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The Virgin Birth (Advent 2012)
Gary Stedman on December 16, 2012
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Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Annotated (Advent 2012)

Gary Stedman on

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Introduction

We are accustomed to our Christmas carols, but we have to take care not to get used to them in the wrong way – where we are somehow singing and celebrating on autopilot. The word carol comes from the word carola, which means a circle or ring dance – a folk dance. Christmas carols, rightly understood, are a sacred kind of folk music, making them much more traditional than many of our other songs. This means they are more potent, both for good or ill.

The Text

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men'” (Luke 2:13-14)

Summary of the Text

You almost get the impression that the angel of the Lord had to tell somebody was just happened, and the shepherds were the only ones up. And then the angel was joined in the refrain by the multitude of the heavenly host (stars), and they were all singing about the most glorious thing that God had ever done for our sorry world.

Some Background on this Carol

This carol was first published in 1739, just a year after Charles Wesley was first converted. It was modified slightly for George Whitefield’s Collection (1753). Wesley wrote over 6,500 hymns and this one and Jesus, Lover of my Soul are usually reckoned as being among his finest. The Jewish/Christian composer Mendelssohn wrote the tune over a century later (in a work celebrating the 400th anniversary of the printing press), to which these lyrics were set by another composer, and published in the form we use in 1857. One of the things that Wesley was able to do, in a magnificent way, was combine high poetic worth with high theology. This hymn is actually a short course in systematic theology. And that is how we are going to treat it now. First, look at just some of his likely sources.

The Carol, Annotated

Hark! The herald angels sing (Lk. 2:13), Glory to the newborn King (Mt. 2:2); Peace on earth, and mercy mild (Lk. 2:14), God and sinners reconciled (2 Cor. 5:19); Joyful all ye nations rise (Ps. 117:1), join the triumph of the skies; With th’angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2); Christ by highest heaven adored (Lk. 19:38), Christ the everlasting Lord (2 Peter 1:11); Late in time, behold Him come (Gal. 4:4), offspring of the virgin’s womb (Is. 7:14); Veiled in flesh the Godhead see (Heb. 1:3), hail th’incarnate Deity (Phil. 2:7); Pleased as man with men to dwell (Jn. 1:14), Jesus, our Emmanuel (Is. 7:14). Come, Desire of nations, come (Haggai 2:7), fix in us Thy humble home (2 Cor. 13:5); Rise, the woman’s conquering Seed (Gen. 3:15), bruise in us the serpent’s head (Rom. 16:20); Now display Thy saving pow’r (Rom. 8:11), Ruined nature now restore (Heb. 2:8-9); Now in mystic union join Thine to ours (John 17:21), and ours to Thine (Heb. 2:11). Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface (Eph. 4:22), stamp Thine image in its place (Col. 3:10); Second Adam from above (1 Cor. 15:45), reinstate us in Thy love (Rom. 5:5). Let us Thee, though lost, regain, Thee, the Life, the inner man (Eph. 3:16); O, to all Thyself impart (Col. 1:27), formed in each believing heart (Gal. 4:19); Hail, the heav’n born Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6), Hail the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2); Light and life to all He brings (John 1:4), Ris’n with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2); Mild He lay His glory by (Phil. 2:7), born that man no more may die (Rom. 6:6); Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth (John 3:3); Hark! The herald angels sing (Lk. 2:13), Glory to the newborn King (Mt. 2:2).

Real Theology

Theologians sometimes say that true theology should be followed with doxology. This is because theologians like to use words with -ology in the suffix. What they mean is that doctrine should be followed by praise, and I would want to make the connection even tighter. Doctrine should be mingled with praise. Look at Paul’s response at the end of Romans 11, a hard passage of hard theology – it makes him burst into song. This hymn is a similar model for us. Hymns of praise need not be composed of fluffy clouds and sparkly unicorns. Poetry need not be heretical in order to work as poetry. We need to re-imagine the whole enterprise – Berkhof’s Systematic Theology: The Musical.

We need a name for the soul-damaging practice of making stupendous things dull. Jesus taught with authority, and not like the scribes (Mt. 7:29). Remember the three-fold aspects of true teaching, according to Augustine. It needs to instruct, delight, and move. We need a name for principled dullardry so that we might be able to post warning signs on every side. We must have a wedding between the content of what we say we believe and the shape we put it in.

What Then?

What do we have here then? We have, in the first place, joy (the herald angels sing). We have the message of salvation, the message of the gospel (God and sinners reconciled). We have a postmillennial vision (all ye nations rise). We have fulfilled prophecy (born in Bethlehem). We have the exalted Person of Christ (highest heaven adored). We have the virgin birth (virgin’s womb). We have the Incarnation (incarnate Deity). We have the indwelling Spirit (humble home). We have the defeat of Satan (conquering Seed). We have the new humanity (now restore). We have perichoretic union (Thine to ours). We have the doctrine of regeneration (give them second birth). And all this is just a portion.

