The Joy of the Incarnation

The hymn, “O Come all ye Faithful” brings the familiar refrain of “O come let us adore Him” which reminds us of the shepherds coming to worship Christ.  The word "adore" seems more appropriate when we think of the Christ child.  However, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines adoration as:

The act of paying honors to a divine being; the worship paid to God; the act of addressing as a God.  Adoration consists in external homage, accompanied with the highest reverence. It is used for the act of praying, or preferring requests or thanksgiving, to the Supreme Being.

Let us practice adoration of Christ all year round, where we worship Jesus as God, both treasuring and meditating daily on His Person and work.
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The hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel” fills our hearts with a warm awe since the birth of Jesus Christ is the greatest sign that “God is with us”.  At the incarnation, God the Son entered into human form so He could become a sympathetic High Priest, and so He could live and die as the second Adam from above.  We can bask in the profound meaning of Emmanuel all the year round though, because just before Jesus ascended to heaven, He assured his followers with this promise:

“and, lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). 

Remember, Jesus said that where two or three are gathered, there He is in the midst of them (Mt 18:20). Jesus remains now and always “God with us”!
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We associate "Joy" with Christ's incarnation partly because of the hymn “Joy to the World".  Truly, the birth of Jesus Christ brought joy to His parents and to God the Father who sent His angels to fill the heavens with singing just as they did at creation.

However, we often confuse joy with happiness, and get an annual jolt of happiness during December, especially when the decorations go up.  Then, like a sugar rush that charges through the body and leaves just as quickly as it came, we get sad when family leaves and the decorations go back in the box.  As Christians, we cannot allow our spirit to go up and down just because of lights and warm decorations.  God wants us to have a constant source of joy - our salvation!

Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

​JAS