Chris Tomlin - Adore Christmas Songs Of WorshipSample

He Shall Reign Forevermore

The world waited with baited breath for a long-anticipated Savior foretold by prophets of old. Yet, in the stillness of a chilly winter’s night, very few knew that the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, was the One they’d been looking for. How could He be both God and man, both King and child, both Creator and created? With his silky skin, soft coos and warm body, how could this baby be equal parts divine and human?

Here within a manger lies / The One who made the starry skies / This baby born for sacrifice / Christ the Messiah

He wasn’t anything like what they expected. He wasn’t the leader they envisioned. He wasn’t a mighty warrior riding in on a white horse to save His people. He wasn’t a man of great wealth and prestige. He wasn’t of noble birth. Instead, he came from a tiny, overlooked town, born in a stable with little fanfare.

Who is this King that lets people come close? Who is this King that lets people hold Him? Who is this King who leaves the perfection of heaven and enters the darkness of earth?

Into our hopes, into our fears / The Savior of the world appears / The promise of eternal years / Christ the Messiah

That very night, that stable became a throne. That baby became royalty. And the story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus became the narrative that started it all—that picture of unexpected, meager beginnings emblazoned on our hearts for all eternity.

But that’s often not how we think of the Christmas story. We question the way His plan of redemption began. If we had been writing the story, Bethlehem wouldn’t be our setting and a tiny human certainly wouldn’t be our starting point. Yet, the fact that He came as a helpless child, born into a dirty, messy stable gives us hope, doesn’t it? Hope that He still comes to us. Hope that He enters into our mess, our dirtiness and allows us to cling to Him. This is the King we serve, a God who lets us draw near, unafraid. Humble, holy. Fully God, fully man. Approachable. Personal. He is the One for all generations.

During this season of Advent, how is Christ entering the messiness of your life?

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