Here's the thing about this carol: it's arguably the most theologically packed Christmas carol out there. I mean, really, it's kind of like the "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" of Christmas carols! My favorite version of this song is one you probably can't get anywhere. It was done by the choir at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church last year (2007) in their Christmas program. Here's a link to Jason Sears, the Worship Leader at Oak Mountain's blog. Maybe he can help.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
(That we can be reconciled to God! It's probably one of the preeminent messages of Christmas. And I love the past tense of the verb "reconciled." Everything necessary is now in place. God has done it. He has reconciled mankind to himself.)
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
(Christ didn't come for a particular ethnic group or race. This line should give great hope to us Gentiles and all the people groups of the world.)
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,“
Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
(These lines affirm Christ's diety. He was God. You can hear echoes of John 1 and Philippians 2 in these lines. The heresy that Christ was just a man, good man or not, is completely wrong. He was God, and he came.)
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
(This was no ordinary birth.)
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
(I love the word "veiled" in these lines. It didn't erase his diety, but there was a masking of it on some level. He didn't give up any of his "Godness" to come to earth, but it wasn't fully visible. But, as you approach Christ in the Gospels, keep this song in your mind. He was fully God: Father, Son, and Spirit while he was here on earth.)
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
(Wow, he was "pleased" to take on our flesh and dwell among us! Is there any response to this but worship?)
Jesus our Emmanuel. Refrain
Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
(Do you ever stop and think about how wonderful the words, "peace on earth" are? We won't fully realize that until Heaven, but peace between men, peace between nature and humans, peace within our souls. It's repeated over and over again by secular culture to only apply to war, but it's so much more than that. You can have peace, because of Christ.)
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to us He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
(I think sometimes I forget that Jesus' ultimate goal on this earth was to heal. He healed the sick, yes, but this was only to illuminate the fact that he had come to heal souls, heal the rift between God and man, and ultimately heal creation damaged by sin. I think this line just reminds me that healing isn't something he did, it's something he is.)
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth. Refrain
Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
(This is a direct allusion to Genesis 3 where God tells Eve that her offspring will crush Satan's head under his heal. Tired of the ravages of Satan and his forces on this earth? If Christ didn't come as man, there would be no one to crush him at the end of the age.)
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
(Over and over again in the Old Testament we see nature punished for man's sin. In Romans Paul says all of creation groans for the return of Christ. God created the Heavens and the earth, and he means to restore them as well.)
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine. Refrain
(We have union with God through Christ, see John 17 for Christ's prayer which includes this.)
Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
(These lines provide so much hope because they refer to the fact that we can actually have a new nature. The Adamic sin nature no longer has to apply to us. In Christ, we are actually made new. Wow. What a concept.)
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart. Refrain
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