One of 12 panels of the ceiling in the nave of the 11th-Century Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, England, depicting Christ reigning in Heaven.
The Latin inscription at the top is from Psalm 115:1: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory.”
(Photo by Hans A. Rosbach, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.)
Merry Christmas
Dr. E. Calvin Beisner | Cornwall Alliance
In this season people all over the world focus on the incarnation of the Son of God. The birth of Jesus Christ marks the turning point of history. God Himself joined our race, took upon Himself our sin and guilt, offered to us His perfect righteousness, and set in motion the growth of His Church, which has continued for two thousand years—and will continue to grow until He returns, the very gates of hell unable to prevail against it.
It can be hard to remember that triumph in the swirling troubles of our present world. War slogs on between Russia and Ukraine. Unspeakable savagery rears its head in Israel and Gaza. Communist China conspires with global elites to lure free and prosperous nations into virtual suicide. Decrepit secularism yields to reviving paganism. Venerable institutions teeter on the brink of collapse. Families disintegrate. Confusion reigns. What is a man? What is a woman? Does our God-given nature mean anything? Who is oppressed? Who is an oppressor? What is just, and what is unjust? Do diversity, equity, and inclusion bring peace and mutual respect, or conflict and resentment?
Recently, though, I read Susan Wise Bauer’s History of the Ancient World, and it reminded me that the writer of Ecclesiastes was right. There is no new thing under the Sun. Atrocities that stun us today were ordinary, daily events all over the world before the Lord our Righteousness, the Prince of Peace, took on our flesh; bore in our stead the just wrath of His Father; triumphantly declared “It is finished!”; rested in the grave; rose in victory; and sat on His throne at the Father’s right hand, from whence He sends His Spirit to empower His ambassadors for millennia to come, until at last He returns in judgment.
Each year in this Christmas-focused newsletter I share a favorite hymn or carol. Heretofore, each has come from the section of my hymnal dedicated to Jesus’ birth. This year, I want to do something different. I want to share a beautiful hymn that focuses not on Jesus’ birth but on its consequences.
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889), a Scottish pastor and poet, wrote many wonderful hymns. One not commonly heard in America is “O Love of God, How Strong and True.” The choirs of Washington National Cathedral recorded a fine rendition of it. In our tumultuous days, I find special encouragement in the last two verses. I hope the whole hymn will bless you.
O love of God, how strong and true, eternal and yet ever new,
uncomprehended and unbought, beyond all knowledge and all thought!
O love of God, how deep and great, far deeper than man’s deepest hate; self-fed, self-kindled like the light, changeless, eternal, infinite.
O heav’nly love, how precious still, in days of weariness and ill,
in nights of pain and helplessness, to heal, to comfort, and to bless!
O wide-embracing, wondrous love! We read you in the sky above,
we read you in the earth below, in seas that swell, and streams that flow.
We read you best in Him who came to bear for us the cross of shame;
sent by the Father from on high, our life to live, our death to die.
We read your pow’r to bless and save, e’en in the darkness of the grave; still more in resurrection light we read the fulness of your might.
O love of God, our shield and stay through all the perils of our way!
Eternal love, in you we rest, forever safe, forever blest.
We will exalt You, God and King, and we will ever praise Your name; we will extol You every day, and evermore Your praise proclaim.
On this Christmas Day, as you contemplate the Babe in the manger, remember that He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords enthroned above all, and take comfort in His final victory!
Merry Christmas!
