This year during the season of Advent through to New Year’s Eve we have chosen to use hymns, and in particular, the hymn of the day as our sermon texts. Which means, since on Wednesdays there is no hymn of the day we will use the hymn of the day for the previous Sunday. Also, please understand that this does not mean we are not preaching on a text from the Bible as all our hymns have a Biblical foundation. And let me say right off, as much as I thought this idea of using hymns as sermon text would be a great idea, and a great way to get to know some of our hymns a bit more, and it is, it was not the easiest of tasks to prepare a sermon with a hymn as a text. But enough of that, let us get to our hymn and text. First let me announce our hymn which we just sang and let you know, and you can find this information in your hymnal at the bottom of the hymn the author of our hymn for today is Ambrose of Milan. If you wish you can follow along in your hymnal as we look at the verses of our hymn.
Stanza one, “Savior of the nations, come, Show yourself the virgin’s son. Marvel, heaven, wonder, earth, That our God chose such a birth.” So, we are in the season of Advent which is the season that begins our church year. Advent means coming and is the time we use to get ourselves ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming. Verse one speaks of our yearning for Jesus’ coming. The world has waited since the first promise of a Savior back in the Garden of Eden and this verse speaks of the marvel of how God fulfills His plan of salvation and the promise made to Adam and Eve.
Stanza two, “No man’s pow’r of mind or blood But the Spirit of our God Made the Word of God be flesh, Woman’s offspring, pure and fresh.” In this verse we hear the words of the Gospel writer John as he writes about the Word, that is Jesus. Indeed, Jesus is the Word, the spoken Word in the beginning, the written Word in Holy Scripture, the tangible Word in His Holy Supper. Jesus is the Word promised in Eden and given flesh in Bethlehem. This verse attributes this miraculous birth of God in flesh to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Stanza three, “Here a maid was found with child, Virgin pure and undefiled. In her virtues it was known God had made her heart his throne.” In this verse the author speaks of the virtue of the Virgin Mary. While the author speaks of the virtues of Mary I pray he understood as we do that although she was a good person, chaste and decent, she was not a perfect person, as we know that no one is perfect except Jesus Himself. However, he does speak of, shall we say, the mundane fact of God being born of an ordinary human, that is that God Himself was born of an ordinary human being so that He Himself is an ordinary human, and God as well.
Stanza four, “Then stepped forth the Lord of all From his pure and kingly hall; God of God, becoming man, His heroic course began.” In this verse we hear Simeon’s Song from Luke two, the song we sing following our partaking of the Lord’s Supper, the song we call the Nunc Dimittis or the Now Dismiss. Simeon was in the temple at the direction of the Holy Spirit as he was promised that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Anointed. Thus, this verse reflects Simeon’s joy of the salvation of the world and the fact that he is now ready even to die.
Stanza five, “God the Father was his source, Back to God he ran his course. Into hell his road went down, Back then to his throne and crown.” In this verse we are reminded of God’s plan of giving up His glory, all the glory that was His in heaven, in order to come to earth. Jesus came to earth to do the will of God the Father, to live a perfect life, to obey all of God’s laws and commands perfectly, to fulfill all His promises perfectly, to take all our sins upon Himself, to suffer and die on the cross and as the verse states to descend into hell to declare victory. Then as this verse continues we are reminded of the rest of God’s plan of returning to His throne following His earthly victory.
Stanza six, “Father’s equal, you will win Vict’ries for us over sin. Might eternal, make us whole; Heal our ills of flesh and soul.” This verse is a confession of our faith in God’s victory over sin, death and the devil. As we are conceived and born in sin so Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection has brought healing of our souls, bringing us back into a right relationship with God the Father.
Stanza seven, “From the manger newborn light Sends a glory through the night. Night cannot this light subdue, Faith keeps springing ever new.” This verse again reminds us of John’s Gospel as he relates to us that Jesus is the Light of the world, the light shining in darkness, the darkness of sin and unbelief to bring forgiveness and faith. The Light the devil and the world do not always understand and most certainly that the devil did not overcome. The Light of Christ shines though the darkness of sin to reveal sin so that there is confession and forgiveness. It is the Light of Christ that brings victory.
Stanza eight, “Glory to the Father sing, Glory to the Son, our king, Glory to the Spirit be Now and through eternity.” What a better way to end this hymn of anticipation and jubilation than with a doxology, a hymn of praise to our triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A hymn of praise that transcends time, now and through eternity.
This hymn, Savior of the Nations, Come, is quite a fitting hymn to begin the Church Year and the season of Advent. While the people of Jesus’ day were waiting expectantly for the birth of the one promised in the Garden of Eden, we today continue to eagerly wait His return. Just as God kept His promise, even though it took some four thousand years, or so, so God will keep His promise to return to gather us and all the saint and take us to be with Himself in heaven for eternity.
Our hymn for the day reminds us of Luke and John’s words of God’s promise and His fulfillment. Jesus is the Word. He was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit at the creation of the world. Jesus is the spoken Word, the Word of promise of a Savior to Adam and Eve. Jesus is the written Word as God gave Moses the Word to write the first five books of the Old Testament. Today Jesus is the Word, the tangible Word of His body and blood in His Holy Supper. As we begin this Advent season we are preparing our hearts and minds to once again celebrate that Jesus is the Word in flesh being born of the humble human woman, the Virgin Mary.
Jesus is the Word, God in flesh who gave up the glory that was His in heaven. He lived the perfect life demanded of us. He never sinned. He fulfilled all God’s promises and perfectly obeyed all God’s commands. He took our sins and the sin of all people of all place of all times upon Himself and paid the complete price for sin. He descended into hell to declare victory over sin, death and the devil. He ascended to the place from which He descended. And now we wait in eager anticipation for His return to gather us and all the saint in order to take us to heaven to live with Him forever in heaven so that we praise His glorious name.
This hymn is a great creedal hymn speaking of our confession of faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So as always we rejoice and say, “To God be the glory for His name sake.” Amen.
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