We are not simply to sing our way into a particular emotional frame of mind. We are to sing with knowledge, and into knowledge. As we sing we are “teaching and admonishing one another,” as Paul says to do (Col. 3:16). We are to sing our way into knowledge – but it needs to be the kind of knowledge that provokes more singing. And all of it is get to, not got to.

 

 

 

 

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A Christmas Conundrum (Advent 2012)

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Introduction

Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus. But lest this become an exercise in jargon, we need to think through what we mean by it. If we were to reapply the apostle Paul at this point, we should celebrate with the fudge, but celebrate with the mind also (1 Cor. 14:15).

The Text

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:1-4).

Summary of the Text

The apostle Paul was a servant of Christ (v. 1), called as an apostle (v. 1), and separated for his service in the gospel of God (v. 1). This gospel was promised to us all beforehand through the prophets in the holy Scripture (v. 2), and the gospel concerned the person of the Lord Jesus. Whenever we think about the gospel, we must think in two categories—in terms of the person of Jesus, and in terms of the work of Jesus. Paul here alludes to His work by referencing the resurrection (v. 4), but he is emphasizing the person of the Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ was made according to the flesh of the seed of David (v. 3). He was a Davidson. And He was declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead (v. 4). Now Jesus was the Son of God the entire time, but He was not declared openly to be such until the resurrection established him as the first born from among the dead (Ps. 2:7; Acts 13:33; Col. 1:15, 18).

A Delayed Fuse

So what we find is that God placed certain truths in His Word, and the ramifications of these truths took some centuries to work out. The Church finally settled them in the Council of Nicea (325) and in the Definition of Chalcedon (451). Nicea settled that Jesus is God, and Chalcedon settled what that has to mean since He was also a genuine man.

So Start With Jesus of Nazareth

We know from Scripture that Jesus was a true human being. John makes a point of saying it bluntly. Their eyes saw Him (1 John 1:1), and their hands touched Him (1 John 1:1). He had a true body—He had bones (Luke 24:39). He got thirsty (John 4:7). He knew what it was to be hungry (Matt. 4:2). One time He was so exhausted that He slept through a storm (Mark 4:38). Scripture makes the point in countless ways—Mary gave birth to a baby boy (Luke 2:7). So whatever else we are dealing with here, we dealing with a fellow human being, someone who is not ashamed to call us brothers (Heb. 2:11). Jesus was a true man.

Start With Jesus Again

But He was such a remarkable man that to say He was just a man does not begin to cover it. This reality extends beyond His miracles—many of which had been done in the power of the Spirit by prophets before Him. From the very first, Jesus was identified by His followers as God. When Thomas saw Him after the resurrection, He said “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). God the Father speaks to the Son, and says, “Your throne, O God . . .” (Heb. 1:8). The Word was with God in the beginning, and the Word was God (John 1:1) and, lest there be any confusion on the point, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Word created everything, including the world He was born into (John 1:3). The fundamental Christian confession is that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9-10). Further, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13; Joel 2:32). The Hebrew in the passage Paul cites is talking about YHWH. Jesus is YHWH.

Jesus Himself had made this identification, and the fact that people still want to call Him a great moral teacher (only) is simply another argument for how remarkable He was. As Lewis points out, this is actually like claiming that you are a poached egg. Jesus said to the Jewish leaders that “Before Abraham was, I am.”They got His point, and picked up stones to kill Him for blasphemy (John 8:58-59).

Yet Another Antinomy

Some people want the object of their worship to be fully in accord with common sense. But one of the first things common sense tells us is that this is an impossibility. Is God infinite? Yes, of course (Ps. 147:5). But can we conceptualize that? Of course not. Did God make everything out of nothing? Yes, of course (John 1:3). But can we imagine nothing and then something, on the basis of a Word? Did God ordain every word that we speak, before we speak it, and yet we are the ones who speak? Yes, of course (Ps. 139:4). It is the same here—we cannot do the math, but we can bow down and adore. This is not contrary to logic, but it certain goes well beyond our abilities in it.

Right Worship

So what are we to do? We begin with right worship, which in its turn—just as it did with the early church—will lead to right definitions. Right worship shapes our theology. In this case, we echo what our fathers at Nicea and Chalcedon said. Jesus of Nazareth is one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. This one person had, unlike us, two natures, one divine and one human. These natures were not blended together, but were rather united in a person. They were not mixed up. They were not parceled out. The Incarnation was not God in a man-suit. It was not as though He had a human body and a divine soul. No—He had a complete human nature, and He was fully God.

As Chalcedon put it, that which can be predicated of one nature can be predicated of the person. That which is predicated of the other nature can be predicated of the person. Jesus is true God. Jesus is true man. But that which is predicated of one nature cannot be predicated of the other nature. Humanity is not divinity, and finitude is not infinitude. And glory goes to God in the highest.

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