Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen 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 us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Come, Desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home;
rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,
bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;
stamp thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Glory is an odd word. We can gain glory for doing something brave or noteworthy. We can declare something glorious when we acknowledge its beauty or majesty. We can glory in good things, reveling in the magnificent gifts given to us. Glory can be bestowed upon a king for his riches and power. But the glory of God is something different altogether. In some senses it is a combination of all of these things; a conglomeration of all the good, brave, majestic, gracious, powerful things He has done. However, it is also purely the essence of who God is, whether we experience it and witness it or not. His glory is always there, always present, but at times He reveals it to us. Every day pieces of His glory are revealed in His creation and the work that He is doing, but there are times when that glory is directly unveiled to His people.

The glory of God, the essence of who God is, was unveiled in a unparalleled degree in the person of Jesus Christ. On that day in Bethlehem, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. While hidden behind the skin of a precious infant, the world saw the glory of God manifest that day. The incarnate deity came on the scene; the King made flesh revealed Himself to this world. Only a few men had ever witnessed glimpses of God's glory; Moses catching a peek at God's back, Isaiah standing before the Lord who is cloaked by angels, Jacob wrestling with a faceless man. These great men of faith experienced the most glory of God that their earthly souls could handle; God graciously allowed them to get a glorious glance, enough to fill them, but not enough to knock them over dead. We, in our broken human form, cannot stand entirely in the glory of God; it is too magnificent, too righteous, too loving, too altogether holy for us to handle. And yet, God in His creativity, sent His glory to dwell among men. He sent the essence of who He is, the pure nature of His character, to live with us.

It is no wonder that the angels cry out Glory to the new born King! The angels have experienced His glory, they have dwelt among it for longer than we can calculate. It has been their most precious companion, their greatest joy, their most intense fear, and the source of incredible awe. So when they spot that exact glory within the Christ Child, it is not surprising that they break out in praise! The glory, the glory of God is THERE! He sent it to them! He sent them ALL of Him! He held nothing back! What an incredible gift! What a good God! Glory to You O Lord! Glory to You! The angels rejoice; they are ecstatic that the men of earth get to know God the way they do. They are amazed that God was pleased, He was pleased, to come and dwell with men, these hateful, hurtful men. They are astonished that He would lay His glory by, set aside the fullness of His heavenly majesty, to come and die for His people. The fullness of God, lay fragile and vulnerable in a manger, and the heavens light up with angels' worship.

There are not enough words to encapsulate the glory of God. He is so many things, so many indescribable things, so many unfathomable things, so many things beyond our comprehension. And yet, I love how thoroughly this song seeks to list His titles of glory.

He is the everlasting Lord--He knows no beginning and no end, and He rules over all time. He is the incarnate Deity--a tangible, living God. He is Jesus, our Emmanuel--a God who tabernacles in our hearts, a God who makes His home with us, a God who is with us always. He is the Prince of Peace--He rules over darkness; He ushers in peace in a world terrorized by evil. He is the Sun of Righteousness--He brings the light of pure goodness and obedience, and gifts it to us with warmth and new life dawning. Jesus is the Desire of Nations--He is what every human heart has longed for; He is the promised Savior of the Jews, but even more than that He is the healing that every nation cries out for; He is our desire. He is the Second Adam--Jesus is the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth; He is the man Adam could never be; He is pure and obedient and loves the Father perfectly. Jesus does what Adam could never do, and then He gifts it to us. These are just a few of the glorious titles of God, just a few ways He manifests His glory.

The song also gives us just a taste of the glorious works of Jesus. He brings life and light to all--He brings hope and new life in the midst of immense darkness. Jesus is ris'n with healing in His wings--with a ministry filled with physical healing of so many hurting men and women, we just get a taste of the deep healing He brings to our souls, to our aching, weary souls. Jesus was born that man no more may die--His life, His death, His purpose on this earth was to deliver us from the sting of sin and death; man may live forevermore because of Jesus; death no longer has any power over us. Adam's likeness, Lord efface, stamp Thy image in its place--the glory and righteousness of the Lord Jesus will wipe out our sinfulness, our likeness to Adam, and instead we will be clothed in the righteousness of God. We will not only be image bearers, but we will be indwelled with God; we will be God bearers, true carriers of the glory of God. Reinstate us in Thy love. Let us Thee, though lost, regain, Thee, the Life, the inner man--in the glorious work of Jesus, we are made one again with the Father; we are reconciled to a God who loved us deeply and whom we deeply scorned. Jesus reunites us with the God we were always supposed to have and with the sonship we were always meant to enjoy. Jesus is God the redeemer.

All His ways towards us are perfect. All of who He is and what He has done is beautiful and majestic, holy and righteous, just and merciful, gracious and loving. The Glory of God, this concept we cannot quite grasp, nor do we have the words to articulate, comes to us veiled in flesh that Christmas morn. God gives us all of Him; He gives us the perfect picture of His character and heart for His people. We are limited, and so we may not fully understand all that He is, nor will we be able to complete the glorious image of God. But we have seen enough of His glory to fall to our knees in wonder and praise. Just like the angels we sing Glory to the newborn King because God's glory has come to dwell among us. His glory is here, and we are in awe of all that we see.