I have a hymnal called “Hymns of Glorious Praise.” The Table of Contents for that hymnal tells me it is laid out by theme. The first section is worship. “O, Worship the King all glorious above, and gratefully sing His Power and His love.” (Franz Joseph Hayden, 1732-1809)
Right after the worship section in this hymnal come the songs of the Incarnation, songs of Christ-mas. Yet too soon, following the Christ-mas songs come songs of the cross.
It was for the cross that Christ came. It was for the cross that He abandoned all the rights and privileges of His divine nature and came to earth as a babe. It was for the cross that He took upon Himself the sins of this world and surrendered Himself to death, even a death on a cross. [Philippians 2]
And the cross was for us. To fully appreciate the babe born in the manager, we must always do so in sight of the cross. If Jesus were only a great teacher, a good man, or a prophet, celebrating his birth would not be much different than celebrating the birth of any other good teachers or good men.
But Jesus was not only a great teacher, a good man, and a prophet. He was and is and always will be God the Son, and He came to Bethlehem that wondrous night for a single purpose, to reconcile man and God. That reconciliation meant the giving of His very life’s blood on a heathen cross, the one true spotless sacrifice offered for the sins of men.
Both the star over the stable and the cross on the hill cast shadows that stretch through all eternity to remind us of what our salvation cost our God.
