 1700’s. As preachers, they were both very gifted - yet, as theologians, they differed a lot!

Whitfield, a moderate Calvinist, and Wesley, a Methodist Arminian, often butted heads on the details of Sovereign Election and Grace. However, they often worked together, sometimes begrudgingly, but by the end of their life, they were warm friends.

Whitfield’s words to Wesley on his dying bed revealed a deep sense of love and appreciation for his brother, even through the differences. And upon Whitfield’s death, who preached the sermon other than his Arminian friend, Charles Wesley?

Wesley and Whitfield were both faithful preachers of the Gospel, the Gospel that led to many thousands experiencing the reconciliation and second birth that this Hymn proclaims.

Their labor together on this Hymn, then, pictures their relationship - while they had their differences, the core essentials remain - and the words to this song are full of Scriptural and Doctrinal treasures which point us to the same Christ that they adored and served.

We could explore a number of themes that the song employs, but I’ve chosen just three for today.

The joyful announcement of Christ’s birth is so great because it tells us that God is with us, He has rescued us, and we are reconciled to Him.

1. Jesus Our Immanuel

Now if you have a fascination with things being just in order, you may cringe at this outline because we aren’t going in order this morning, at least in terms of the words of the Carol.

The second half of the second verse is, perhaps, the most rich yet mysterious portion of the whole carol.

“Veiled in flesh, the godhead see. Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus Our Immanuel.”

A couple weeks ago, we spend some significant time looking at John 1, particularly verses 1 and 14. In those verses we learned about Jesus as the word - the Logos - the central figure and unifying factor of not just human history, but of all creation. The creator of everything, whom everything was created by and for.

The first week, when we looked at the Carol “come, thou Long-expected Jesus” we looked at the fact that all of redemption is taking us from the first garden to the final garden - the final existence of perfection, God dwelling with mankind again, no sin sickness or sorrow.

Jesus’ coming to earth was both a taste of that and the means by which that will ultimately happen. He came as the deliverer to take his people from our state of sin-cursed earth, back to one day be in the state of created perfection. There are numerous prophecies about this, but one that comes up often at Christmas is this.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The further context of that passage has to do with the Lord’s deliverance of his people at the time of Assyrian invasion, but of course, like many prophecies, there is an immediate fulfillment, and an ultimate fulfillment.

Sometimes we are left scratching our head as to what one or both of those fulfillments might be - in the case of this one, some may not have even paid it much attention.

But some did! And one example is found in Matthew’s Gospel, the first chapter.

Matthew 1:22–23 ESV

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

All this referring to the beginning of Matthew, which starts with the amazing Genealogy of Jesus tracing a lineage from Abraham, to David, to Jesus.

And then, the short little birth narrative, that sums up so many of the details, but gives just what we need to know that this is a miraculous birth.

And if just the details - the lineage, the story, the virgin-birth, were not enough to make us wonder at the prominence and importance of the child, the prophecy that Matthew then quotes is enough to show that belief or disbelief in this child is a pivotal element of existence.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah - A virgin shall conceive - not in the normal way, as we’ve seen, but by the Holy Spirit!

And bear a Son - not just any son, who would this son be?

They shall call his name Immanuel.

Now, that’s a nice sounding name - I wish we had a definition!

God with us - God is with us!

Certain things happen in life, which are reminders of the presence of God, his care for us. A near-miss accident, an answer to prayer for a health-concern, a healed marriage - any number of things. Something might happen to us and we say, “God is with us!”

But the birth of this child wasn’t simply to say God is with us, The child is God with us!

Phil 2 really spells out the unfathomable nature of this. That Jesus, the very form and substance of God, stooped so low to be born in the fashion of a man.

“veiled in flesh” - Do you remember last week, when we looked at John 1:14? And we learned that the word became flesh and dwelt among us? That word for dwelt, again, is reminiscent of the tabernacle - and within the tabernacle, in the holiest place, behind the veil, was God’s presence.

Here, in Jesus Christ, behind the thin veil of flesh, is God’s physical presence. Truly God, Truly Man.

