During this last year, there’s been one song that I’ve listened to more than any other. It’s by Stuart Townend and J.K. Jamieson, entitled “The Light of the World,” set to an Irish-sounding melody. This wonderful song recalls the work of Christ in creation, his work among people up to his death on the cross, and his continued work shining on the earth with “gifts of forgiveness.”

Every time I hear the song, I am struck by the contrasts of the second verse:

Jesus was working in creation to make everything we see. He is the image of the invisible God and by him all things were created. Yet he walked as a man through the hills and valleys that he so much enjoyed making. All things were created through him and for him, but he walked here on the earth.

And he didn’t just walk around admiring the views! He became a servant to those he “breathed into life.” What could be more incomprehensible than Jesus Christ coming to serve us – not counting equality with God something to be grasped but emptying himself by taking the form of a servant. Jesus became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This Christmas season, as we celebrate Jesus’ birth, let us marvel in holy reverence at the Creator of the world walking among us, sharing in our hardships. Let us follow his example of servanthood among our church and also with those on the outside – even among our enemies. Let us deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Let us wait expectantly for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.