Behold, the Lamb of God is born,
Whose holy blood has cleansed rebellious Earth.
His altar’s fire our lips has burned
With bread and wine delivered at His birth.
Behold, the holy place’s wall is torn.
Lo, how to Bethlehem was sent
The bread of life within a virgin’s womb.
The Word made flesh, the Father’s light,
Was laid by Him within an empty tomb.
Lo, how our curse of darkness has been rent.
Hark, now His Spirit does descend,
The heavens rended for us through His Son.
For us, His flock, our Shepherd breathes,
And heaven’s hosts break forth in joyful song:
“Peace on the Earth and goodwill unto men!”
O holy, holy, holy Lord,
Your children born out of Your will in grace,
Baptized into Your name, confess
We will in flesh behold Your throne and face,
O Father, Spirit, and incarnate Word!
This is a hymn I wrote Christmas morning, 2018. I then wrote the tune in early 2019.
The motivation for this hymn was the desire to express my continual wonder and joy at Christ’s coming to earth, and frankly a dissatisfaction with the words of most common Christmas hymns to convey the depth of the heaven-rending miracle that is Christ’s incarnation. Further, in the preceding season of Advent the church focuses on the coming Christ by recalling the preaching of John the Baptist. I desired to have a hymn that connects the celebration of Christmas more directly within the broader church calendar.
Click here to download the sheet music as a pdf.
