December 2002

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We Beheld His Glory

By Rick Shrader

John the Apostle always brings us close to heaven, especially as he reveals to us the glory that was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both in his gospel and his first epistle he graphical portrays what it was like to behold the Son of God in the flesh. In two short parentheses, he lets us behold Him: (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) John 1:14; and (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us), 1 John 1:2.

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 God-head see,

Hail th’ incarnate Deity!

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hark the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the new-born King!”

John boldly tells us that when he looked at Christ, he was seeing the Father’s glory. A.T. Robertson, in commenting on Colossians 1:15, Who is the image of the invisible God, wrote, “God is invisible to man, as even Moses learned when he asked to see the glory of God pass by. God dwells in light unapproachable, whom no one has seen or can see (1 Tim 6:16). But we see God in Christ. ‘He that has seen me has seen the Father’ (Jn 14:9). God is like Christ. In the face of Jesus Christ God has given the light of the knowledge of his glory (2 Cor 4:6). Jesus is the Shekinah glory of God for those who have eyes to see.”¹

We should not be surprised at the absence of holy things in the Christmas of the commercial world. The real glory of the Son of God always causes the darkness to flee. People would rather spend their time and thoughts on the temporal glories of Christmas tree lights, silver tinsel and brightly decorated packages than on even the veiled glory of the God of heaven.

I have wondered when our culture might do away with the word “Christmas” altogether. After all, it is a constant reminder of the Person who brings the real meaning to this season. Even the word “holiday” reminds us that the day of our Savior’s birth is “holy” and that our commercialization of God’s incarnation is a desecration to His personification. Christian hymn writers help us see this better.

There’s a tumult of joy

O’er the wonderful birth,

For the Virgin’s sweet Boy

Is the Lord of the earth!

Ay! The star rains its fire while the beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!

We rejoice in the light,

And we echo the song

That comes down thru the night

From the heavenly throng.

Ay! We shout to the lovely evangel they bring, And we greet in His cradle our Savior and King!

Wise men, whether pious or mildly religious, have recognized the awesome truth of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. C.S. Lewis, in a famous statement, says:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.²

Similarly, and a half century earlier, G.K. Chesterton wrote concerning the identity of the Jesus Christ:

It can be found, not among prophets and sages and founders of religions, but only among a low set of lunatics. But this is exactly where the argument becomes intensely interesting; because the argument proves too much. For nobody supposes that Jesus of Nazareth was that sort of person. No modern critic in his five wits thinks that the preacher of the Sermon on the Mount was a horrible half-witted imbecile that might be scrawling stars on the walls of a cell. No atheist or blasphemer believes that the author of the Parable of the Prodigal Son was a monster with one mad idea like a cyclops with one eye. Upon any possible historical criticism, he must be put higher in the scale of human beings than that. Yet by all analogy we have really to put him there or else in the highest place of all.²

John says he beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. He says he saw that glory in Jesus. His eyes looked upon it, his hands handled it, his ears heard it. He beheld His glory!

Come to Bethlehem and see, Him whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the new-born King.

See Him in a manger laid, Jesus, Lord of heav’n and earth;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, With us sing our Savior’s birth.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

At this season of our Lord’s birth, let us also behold Him who is the glory of God and of Heaven! For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased (2 Peter 1:17).

Notes:

1. A.T. Robertson, Paul and the Intellectuals (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1959) 41.

2. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Collier Books, 1984) 56.

3. G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993) 203.

From the Catbird Seat

by Debra Conley

Stories of Christmas Carols by Ernest Emurian (Baker Book House Co.) is a treasure of history about our favorite Christmas songs. I recommend that every family include a few of these expository readings in their holiday traditions. Charles Wesley, the Methodist theologian, is credited with writing the words to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing as well as some 6500 other songs! The Reverend George Whitefield, who worked with Wesley, published the words to the carol in 1753. It was Jewish born composer Felix Mendelssohn who was asked to set the words to music and composed the popular version we sing today.

