By Peter Jones
For some reason Christmas has become too angelic, all lights, Santa, glitter, and shining cherubs on gaudy Christmas cards. There is a sliver of truth to this, of course. When Christ came as a child the true light shineth. When Christ came he did bring gifts. But Christmas is also (maybe even mostly) about demons and Hell and darkness. It is about the darkness of eternal fire. It is about the worm that does not die. It is about the terrors of death. It is about the dragons that live in our own hearts. There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in the light, but if we forget the darkness the light loses its potency. It is easy at Christmas time to take the light for granted, to forget what Christ actually came to do. Christmas songs can be a great remedy for this memory lapse.
It may come as a surprise that many of the Advent and Christmas songs we sing mention this darkness and hell. I thought I would quote a few lines from these songs to give some perspective on what exactly Christ came to do.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel is one of the best carols to show who we were before Christ came. It views God’s people as in exile and bondage to Satan and in need of rescue. Verses 3 and 4 clearly bring this out.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Anytime you are tempted to believe that Christmas has nothing to do with evil, Hell, death, and Satan sing this song.
The fourth verse of the song Savior of the Nations, Come has these lines in it:
From the Father forth he came and returneth to the same
Captive leading death and hell, High the song of triumph swell.
The final verse of Good Christian Men Rejoice, says, “now ye need not fear the grave.”
Of course, Joy to the World, talks about Christ coming to make his blessings flow “far as the curse is found.”
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, says that Christ descends ‘from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish.”
Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, states that Christ “dispels with glorious splendor/the darkness everywhere.”
Of the Father’s Love Begotten says in verse 3:
He is found in human fashion death and sorrow here to know
That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe
May not henceforth die and perish In the
dreadful gulf below evermore and evermore.
I am sure there are some I have missed. In addition to these references to Hell and darkness, numerous Christmas songs speak specifically of Christ’s victory over sin, which means his victory over death and Hell.
And of course, the Scriptures speak to this as well. In Matthew Jesus’ birth is not follow by peace on earth, but by Herod killing the children and Joseph fleeing with his family to Egypt. The battle begins at the Incarnation. Herod knew this. Unfortunately, we often do not.
In Luke the power of Christ’s birth is sung about. Mary states that when God sent Christ he:
Showed strength with his arm
Scattered the proud
Put down the mighty
Filled the hungry
But sent the rich away empty
Christ’s entrance into the world was not warm and fuzzy. He came to crush the serpent and all those who align themselves with him.
Zacharias says that Christ came so:
We should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us..
That we will be delivered from the hand of our enemies.
Christmas is about a King who came to banish all the powers of darkness and Hell, not just a baby born in a manger. When the angel came to Mary and the angels sung to the shepherds the end of our enemies was already at hand. Christ came to destroy all our enemies. Don’t let Old Saint Nick and fat baby faced angels and “Santa Baby” cause you to forget about darkness, Hell, Satan, Herod, death, and sin during this Christmas. To forget these things is to forget why Christ came.
Cross posted at Singing and Slaying<>
I have thought about this many times over the years. In 2002 my 35 year old brother died of a massive heart attack. That Christmas I listened to carols that I had sung almost my whole life with a new understanding. One verse that touched me deeply that year (and ever since) was from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” – “Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth”
I make my own Christmas cards and spend a lot of time deciding what to write in them. One year I used this verse from “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: ‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men’.”
He didn’t come to stay a baby. He came to vanquish our enemies. He came be the King – over everything! Hallelujah!
Maria, thanks so much for the comment. I know many friends who have experienced tragedies at Christmas times. Tragedy and suffering helps us to see exactly what Christ came to do. Those two hymns you mentioned are good ones. May the Lord richly bless you this Christmas season. In Christ, Peter Jones
This year advent sermon series (Fort Worth Presbyterian) was on 4 Psalms of Lament and our Music minister Jacob Tilton put them to music so that we could listen to them and sing them with our families during advent as we prepared for our weekly preaching as well as preparing to celebrate the answer to our laments and those of scripture in the birth of Christ. You can download the music from Psalms 13, 38, 42 and 22 for free for anyone who wants them! http://fortworthpca.bandcamp.com/album/how-long-o-lord-psalms-for-advent
It certainly gave a different feel altogether to this time of year and made me dwell more on what Jesus came to save and how in need of Him this world was and is.