OneMinuteGospel

"Second Adam”

from Charles Wesley

Christ, by highest heav’n adored;

Christ, the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come,

offspring of the Virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th’incarnate Deity;

pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Come, Desire of Nations, come,

fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman’s conquering seed,

bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Adam’s likeness now efface,

stamp Thine image in its place;

Second Adam from above,

reinstate us in Thy love.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

100 words

Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s tune, my favorite Christmas carol is Charles Wesley’s, “Hymn for Christmas-Day,“ known to us as “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” I always smile when I hear it at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life, and it was a staple at my Christmas Eve services. Charles was John Wesley’s younger brother and wrote the lyrics to more than 6500 hymns!

Here we have two of Charles Wesley’s verses, though the latter may not be familiar to you. It was included in the new hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise, which is where I found it.

The third line strikes me as odd, “Late in time behold him come.” Was Jesus late? Wesley would never have said that. It simply means the arrival of the “incarnate Deity” marks the beginning of the last days.

The latter stanza also refers to Jesus as “Desire of Nations,” citing Haggai 2:7, “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come” (KJV). Jesus meets our deepest desires, when he sets up residence within us.

The third and fourth lines take us back to God’s curse upon the serpent in Genesis 3. Jesus is the seed of the woman who will bruise (crush) the serpent’s head. Then in lines 5-8 Adam is the representative of humanity, and we each bear his sinful likeness. But Jesus has come as the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:22, 45), representative of the new creation and a new humanity, so that we may bear his righteous image and be reinstated into right relationship with God.

This hymn has so much gospel in it! Thank you, Charles!

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Next post: Tuesday, December 5, "Gospel for Toddlers and Elephants" from Tim Keller

-st