Happy Christmas to all! Today we reach Christmas and Advent – all the waiting – is over. We pray you will have a blessed Christmas time, taking time to pause and celebrate Jesus.
Today’s song urges us to ‘celebrate the child who is the light.’ This song resonates with memories for me, chiefly my two year old son playing along to the cassette (yes, it was that long ago…) on an old adult-sized guitar, merrily singing along in half-words which were all he could manage: ‘cel.. chil…is light…now darkness o-o’. For some reason, this was one of his favourite Christmas songs and as we celebrate in church later, with him playing the piano to accompany our carols, I cannot help but celebrate God’s faithfulness to our family along with His faithfulness in sending Christ.
‘Celebrate the Child who is the Light
Now the darkness is over
No more wandering in the night
Celebrate the Child who is the Light
You know this is no fable
Godhead and manhood became one
We see He’s more than able
And so we live to God the Son
First born of creation
Lamb and Lion, God and Man
The Author of Salvation
Almighty wrapped in swaddling bands.’ (‘Celebrate the Child’, Michael Card)
One of my greatest fears for Christmas is that we treat it as a fable, a fairy story, something which is sweet and cute but which actually does not really matter. This song addresses that head-on, declaring the Christmas truth that ‘Godhead and manhood became one.’ Let’s dwell in that mystery today, the mystery of the Incarnation, knowing that because Jesus put on human skin, He knows what it is like to be human, with all its joys and sorrows, and because He is Almighty God, He is able to save us. Let’s celebrate Jesus!