Feel His Presence
Notes
Transcript
Verses
Verses
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
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.
Introduction
Introduction
Today is the third Sunday of Advent. It is also our third installment in the Hymns to Him series. During this series we are looking at hymns of the Christmas season in the context of selected bible verses. Today we are looking at Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in the context of John 1:10-14.
Hark! The Herald
Hark! The Herald
I want to give you some background on the hymn for this week.
Many of the carols we sing have a rich theological tradition, and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” is no exception. It was written by Charles Wesley, who was an English Methodist leader and hymn writer. Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns, more than any other male writer (Fanny Crosby wrote 8,000).
His goal in writing hymns was to teach the poor and illiterate sound doctrine. His brother, John Wesley, a famous theologian and founder of Methodism, said that Charles’ hymnal was the best theological book in existence. Some have noted that Methodism was born in song and Charles was the chief songwriter.
Wesley, inspired by the sounds of London church bells while walking to church on Christmas Day, wrote the “Hark” poem about a year after his conversion to be read on Christmas Day. The poem first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739 with the opening line of “Hark, how the welkin (heaven) rings.”
In 1753, George Whitefield, a student and eventual colleague of Wesley’s, adapted the poem into the song we now know today. It was Whitefield who penned the phrase “newborn King.”
The first stanza describes the good news of the savior’s birth. God has sent the One who will reconcile the sinner back to Himself. Therefore, all the nations should rise and sing and proclaim the good news, which is Christ the King! The next stanza speaks to the mysticism of Christ’s coming and the good news in it. The final stanza tells of the accomplishment of Christ and the power that it brings.
For well over two hundred years, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” has been a Gospel-saturated anthem pointing people to the Savior. This famed carol is loaded with rich theology.
Three Main Concepts
Three Main Concepts
There are three significant concepts in these verses:
Grace
Truth
Glory
Grace
Grace
Grace contains two main ideas.
First, there is the idea of beauty. There is a beauty in God’s grace. There is beauty in God’s reckless love for us and his determined pursuit of us. There is beauty in the birth of this child, Jesus, just as there will be painful beauty in the death and resurrection of the adult, Jesus.
Secondly, there is the idea of something completely undeserved. We are most familiar with this idea. Jesus represents an extension of God’s grace to us, undeserving sinners. This infant, Jesus, is the promise and resurrected Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. God’s grace is manifested in many ways.
Ed Jarrett writes:
Grace is what God does because he is gracious. Every action of God toward us involves his grace. His creation, his providence, his conviction of the sinner, his gift of salvation, his equipping of the saints, and the future he has prepared for us. All of this is due to God's grace.
But the clearest manifestation of God’s grace is found in the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.
The first verse of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing says, in part:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
The third verse says, in part:
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
God’s grace is manifested and made perfect in Jesus. God’s grace, through Jesus, reconciles us to God.
John writes:
...to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...
We are welcomed back into the family of God through God’s grace manifested in Jesus.
Truth
Truth
Truth is a dominant theme in John’s gospel. In verse 14 John writes that Jesus came “… full of truth.”
Jesus does not come to speak or teach truth about God. Jesus is the truth. He is the physical presence of truth. Jesus would make this completely clear later in his ministry.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Glory
Glory
Jesus’s birth and life are a manifestation of God’s glory. Yet, at the same time, this glory is also uniquely his own. In the 17th chapter of John Jesus prays:
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
The glory Jesus asks for is the glory he already had before the creation of the world. The coming of Jesus is the coming of God’s glory among men.
Becoming Flesh
Becoming Flesh
And how did Jesus come into the world? In a tangible, visible, verifiable, observable way.
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.
William Barclay describes this verse as “… the sentence for the sake of which John wrote his gospel.” Barclay continues his description of this verse by rephrasing it this way, “This word which created the world, this reason which controls the order of the world, has become a person with our own eyes we saw him.” This is an incredibly important concept. The word used here for “seen” refers to physical sight. Physically seeing a physical thing. In other words, there is nothing metaphorical or symbolic about this. Jesus is the actual, genuine divine power of creation that is also the actual, genuine physical human named Jesus. The word has truly become flesh. At Christmas time, that means this infant lying in the feed trough is that actual, divine power in a completely literal way. Keep in mind, nothing changes about Jesus’s nature between the time he is born and the time he is tortured and murdered on the cross. Truly divine and truly human.
The second verse of Hark! The Harold Angels Sign reads:
Christ by highest heav'n adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a Virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
The theology is sound!
Old Testament Connection
Old Testament Connection
The Jews understood this concept of God dwelling among them. Throughout the old testament we find this concept of the visible presence of God. It indicated a specific, tangible presence of God and marked significant moments of connection between Isreal and God.
In the desert ...
While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
Before the 10 Commandments ...
and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
When the Tabernacle was set up ...
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
When Solomon’s temp[le was dedicated ...
And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
Ezekiel experienced the presence of the glory of God ...
Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Jesus in Context
Jesus in Context
When we consider the context of Jesus’s birth, we can fully understand the power of John’s words in today’s verses. This infant before us is so many things, all of which reflect God’s glory. Jesus shows us, in a very real way, God’s grace, truth, and glory. Jesus truly is God’s presence among us.
How powerful is that? In the midst of global pandemic, social unrest, racial injustice, terrorist attacks, uncertainty, fear, and chaos we can say, with certainty, that God is with us. We can say that God has made his presence known in a tangible, meaningful way. The God who made his presence known to Isreal in the desert and in the tabernacle is present with us. The God who filled the temple and filled Ezekiel’s visions is present with us. The savior who was born in a stable and raised in a small town in Isreal, is present with us. The savior who was tortured and murdered is present with us. The savior who threw of the shackles of death and rose to life again, is present with us.
So, I say … listen! Listen to this song the angels are singing ...
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With th’angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Pray with me.