Christmas is here again, and despite the commercialism and organising that goes with it, I love it. Especially the music – I have taken part in Christmas musical events ever since I was a young choirboy!

Of course, the most familiar music is carols. I have always enjoyed them, perhaps just playing them once a year is enough to keep them interesting without becoming boring!

One of the signs of a good piece of music is how long it lasts, and certainly the ‘regular’ carols have stood the test of time. 

What is especially enduring is the words. Many of them recount the Christmas story, which makes it easier to remember, but many are also are rich in doctrine.

Doctrine has become an unpopular word these days, yet without it we cannot worship God in truth as it is doctrine (which means ‘teaching’) that teaches us the truth. 

Or to put it another way, the carols are rich in theology, which is the study of God. We come away with a greater understanding of who God is and that will inevitably lead to worship.

So here are three of my favourites

See Amid the Winter’s Snow

See amid the winter’s snow.
born for us on earth below,
see the tender Lamb appears,
promised from eternal years.

The traditional tune for this carol is called ‘Humility’. Appropriate, as the first verse describes the humble entrance of the Lord (‘who built the starry skies’) into our world. See Philippians 2:5-8.

He is identified as the Lamb – echoing John 1:29, which in turn is a reference to Isaiah 53:7. The theme of the sacrificial Lamb is one that goes right back to Genesis (e.g. Gen 22:7).

He was born ‘for us’ (Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:11) in accordance with promises made hundred/thousands of years beforehand (Genesis 3:15 etc. etc. also John 5:39) even stretching back into eternity (Ephesians 1 shows how God’s plan of salvation was made ‘before the foundation of the world’).

What is great is that all that ‘theology’ is contained in just a few lines.

Similarly, and another of my favourites, is ‘O Come all Ye Faithful’. This carol is an invitation to come and worship, adore, Jesus.

The second verse…

God of God, Light of Light
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb
Very God
Begotten, not created

… is again rich in theology.

It states that Jesus is God. It takes the theme from John 1 which identifies Jesus as the Word who was ‘with God’ and ‘was God’, the creator of all things, and the Light which is the life of men (John 1:1-4).

Books have been written on this, as it is all about the doctrine of the Trinity, something which took the early church a couple of centuries to fully articulate. Essentially, everything that makes God God, belongs to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are distinguishable in their roles and persons, but inseparable in their nature and attributes.

Jesus did not ‘abhor the virgin’s womb’, meaning he came willingly (see John 10:11-14). Salvation was decreed by the Father, who sent his Son (Gal 4:4-5), who delights to do his Father’s will (Psalm 40:7,8, and John 4:34).

Neither was he ashamed to be made human (Hebrews 2:9-15). We were made in his image and though fallen Jesus still became of of us to the extent that he calls us brothers (Hebrews 2:11-12).

He was ‘begotten, not created’. This shows the divine and human natures of Jesus. There was a day when the Son of God became a man (begotten), but there was never a day when he was created as there was never a time when he did not exist.

And lastly – and I think my all-time favourite – Hark the Herald Angels Sing. So here is all of it:

Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

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 Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
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
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

It’s all about Jesus. We barely get a mention except as recipients of God’s grace.

It picks up many of the themes covered in the other carols – his dual nature, God and man (veiled in flesh the Godhead see, the incarnate Deity), his humility in coming as a man (Mild he lays his glory by), but the overriding theme is that of giving him glory.

It truly is a worship song – not of the more contemplative style here we express how we feel towards God, but one where all the attention is on God. And it needs to be sung loudly!

Our first and foremost calling is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30)

Singing carols is a great way of doing this – We are moved by the music and the emotion of the words (our hearts), we focus fully on him (our soul, or spirit), we speak and sing truths about him which we can meditate on more fully (our minds), and we sing loudly (our strength).

The familiarity of Christmas carols can be two-edged. On the one hand we can just ‘go through the motions’ of tradition; but on the other hand, we have most of these words on our minds, so we can recall them easily and enjoy the truths they convey and focus on what God did at that first Christmas.

Paradoxically, Paul calls the coming of Jesus as ‘inexpressible’, though not meaning that we can’t describe it, but that we’ll never fully understand it (2 Cor 9:15), and Peter uses the same word to describe our joy (1 Peter 1:8)

So Happy Christmas!

Happy means Blessed. A time of Wonder, Joy and Worship