1
O come, all ye faithful! joyfully triumphant,
To Bethlehem hasten now with glad accord;
Lo! in a manger lies the God Almighty;
To Bethlehem hasten now with glad accord;
Lo! in a manger lies the God Almighty;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!
2
Raise, raise choirs of angels, songs of loudest triumph,
Through heaven’s high arches be your praises poured:
Now to our God be glory in the highest;
Through heaven’s high arches be your praises poured:
Now to our God be glory in the highest;
3
Amen! Lord, we bless Thee, born for our salvation!
O Jesus! forever be Thy Name adored;
Word of the Father, late in flesh appearing;
O Jesus! forever be Thy Name adored;
Word of the Father, late in flesh appearing;
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Growing Up before Jehovah like a Tender Plant and like a Root out of Dry Ground
When He became a man, He was growing up before Jehovah like a tender plant and like a root out of dry ground ( Isa. 53:2 ). He came out of a very poor family, and that poor family was the dry ground. He was a descendant of the royal family of David, but at His time David’s royal family had become a poor family, the dry ground.
In Babyhood
God was manifested in the flesh in babyhood. Luke 2 tells us that Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger ( v. 7 ). The angel told the shepherds, “This will be the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” ( v. 12 ). He was the unique One who was born in a manger. The manger was a particular, unique sign of the Man-Savior. A baby in a manger, signifying smallness in lowliness, was a sign of the Man-Savior’s life.
In Boyhood
Growing in Wisdom and Stature, in the Grace of God, and in Favor with God and Men
In His boyhood He grew in wisdom and stature, in the grace of God, and in favor with God and men ( vv. 40 , 52 ). Wisdom refers to the inner man, and stature refers to the physical body. The wisdom of the Savior’s deity ( Col. 2:2-3 ) was revealed in proportion to the measure of His bodily growth. In His boyhood the grace of God was upon Him. As a boy, He needed the grace of God for His human life. He was filled with the wisdom of His deity and needed the grace of God in His humanity.
He advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. He was in favor with God because He was growing in the expression of God according to God’s desire. He was in favor with men because He was growing in human virtues, which were gracious to men. He was growing as a God-man before God and men.
Caring for the Things of God at the Age of Twelve
He also cared for the things of God at the age of twelve ( Luke 2:42 , 46-47 , 49 ). The age of twelve is the age of a boy’s full growth. The boy Jesus was caring for the interest of God when He was twelve years old.
In Maturity
To Begin His Ministry for God at the Age of Thirty
In His maturity as a man at the age of thirty, He began His ministry for God ( 3:23 ). Thirty years of age is the full age for God’s service ( Num. 4:3 , 35 , 39-40 , 43-44 , 47-48 ). In the Old Testament a man entered into an apprenticeship for the priesthood at the age of twenty-five. He learned for five years and became mature at the age of thirty. The Lord Jesus became mature at the age of thirty to carry out His earthly ministry.
To Be a Man of Sorrows
From the time that He became a minister of God, He also became a man of sorrows, suffering the despising, rejection, and persecution of man ( Isa. 53:3 ; Matt. 13:55-57 ; Luke 4:28-30 ; Matt. 26:4 , 16 ). Throughout His whole life He was suffering, but especially in the last three and a half years.
To Be Tempted by the Devil
Led by the Spirit
After He became thirty years old, He was tempted by the devil, and this temptation was under the leading of the Spirit of God ( 4:1 ).
Defeating the Devil and Being Ministered to by the Angels
In that temptation He defeated the devil, and after that temptation He was ministered to by the angels ( v. 11 ).
We can see the move of God in man as He passed through human living in the stages of human life. He was a real man in babyhood, in boyhood, and in His maturity as He ministered for God. His human living was a very particular living. It was the living of God in His move within man and through man. His living was God’s living in a man, which should be our living today. The Christian living should be a living in which God lives a human life in His children.
The Move of God in Man
Chapter 3 Section 3 (LSM)
CWWL, 1993, vol. 1
Bringing God into Man to Join God to Man
As we have pointed out, John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh. ” The Word in this verse is God, the expressed God, and the flesh is man, the fallen man. Through incarnation God was mingled with fallen man and became one with fallen man. This is indeed wonderful. The principle of incarnation is God entering into man and mingling with man as one. Even though man had become flesh after the fall, God still entered into man to be mingled with man and become one with man. It is marvelous that God became a man in the flesh. Many people in Christianity do not have an adequate understanding of the incarnation of Christ. Although they celebrate the Lord’s birth, they celebrate only the fact that a Savior came to the human race; they do not see that the Lord, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem, was God mingling Himself with man.
Isaiah 9:6 says, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us; / And the government / Is upon His shoulder; / And His name will be called / Wonderful Counselor, / Mighty God, / Eternal Father, / Prince of Peace. ” The child mentioned in this verse is the child who was born in a manger in Bethlehem and whose name was called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. Do we believe that the child born in the manger in Bethlehem was the Mighty God? We need to be delivered from the concept of Judaism. The God in whom the Jews believe is different from the God in whom we believe. The God in whom the Jews believe is the sovereign One who created the universe but who never became a man. The God in whom Christians believe, however, is not merely the sovereign One, the Mighty God who created the universe, but the Mighty God who became a man. Although Christ was only a child, an infant, at birth, His name was called Mighty God. The child born in the manger at Bethlehem was the Mighty God. We need to be delivered from the influence of the religious concept of Judaism and believe that the child born in the manger was the Mighty God. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 9:6 that this is so.
God's Creation, Man's Fall, and the Lord's Redemption:
The Lord's Redemption (1) the Word Becoming Flesh and Passing through Human Living
Chapter 6 Section 2
CWWL, 1965, vol. 4 (LSM)
New York City, New York, United States
very good
Mansfield, Ohio, United States
We all know this famous Christmas hymn. We know what great things this chid ended up doing. He became our marvelous savior. We can not look down on His incarnation. God put on human nature at this point of time. He then grew and went through the full spectrum of human living, especially the suffering. I can accept the fact that He was born of man, but I must believe it or it does not help me. Even now I don’t know or understand what God did to become human. That is incarnation. He was adored then as the coming king. How much more should we adore Him now?
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Unto us A CHILD Is born... Alleluia! Amen! JESUS Is our jubilee. My most favorite carol of all time
Arusha, Tanzania
Amen! O Come let us adore Him.
Worthy He is of our adoration.
This is not Francis Oakley translation this text comes from a translation by William Mercer published after Oakley's Tanslation
Claremore, Oklahoma, United States
Jesus loves everyone 🙏💝🙏 praise the Lord
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Amen! Lord, we bless Thee, born for our salvation!
O Jesus! forever be Thy Name adored;
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Amen!!