Anthem For Christmas

Today I was driving along, listening to KSBJ Christmas music on the radio, and I heard the beginning of this Michael W. Smith song "Anthem for Christmas". I thought, "I love this song!", and I turned it up loud. It has a beautiful instrumental beginning and is really a great song.

But as I drove down I-10 to check on my friend's cat today, I heard it with fresh ears. The words sank right into my soul, and it literally took my breath away. Tears started streaming down my face involuntarily as I felt the most immense gratitude to God for sending Jesus to Earth as a baby and our savior. Of course I know the Christmas story, and I have heard it countless times in countless ways, but something about this particular song today overwhelmed me. It was like understanding Christmas anew. Now... it will come as no surprise to you that I'm a total sucker for an old-school Michael W. Smith ballad, but I think there's something special about this one. If you need a reminder of how glorious and loving and amazing our God is, take a look and listen to this.

In the space of the beginning

Was the living word of light.

When this word was clearly spoken

All that came to be was right.

All creation had a language

Words to say what must be said.

All day long the heavens whispered

Signing words in scarlet red.

Some have failed to understand it

So God spoke his final word.

On a silent night in Judah's hills

A baby's cry was heard.

"Glory!" sang the angel chorus

"Glory!" echoed back the night.

Love has come to walk among us

Christ the Lord is born this night!

All creation sing his praises!

Earth and heaven praise his name!

All who live come join the chorus

Find the words his love proclaim.

The entire story of the world is encapsulated in this song, and it centers around Christmas. In the beginning was God, and he made the world perfectly. People brought sin into the world and ignored God even though all creation pointed to Him and heaven whispered day and night. God's people turned away from him in disbelief over and over again. I'm studying Exodus right now, and it is so amazing to read about the Israelites who were just like us. God protected them and provided for them and met with them and STILL they did not believe and grumbled against God, wanting to do things their own way. Even though people did not understand God's love, he loved us anyway. The words written in "scarlet" were the prophecies throughout history that Jesus was coming - that we needed a savior - that history would be made perfect through the birth of our Lord. But people still did not understand and still turned away.

The part of the song that really makes me cry is: "So God spoke his final word." ...And it wasn't a word of condemnation, but a word of love. God's final word was sending his own son to Earth as a man to save us. What a precious, beautiful, miraculous thing - I can hardly wrap my mind around it. There's another fantastic Christmas song by Joy Williams called "Here with Us". One of the lyrics is: "It's still a mystery to me that the hands of God could be so small. How tiny fingers reaching in the night were the very hands that measured the sky." Praise God for that mystery! Praise God for coming to walk among us in our messy, complicated world to save an ungrateful people. This should fill us with a peace and gratitude that never escapes our minds.

How I wish I could have seen the angels singing "Glory!" around the baby Jesus. How I want my whole life to be spent praising his name - joining the angel chorus and finding words to proclaim his love. I know my heart is full of love and gratitude for our savior on this Christmas Eve's Eve. If you need a reminder of what God has done for us, download "Anthem for Christmas" or listen below. Disregard the cheesy snow & rainbow picture. Turn it up, close your eyes, and praise God. He is good.