I have always been intrigued by the song lyric “mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die,” which of course comes from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
At Christmas, we emphasize Bible passages from the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and rightfully so. The opening chapters of these two books give us many of the familiar accounts of the birth of Jesus—the baby in the manger, the shepherds coming to worship Him, and the Wise Men are a few examples. [Just to be clear—the story of the Little Drummer Boy is not in the Bible.]
But I often find myself reflecting on two other Scripture passages at the holidays. One is Philippians 2:5-11. Here, the apostle Paul says that Jesus, exercising great humility, gave up His heavenly dwelling and became a man, “making Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” Not only did He become a man, but He became a man who was obedient to God—obedient to the point where He underwent a torturous death on a cross. “Mild He lays His glory by.”
But why did He do it? Why did He leave a majestic heavenly home in order to live and die as a human being? John 1:1-14 helps explain this. Here we find Jesus described as “the Word” who was present with God from the beginning of time (“He was with God in the beginning,” v. 2), who was the agent of God’s creation (“through Him all things were made,” v. 3), and yet came down to earth (“the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us,” v. 14). John 1:12 says this: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” “Born that man no more may die.”
By the way, all this was made possible not only because Jesus died in our place, but He overcame (that is, defeated) death by rising from the grave. I’ll elaborate on Jesus’ resurrection in my Easter-time blog entries.
So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I’d like to thank you so much for reading my blog. Barring any sudden epiphanies, I will be taking Friday off, and I'll resume the blog next Monday.
I’ve had a lot of fun listening to Christmas CDs, and sharing some “fractured Bible studies” and stupid song lyrics with you this December. But when it comes right down to it, my wish for this holiday season is that we all see and appreciate Jesus for who He really is—God made flesh, who gave up His glory to live among us, so that we, by placing our faith in Him, “no more may die.” Merry Christmas!
At Christmas, we emphasize Bible passages from the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and rightfully so. The opening chapters of these two books give us many of the familiar accounts of the birth of Jesus—the baby in the manger, the shepherds coming to worship Him, and the Wise Men are a few examples. [Just to be clear—the story of the Little Drummer Boy is not in the Bible.]
But I often find myself reflecting on two other Scripture passages at the holidays. One is Philippians 2:5-11. Here, the apostle Paul says that Jesus, exercising great humility, gave up His heavenly dwelling and became a man, “making Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” Not only did He become a man, but He became a man who was obedient to God—obedient to the point where He underwent a torturous death on a cross. “Mild He lays His glory by.”
But why did He do it? Why did He leave a majestic heavenly home in order to live and die as a human being? John 1:1-14 helps explain this. Here we find Jesus described as “the Word” who was present with God from the beginning of time (“He was with God in the beginning,” v. 2), who was the agent of God’s creation (“through Him all things were made,” v. 3), and yet came down to earth (“the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us,” v. 14). John 1:12 says this: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” “Born that man no more may die.”
By the way, all this was made possible not only because Jesus died in our place, but He overcame (that is, defeated) death by rising from the grave. I’ll elaborate on Jesus’ resurrection in my Easter-time blog entries.
So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I’d like to thank you so much for reading my blog. Barring any sudden epiphanies, I will be taking Friday off, and I'll resume the blog next Monday.
I’ve had a lot of fun listening to Christmas CDs, and sharing some “fractured Bible studies” and stupid song lyrics with you this December. But when it comes right down to it, my wish for this holiday season is that we all see and appreciate Jesus for who He really is—God made flesh, who gave up His glory to live among us, so that we, by placing our faith in Him, “no more may die.” Merry Christmas!
Very nicely stated………”God made flesh, who gave up His glory to live among us, so that we, by placing our faith in Him, no more may die.”
ReplyDeleteI can’t think of anything to add!