December 15, 2024 | By jay Ashbaucher
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born King…”This good news refers to Jesus Christ. He is to be a King. This was prophesied to his mother before his birth. Here is what she was told: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most-High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:31-33). When wise men sought to find this king, they came to Jerusalem to consult with the Jewish King, Herod. Herod inquired to see if the Jewish scriptures had predicted his birth. Indeed, it was prophesied in Micah 5:2 that a ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem. In the latter days of this world as we know it, the prophet Daniel described Christ’s kingdom as it was revealed to him. He wrote, “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).Hark! … “Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace… light and life to all He brings…”On a day when the Lord alone will be exalted (Isaiah 2:11), here is what is said about the Lord’s kingdom, “He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isaiah 2:4). Jesus is referred to in the Bible as the Prince of Peace. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). When the Prince of Peace comes, under his rule, there will be no more war. How great is that?
Hark! … “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled…”
Jesus has not yet taken His place as King on earth. He came with a different agenda. Jesus came to earth to suffer death at the hands of sinful people and to extend mercy so that God and sinners could be reconciled. What does it mean to be reconciled? Think about a clock on the wall in your home. The battery died, and it has stopped working. You need to replace the battery and set the clock to the right time. To set the clock to the right time, you need to find another clock that already tells you the right time. When you reset your wall clock to match the right time on the other clock, you have reconciled your clock. The sinner is like the clock on the wall. He or she is not living by the standards of God’s righteousness. When God and sinners are reconciled, the sinner is reset to possess Christ’s righteousness, a standing that God bestows.
Again, we look to the Bible to become aware of the problem between God and sinners. We find a good explanation given by the prophet Isaiah. “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:3-6). Jesus was that man of sorrows who died on a cross to pay God’s required death penalty for our sins so that we could be forgiven by God instead of being judged and condemned. We are all sinners, separated from God and having no hope of living in the future evil-free world of God. God sent Jesus to die for us because He does not want anyone to die. Rather, He would that all repent of rejecting God and His way of life. He would rather have all to receive His offer of forgiveness. Again, an Old Testament prophet declared, “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live” (Ezekiel 18:32).
Hark! … “Born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth…”
The greatest of all possible Christmas gifts is to receive God’s gift of eternal life. Here are the words of Jesus: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). On another occasion, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this” (John 11:25-26)? These words Jesus spoke to a woman whose brother had died a few days before.
One thing the Bible makes clear is this: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). As you contemplate this Bible verse, would you say that eternal life is something you can earn, or simply a gift that must be received. If it is a gift to be received, how do we receive it, and how can we know whether we have eternal life or not? Near the end of the New Testament is a five-chapter letter called “1 John”. The letter is written to tell us how we can know that we have eternal life. It is worth studying with these questions in mind.
“Hark” is a word that means “listen, pay close attention”. The Christmas Carol, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” reminds us of the angels who appeared and sang to shepherds in a field the night Jesus was born. They announced it as good news of great joy for all people. Jesus came to be God with us and to show us who God is and how we can know Him as our savior and guide to life. The shepherds harkened and hurried to go and see. The message of good news remains open to all of us.
