Merry Christmas - Joy to the Broken World

We sang these songs in church yesterday. The sermon was about the promise and hope of the incarnation. These songs are full of biblical truth. God's creation was good and perfect. It fell, and suffering has abounded since. By coming to earth, living the life all men should live, dying the death all men should die, and raising from the grave, Christ bought back his fallen creation. Now, we wait in eager expectation for God to show his glory again in his creation.

As I sang 'Joy to the World' I saw a dad holding his little boy. His little boy is four and has a brain tumor that will probably take his life on earth. Watching the father hold his son and singing, "No more let sins and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found," was a deeply moving experience.

Life is hard. Thorns grow. Children get sick and die. But, God became a man.

Jesus came and saved the world by suffering. So, in the face of the suffering,God's people can shout, "Joy to the World!"

The Savior came and he is coming again. Everything is not right, but it will be. The king is coming back. It reminds me of the C.S. Lewis classic line from 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, "They say Aslan is on the move." One day, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, every sickness will be healed, every sadness will be become untrue.


Joy to the World by Isaac Watts

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.


Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.


No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.


He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.



I Heard the Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”