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"But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men."
(Philippians 2:7)
This week, as we reflect upon what it means to be pure in heart, we readily see that the purest in heart person to ever live was Jesus Christ. In Him was no sin; He was perfect and always lived His life according to the Father's will. For our Christmas Eve services that we observed last week, I shared about the beauty of the doctrine of the incarnation, where God in the person of Jesus took on human flesh.
The biblical text we discussed was Luke 2:8-14, and the Christmas carol we sang and focused on was "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." There was no mistaking the lyrics or what they meant as I walked them through each of the three verses of the song.
Have you ever sung a song playing on the radio only to find out that the lyrics were entirely different than what you had thought? There is actually a word for this, and it is called a "mondegreen."
Sylvia Wright misheard the words, "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen." Thus, the name "mondegreen." This happened to me recently while listening to the Beach Boys 1964 hit song, "I Get Around." I just knew they were singing, "I'm a real cool kid; I make a real good friend." But to my surprise, the lyrics are actually: "I'm a real cool head; I'm makin' real good bread." I understand that this has happened to many people with Elton John's song "Rocket Man." Some of the most mondegreen lyrics in his hit song are these: "Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone," which have been misheard to say, "Rocket man, Bernie Taupin fuse of hairy long," and more!
Words and lyrics matter. It is only fair and right to quote accurately the words that the author has communicated. There is no mistaking the lyrics and meaning behind Charles Wesley's famous Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Here are a few lines:
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail th' incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
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Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
What rich, theologically deep and sound lyrics are found in this famous old Christmas carol. Let this powerful theological reality stay with you not only during Christmas but all year long: God's Son became a man so that you could become a child of God. How does this happen? When you confess your sins to God and turn to Jesus Christ in faith to save you. And save you He will, with the blood He shed for you on the cross. He is risen; He is alive, and He desires that none perish but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
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