The miracle of Christ’s birth at Christmas is not that God’s presence was promised, it is that God’s presence came in the person of Jesus. God walking on earth with men. A taste of future glory, and the work of eternal redemption.

2. Born to Give them Second Birth

John 3:2–7 ESV

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

A confusing statement to Nicodemus is perhaps the most beautiful picture and showing forth of what redemption is.

“Born again.”

It strikes confusion in the hearts and minds of men, because we can hardly imagine what it was like to be born the first time. We can see it happen to our children, but we’ve no idea what it actually is like!

You can hear it in Nicodemus’ question, “Can i enter the second time into my mother’s womb?”

There is probably some amount of sarcasm in that question, as if to indicate that Jesus’ words seem mad! They seem impossible! But there is also a telling element in that - What can I do? How do I accomplish this? How can I bring this about?

John 3:6–8 ESV

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Jesus piles analogy upon analogy here, but it is helpful. We understand the wind only by its effects. At least on a normal basis, we can’t determine its source or see it, we only see the leaves rustling or our lawn chairs tipped over. Other than that, it is an invisible force. Only the effects are visible. We can’t control it, we can try to stop its effects, but in the most severe cases, the wind overcomes even the best attempts at that.

So it is with second birth - we cannot predict it, we cannot truly manufacture it, we cannot totally understand or even fathom its fulness - but we see its effects. It is a work of God, a work of the Spirit.

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is that same analogy - born from above, born from God, born, not by human will or exertion, but of God. Or as Paul says in Roman’s 9, God’s mercy in salvation depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who gives mercy.

John 3:14–16 ESV

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Do you see God’s mercy extended in the Gospel today? Do you see the call of salvation in Christ’s birth, in His coming?

Do you see that His birth was for your re-birth? If so, then come unto Him! Call out to Him today. You will find Him to be a faithful Savior, born for your salvation, your redemption, your reconciliation.

3. God and Sinners Reconciled

And it is that reconciliation which we will close with today.

The second line of the first verse says,

“Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

A fitting place to find ourselves, for today we focus in on peace in our celebration of Advent, and we have just seen the wonderful mercy of Christ extended in the Gospel. That is summed up, say Wesley and Whitfield, in this statement - “God and sinners reconciled.”

And it was not just Wesley and Whitfield that summed it up as such, it was the Apostle Paul in Romans 5. We looked at the beginning of this passage in weeks previous, considering the great hope which was brought to us in Christ. That passage begins, however,

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace - that is one of the major themes of Advent. That is on numerous Christmas cards. In numerous Christmas carols. It is a Christmas wish extended by many. It is a warming though, for certain. But it is so much more.

You have probably heard the Christmas song, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

That song is probably made famous by Vince Gill of the Eagles. It might be on your Eagles Greatest Hits album along with Hotel California and Take it Easy.

But the writer of that song was a woman named Jill Jackson, who said she wrote it after finding the life-saving joy of God’s peace and love.

Many have found that to be so. For her, it was in the immediate context of her life being saved from suicide. For many, it is the life-saving peace of God through many hardships and trials.

And while the peace of God does cover all those things, it is primarily peace with God that we must begin with.

Apart from peace with God, all other things fall out of place. After all, it is peace with God that was lost in the first Garden. It was falling from fellowship with Him through sin.

Peace with God must be the true start of all other peace. If we are to wish, “Let there be peace on earth,” we must truly wish and work for individuals to have peace with God. And those who have peace with God, experience the peace of God, and are agents of his peace on earth indeed.

So what does Paul have to say about this? How does reconciliation come into this peace?

Romans 5:6–9 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Notice our condition

weak

ungodly

sinners

under wrath

That is why, dear one, “peace with God” is so crucial and vitally important.

Weak and weary

Unrighteous and ungodly

Those whom Christ died for had no hope of peace with God on their own.

And that is the case of all humanity. Every person born into this world is born into this condition. And the passage goes on.

