Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord

I've been a Christ follower most of my life and sometimes, in the busyness of the holiday season, it's easy to get caught up and forget what Christmas is really about.  My mentor, Karen, says that every year she asks the Lord to show her something new during the Christmas season.  So I did that this year.  And He showed me something.

During the Christmas Eve service at our church, Pastor talked about the Christmas story.  It's found in the book of Luke:

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^{Luke 2:8-20:
8} In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”  ¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”( O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!)

 ¹⁶ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.


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I've heard and read this story hundreds ot time.  But I really started trying to put myself in the shepherds' place.  I imagined myself in the dark of the night in the fields, among the sheep, and then suddenly an angel in the light appearing and proclaiming the Messiah's birth.  Then the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly host - all praising and worshipping God. 

At church, we sang "O come all ye Faithful".  I've sung this uncounted times, yet, this time, I really listened and read the words.  The song suddenly made sense to me in connection with the Christmas story.  This Christmas carol was written about the Christmas story in Luke.  Why had I never realized this before?

O come, all ye faithful

Verse 1:
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant	Call to the shepherds to see the baby Jesus.  But also a call to us – God’s faithful people
Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.	Come to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels	Come see Jesus was born
Verse 2:
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,	All descriptions of Who Jesus Is.  He is God!
Lo, he shuns not the Virgin's womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
Verse 3:
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;	Luke 2:13 – how the heavenly host appeared and started praising God
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
Verse 4:
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,	Luke 2:15 – the shepherds went to see the baby Jesus.
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;	We, too, now, must humble ourselves before Jesus
Verse 5
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,	God Himself came to us , made flesh, who would eventually die for us, so we would live forever with God in heaven
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Verse 6
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;	Praise and adoration to Jesus, who was with God from before the beginning of creation
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
Chorus:
O come, let us adore Him…..	Did you know that “adore” is nowhere in the Bible?  Yet it means to express reverence and homage.  To worship Him.
Christ the Lord.	Jesus Christ – the Messiah – God made manifest

 So we come to Bethlehem, not in a physical sense, but in a mental, spiritual sense.  We put ourselves in the Christmas story.  We reflect on the miracle of Christmas - that God Himself, creator, ruler, Alpha, Omega, no beginning or no end,  would love us so much that He would send Himself down in human form, sinless, to be a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could live forever with Him in heaven.

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?  Do you accept the miracle of Christmas?