The prolific hymn writer Isaac Watts, the son of an Anglican Church deacon, wrote Joy To The World! This carol has been printed in more languages than any other. The musical portion was added by George Frederick Handel and is part of his most famous work, The Messiah.

Silent Night was more than just a song to father Joseph Mohr, Priest of the Church of St. Nicholas, located in the Austrian Alps; it was an event. Chief musician and organist of the church, Franz Gruber, announced that Christmas Eve Mass (the year was 1818) would be done without music since the old organ in the cathedral was broken. Father Mohr remembered that Gruber played the guitar and instructed him to play the poem to guitar accompaniment. The song was named only after the two agreed that their “silent night,” the mass without an organ, was indeed their best.

We Three Kings is the product of Episcopalian rector John Henry Hopkins. In his personal notes, Hopkins points out that the three Magi must have come with a large entourage. Important people traveled that way just as today. Hopkins also notes that King Herod might not have been as troubled by the presence of three as he was by three large groups of people traveling to see the new Messiah.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Author: Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893

Composer: Lewis H. Redner, 1831-1908

(From 101 Hymn Stories¹)

This beloved Christmas carol is from the pen of one of America’s outstanding preachers of the past century, Phillips Brooks. In his day he was often referred to as the “Prince of the Pulpit.” His many published volumes of sermons have since become classics of American literature.

O Little Town of Bethlehem was written in 1868, several years after Brooks had returned from a trip to the Holy Land. The experience of spending Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and seeing the place of Jesus’ birth, left an indelible impression upon the young preacher. Three years later, while searching for a new children’s Christmas song, he was moved to write of his memory of Bethlehem.

Brooks gave a copy of the newly written carol to his organist and Sunday School superintendent, Lewis Redner, and asked him to compose a simple melody that children could sing easily. Redner struggled for a long time for just the right tune for the text. On the evening before the children’s program was to be given, he suddenly awakened out of sleep, arose and quickly composed the melody. The carol was an immediate favorite with the children and quickly became one of the most beloved Christmas carols. It was first published in 1874. Although Brooks composed many other carols for Christmas and Easter, this is the only one that has remained in popular use.

¹Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982) 187.

O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dream-less sleep, the silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting Light—

The hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary—and gathered all above,

While mortals sleep the angels keep, their watch of wond’ring love.

O morning stars together, Proclaim the holy birth,

And praising sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv’n!

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n.

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in—be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

The Bookshelf

Day By Day With The Early Church Fathers

Hudson, Sharrer, Vanker, eds.

Every year I have one or two “day by day” books to read. This one is unique because it is difficult for most of us to read the church fathers extensively. The editors footnote every entry so that you may go to the original source if you choose. There are readings from 39 church fathers including Augustine, Chrysostom, Clement, Jerome, Justin Martyr, Athanasius, Tertullian and many more that you may never have opportunity to read. It is also very good for illustrative material. Published by Hendrickson, 1999.

Road To Revival

By Vance Havner

I have reviewed a number of Havner books this year. His books become addictive and I find myself breezing through them in a day or so. Most of them are a little over 100 pages and sometimes stories and sayings are repeated. This book hit a tender note with me concerning our need for revival. He says, “Would that we today knew what we need most! Not a better pastorate, or more learning, or more machinery, or more publicity, or a more engaging personality, but a double portion of the old-time Power. We sing about it, but we are willing to do without it.”

The Word To The Reader:

The TNIV’s Introduction

Review by Pastor Barry Settle

Co-sponsored with the International Bible Society, Zondervan has published the Today’s New International Version New Testament, with the Old expected in 2005. Three objectives are stated: 1) translation is never finished, 2) the need for accuracy, and 3) the correction of the gender problem. The third objective has generated such changes as “Messiah” rather than “Christ;” “God’s children” rather than “saints;” “sons and daughters” rather than “sons” of God. Such “meaning translations” are PC driven rather than textual.

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