Romans 5:10–11 ESV

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This adds two more details to our condition.

enemy

separated

This is more than just a theological idea, also. To be ultimately separated from God is to be separated from the source of life and light. Not just physical, for in His common grace He gives physical life to many. But true life, eternal life - the kind of life that John spoke of when telling us about the second birth - that only comes from knowing God.

Those of you who have been estranged from someone you love, be it a spouse, a sibling, a son or daughter, a friend - you know the deep pain of separation, the agony of the rift experienced in that relational rift.

You know the depths you would go to in attempting to bridge that gap, in closing that tear, in repairing that rift. You know how much you have cried and cried out over those things.

Yet, there is a kind of separation and needed reconciliation that outweighs and precedes even that kind of reconciliation.

God, who calls us to live at peace with one another, who calls us to be right with our brothers and sisters, and who gives to us a ministry of reconciliation, is the first great reconciler.

He is the one who enacted and worked a one-sided effort in reconciliation. We were weak, we were ungodly, we were enemies, we were foreigners, we were separated. But God.

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

This is in the same category of analogies that we saw in John. We need a new birth, in the same way that we need to be raised from the dead.

Do you see this theme? While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Even while we were dead in sins, God raised us up. When we couldn’t even see the wind, God’s spirit blew new life into us in the second birth.

This is the miracle of salvation, the miracle of regeneration, the miracle of Christ’s coming brought to us.

Christ, born for our rebirth, Christ, dead for our death-penalty, Christ, raised for our resurrection, Christ, ever living for our eternal life.

This is why we say, with the Angels, Glory to the new-born King!

We sang three verses of the carol this morning, and those three verses are all that are typically sung.

But Wesley and Whitfield intended at least one other verse of the carol, and it goes like this.

Come, Desire of Nations, come, Fix in us thy heav'nly Home; Rise the Woman's conqu'ring Seed, Bruise in us the Serpent's Head.

Adam's Likeness now efface, Stamp thy Image in its Place; Second Adam from above, Work it in us by thy Love.

Did you hear that imagery? It brings us right back to the garden. Right back to where our separation began. Right back when peace and fulness and life and light were traded for a false promise by that serpent, the Devil.

There was, though, one beautiful thing that came out of that cursed situation - and that was the promise of the Seed of the Woman conquering the seed of the Serpent. All of Scripture traces and points to that blessed Seed.

The birth of all births. The pinnacle of all family trees. The Son of all Sons. The King of all Kings. That seed is Jesus Christ. Paul knew this story, too. So we read on in Romans 5.

Romans 5:19–21 ESV

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do you hear the wonderful news? The first Adam plunged us into ruin, but the second pulls us from the depths.

The first Adam’s reign was in disobedience and curse. The Second Adam’s reign is in grace and righteousness.

1 Corinthians 15:45–49 ESV

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

That is a promise.

Though born bearing Adam’s sinful image, through resurrection and re-birth, we do and shall bear the image of the Second Adam.

Do you see the imagery of the two births there?

Adam is the “man of Dust” and we are naturally “of dust” with Him. Jesus is the “man of heaven” and we are “born from above” through Him.

This is true reconciliation. To go from our lowly state, to being raised up to commune and fellowship and dwell with God, the creater of all, the source of all, the life-giving ruler of all.

Do you rejoice in this today, dear one?

I hope you do!

Perhaps you are seeing this all in a new light today, and you are beginning to grasp the importance of Christ’s coming. If so, would you come to Him? Would you call out to Him? Would you receive Him, becoming a Son or Daughter of God? Experiencing truly that Peace with God that leads to the Peace of God?

And Christian, know that “Jesus our Immanuel” is not just a concept or an idea, but that God truly is with you. He dwells within you by the Spirit. That is your hope and joy and love and peace brought down.

Do you live as though Christ lives in you? Does His life course through your veins, the life of righteousness and victory, the life of no condemnation, the life of no separation, the life of no more death by sin, but death to sin?

In salvation, in redemption, in reconciliation, in sanctification, in all of life, may we sing out - “Glory to the New-born King.”

The joyful announcement of Christ’s birth is so great because it tells us that God is with us, He has rescued us, and we are reconciled to Him.