Scriptures: Philippians 2:5-11, John 5:18, 10:30, 14:9

All of us know the beautiful Christmas carol “O Holy Night.” This carol was written by Adolphe Charles Adam, a French composer. Ironically, it was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it for poor taste and “total absence of the spirit of religion.”In that first stanza the writer invites us to close our eyes and imagine the world before the birth of Jesus. He says it is a world that lay “in sin and error pining.” The word pining refers to the wasting away of the human spirit as it grieves and endures pain. In other words, he paints a picture of a world of darkness without light, and a world of despair without hope. But then come the next three words “Till He appeared.” When He appeared everything changed. In this message, Dr. Merritt uses the backdrop of the carol "O Holy Night" to focus our attention on the world-changing birth of Christ.

"Did you know that there is no recorded birth in Scripture after the birth of the Lord Jesus? Did you know that the last genealogy or family tree listed in the New Testament is that of the Lord Jesus? The reason for that is the entire Bible, from Genesis to Malachi, pointed to the birth and the name of Jesus Christ." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: Jesus, birth, Christmas, songs, Savior, carols, music, Christ, Mary, Joseph, holidays, Paul, Genesis, Malachi, Father, Son, grace, forgiveness, die, saved, obligation, obedience, crucifixion