Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”

The Music of “LIFE” Series:   Born In A Manger

Scripture Reading – Luke 2:1-7, His Birth;  2:21-35, Simeon.

There are so many hymns and songs that depict this scene:

Angels We Have Heard On High

            …sweetly singing their glorias of this new baby’s Birth!  And Who is He?

 “Christ the Lord, the newborn King.”

It all took place in a …Little Town of Bethlehem

            The town was quiet, the streets were dark, the people were asleep in the beds never suspecting that this special night, God was proclaiming the birth of Emmanuel: God with us!  All was still and dark, except for the Everlasting Light that was shining…The Christ, the Savior, the long-expected Messiah was born! Heaven’s Light had come to earth.

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

            …glory to the New Born King!  The angels proclaimed Jesus, the Prince of  Peace, the God of Mercy…and that because of His birth, God and sinners could be reconciled.  Jesus was our Atonement.

            Jesus, being our Peace and Mercy, and because of His birth,

Sinners would have an opportunity to once again be reconciled to God.

            Luke tells us that there were also shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, While Shepherds Watched Their Flock by Night

…the glory of the Lord came down and glory shone around them.

This wondrous announcement of the angels to the shepherds? 

Handel’s Messiah in referring to Isaiah 9:6, puts it this way:  

“For Unto Us a Child Is Born”

unto us a Son is given: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!

            The announcement of the birth of The King did not contain itself to this quiet hillside in Bethlehem.  The Heavens were declaring the Glory of God in the East. 

It was The First Noel.   Some men, in a far away country, saw this wondrous star and followed it to the place where Jesus was.  Traditionally, we sing, that these men are …Three Kings from the Orient…They brought Him significant gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  The gold to signify crowning Jesus as King, frankincense, speaking of His Deity, and myrrh, a foreshadowing of His death. 

            And why did Jesus come to earth?  Why would God, the Son, leave Heaven and come to earth to be Born In A Manger?  In a meager stall with nothing but hay to cradle Him, surrounded perhaps by donkeys and sheep, and other animals. 

            The chorus of Born In A Manger says, “He left His throne for Calvary, He came to earth for me.”

            Death was the very reason why Jesus came.  And how personal is that?!  He came for me; He came for you!  If Jesus had not come to die on Calvary; if He had not shed His blood for you and me, there would be no forgiveness of sin. 

            We often say, and perhaps without thinking, God Is Love.  Yes, He is.  It is His very nature.  His love was manifested when God the Father sent Christ to earth, to be born of a virgin for this express purpose: to die on the cross!  Jesus, Who is God, the Son, also manifested the character of His love, when He, in obedience to His Father, took on our sin.  What greater love could there be than for God, the Son, to take on our sin and die in our place, that we might be reconciled to God for Eternity! 

            “Born To Die Upon Calvary, Jesus suffered my sin to forgive; Born to die upon Calv’ry, He was wounded, that I might live”.  

Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

            With heart and soul and voice!  He has opened Heaven’s door…

And man is blest forevermore…Now ye need not fear the grave: Peace! Peace! Jesus Christ was born to save!  Christ was born to save!

So, Come, All Ye Faithful

 let us adore Him…Christ the Lord!

Prepared by Mercedes S. Whelan

for Dorcas Mission Circle

Corinth Baptist Church, Corinth, ME

December 6, 2007