Music from MBC Choir and Orchestra, Children’s Choir, Teen Ensemble, and more
Glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14)
Giving glory to God—it’s the purpose we should all long to achieve, the reason we were created, God’s own overriding goal in saving us.
But it’s also completely foreign to our sinful nature. (Maybe you even read the first paragraph and wondered whether it was a bit over-the-top.) Ever since the beginning of human history, our actions and thoughts and even feelings have fallen way, way short of that glory. As Romans 1:21 says, that’s the first sin--failing to give God the glory He deserves.
Of course, God is jealous about His glory. He has promised to punish everyone who gives ultimate glory to anyone else. And He had every right to leave us under that sentence--condemned to eternal death as we deserved.
There is one human, though, who glorifies God perfectly. He is God the Son, and the Gospel of John says that He has always shared glory with God the Father. When God the Son entered the human race John says “we beheld his glory.” John also records that Jesus claimed--a horrendous blasphemy if it hadn’t been true--to glorify God. Before John’s account ends, Jesus is even accepting worship from His followers. Isaiah had promised it: “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.”
That’s what the angels sang the night that God the Son became a human child: “Glory.” And not just any glory: “Glory to God in the highest.”
You see, God the Son wasn’t just coming to be a good example to other humans. In Luke 2:14, heaven’s host is singing a Gloria (Latin for “glory”) specifically because of the announcement in Luke 2:10-12. The child being born was a Savior, a ruler anointed by Jehovah to set His people free and to give them the shalom (“peace”) their sin had prevented them from enjoying.
A Savior. Someone who can change unjust sinners into justified saints--holy people confident of glorifying God. That confidence supersedes language barriers and cultural boundaries, social class, and even gender structures. There is no shame in trusting this Savior, only glory waiting to be revealed. That’s high glory indeed, and well worth celebrating by angels and believers. We look forward to celebrating it with you.
As an old French carol put it, the mountains themselves echo back the joyous strains:
Gloria in excelsis Deo.