A Song for When… You Want to Make Christmas Personal
It’s Christmastime! There’s nothing like this time of year. Something feels a little different… Something magical is in the air. People are often more generous, more helpful, and more others-focused. It’s interesting for a believer to stop and think about the fact that even people who aren’t Jesus followers love and celebrate Christmas. From a big picture perspective, it might even look like believers’ and nonbelievers’ holiday festivities are much the same. Why is this? There are probably many thoughts and reasons, but one similarity that seems visible across the board is generosity. Whether or not a person acknowledges and celebrates Jesus’ birth on Christmas, everybody typically gives gifts. Not only gifts, but people give extra time and energy to a variety of events, service projects and gatherings this time of year. Generosity seems pretty foundational to the Christmas spirit for all.
Of course, as believers, we know that the ultimate example of generosity on Christmas was God’s gift of Jesus to the world. Seeing the world’s sinful state, and knowing that only by sacrificing His only Son could there be redemption and restoration, God gave us Jesus. What a gift. I love the song “Here Comes Heaven,” by Elevation Worship, because it tells the story of this extravagant generosity. It’s not a traditional Christmas song, but its lyrics are some of my favorites to sing this time of year.
The words, “here comes Heaven,” are repeated throughout the song. This is what Christmas is all about—Heaven coming down to earth in the form of baby Jesus. Here comes Heaven! What a gift.
But the song begins by reminding us of how desperately we need this gift and how drastically it changes our circumstances. The first few lines say:
Children weep no more … Hope is on the horizon … Weary world behold … Your promised Messiah
These lyrics are maybe my most favorite word picture of Christmas, and I’m not exaggerating one bit. Our sinful state is devastating—weeping, sadness and pain. But HOPE is on the horizon! At Christmas, our weary world gets to see and celebrate the promised Messiah born as a baby. As the song goes on to say…
Angels let your song begin … Here comes Heaven … Christ is born in Bethlehem … Here comes Heaven
Here comes Heaven! What a gift. Can you imagine going through life without being able to firmly grasp this incredibly generous gift from God? Without the HOPE we find in Jesus, we would be stuck in our weary, weeping state. Instead, a promised Messiah is born.
As I read through the rest of the lyrics for this song, I just see many different ways Christmas is explained. …each one beautiful, thought-provoking and special.
Here’s a description of Christmas for the person who’s been feeling like God has been absent:
Sinner wait no more … Love has broken the silence … Come let us adore … The Savior is with us
Here’s a description of Christmas for the person who’s been stuck in a season of sadness:
Over all who mourn … Breaks the dawn of salvation … Darkness reigns no more … For Jesus is greater … He is greater
Here’s a description of Christmas for the person who’s desperate for His brilliance, majesty and power:
Now behold his glory … Glory in the highest … All the earth rejoice for Christ is born … Now behold his glory … Glory in the highest … All the earth rejoice for Christ is born
How are you viewing God’s great gift this Christmas season? How are you receiving Jesus? This year, do you need Him to pull your eyes from the darkness of the world? Or do you more specifically need the reminder that Jesus’ arrival on earth is a grand gesture of love from God the Father? Or maybe you find yourself in a season where you’re thirsty for a glimpse of God’s glory in the highest? You can choose to see Christmas through your own individual and specific lens.
In fact, I challenge you to do just that. Don’t “just” read and hear the Christmas story in the same way as you did last year. The story stays the same from year to year, but people change. YOU have changed! You’re different than you were last year at this time. With that in mind, you can embrace and enjoy Jesus’ birth in your own personally intimate way. As my advent devotional by John Piper said earlier this month, “Don’t leave Christmas in the abstract.” It was your sin Jesus came to redeem, and it’s also your victory that Jesus paves the way for you to claim. Make Christmas personal, and love God for allowing you to even do that.
Let the lyrics of “Here Comes Heaven” inspire you. Whether you choose to meditate on one of these stanzas or you take a cue from the song and write a little stanza of your own, make Christmas meaningful in your own unique way. Don’t let another Dec. 25 pass by without taking God’s generous gift to heart and contemplating what it means to you—right now, in this very moment. You’re in a different place in life than you were last Christmas, and you’ll be somewhere else entirely next Christmas. What does the gift of Jesus mean for your life today?