Joyful and Triumphant in the Eternally Begotten Son

Why Christmas is the Ground of the Christian's Cheerful Defiance

Lyrics missed in Carols

It’s Christmastime, and so the question “What’s your favorite Christmas carol?” is always being asked. Recently, I was chatting with some of my closest friends and some shared titles like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” or “I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day.” For me, the two that came to the top of my head that tied for first place are “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” I’m partial to those because both are typically upbeat carols and are great starting songs for congregational worship, but I love them because of their lyrics.

Earlier this December, I was reading through the lyrics of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and I love reading the verse that is basically pulled straight out of the Nicene Creed:

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
lo, he shuns not the Virgin's womb;
Son of the Father, begotten not created;

Much can be written about the classical Nicene Trinitarian theology like the deity of Christ, eternal generation, and the eternal relations of origin, but I remember being struck out of nowhere by verse 1 which calls all faithful—Christians—to come and worship Jesus. Have you noticed that the call is for Christians not just to go to Jesus but also to come with a specific attitude?

Is that something to just pass over quickly as we sing? It hit me the last time I sang it at church, and I wondered the following:

“How are Christians able to be joyful and triumphant?”

“Why should Christians be joyful and triumphant?”

“Is this attitude just only for Christmas or beyond it?”

Behold the Glory and Grace of God Incarnate

You might think questions like these are overthinking the simple reality that the Son of God came as a baby to save sinners. That is the beauty of the Gospel’s simplicity! But I think it we be good for us to reflect on the reality that our joy is ultimately secure in the reality that the eternal Son of God came to save. This can be glazed over as just an assumed point of theological jargon, but if that’s our approach to this truth that this carol wonderfully communicates, we miss the blazing glory that God is displaying.

Let’s look at John 1. In vv. 1-5, we see the identification of the Word who was in the beginning, with God, was God, and was in the beginning with God (vv. 1-2). This Word is somehow distinct from God and yet is God and was not created by God because all things were created through the Word (v. 3). Life and Light to all he brings, and his light cannot be quenched by any darkness (vv. 4-5). We then jump to vv. 9-18 where John explains that this true Light, the Word, has now entered into the creation which he created to save (vv. 9-13). Thus we get to this famous verse:

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 (ESV)

Notice that this Word, the divine, eternally begotten Son of God takes on a human nature, and thus the glory of God is displayed for all to see.¹ Does someone who encounters the glory of God leave the same? When God rescued you, did your heart stay the same way of looking to yourself, others, or things for significance?

If you are a Christian your life like mine and every other Christian has received grace upon grace from his fullness (v. 16). In fact, you are no longer a spiritually dead orphan but a new child of God born of God (v. 13).

To Live Adoring Jesus More and More

So in light of this glorious reality of the incarnation, Christians live lives that are marked by the joy and triumph that is found in Jesus Christ! Because the Son of God has come and thus died on the cross for the sins of his people and rose from the dead, those who trust in him live life under his saving work! Since that’s the case, doesn’t that change how we go throughout our day?

Notice however where the source of our joy and triumph is found. They do not reside in us or our accomplishments, merits, and efforts. They don’t come from the context that we are in or our family lineage. Those who are in Christ find that their satisfaction, significance, and victory are in Christ.

That doesn’t mean life is going to be always exciting. I know friends who during Christmastime will experience recurring moments of trauma due to suffering and hardship from past winters. We are not promised by God that every day is going to be full of success and prosperity, but He has sealed us in his Son by the Holy Spirit so that our future is secure in the resurrection to come and that we can live faithfully unto him day by day (Ephesians 1:3-14). So amid the pain and sorrows our sin, Satan, and this sin-broken world throws at us, we have a Savior whose steadfast love, grace, and truth will reign in our lives enabling us to live out of his joy and triumph. What a love God has shown us through his Son!

There are more verses to “O Come, All Ye Faithful” like this one:

Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
we would embrace thee with love and awe.
Who would not love thee, loving us so dearly?

How has Jesus been loving us so dearly that would compel us to love him back with all that we are? This Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God who not only came in humble estate as one of us but also “the found and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God. [Therefore] Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Heb. 12:2-3).

Let us remember that we can live life in the joy and triumph of Jesus Christ because he came to be born as a man, sent to die, and rose victorious over death. Therefore, let’s not only sing with gusto but also live in light of these words:

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus, to thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:

O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Amen!

Grace and Peace, and Merry Christmas!

Joseph Yu

December 25th, 2023

1. Translated from the Greek word monogenes (μονογενης) which has been translated in the past as “only begotten.” See also John 1:18; 3:16.