AWAY IN A MANGER
Col. 1:16 says of Jesus, "For by Him all things were created." This is an important truth to keep in mind as we sing the Christmas hymns.
Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus—the creator of all things—lay down His sweet Head. The stars—He created—in the bright sky—which He Himself created—looked down where He lay. The cattle—He created—were lowing.
How wide the gulf that spans His creation. Stars, light years away, shone from the expanse of heaven, down upon the lowing cattle in the lowly manger. That gulf in space was superceded only by the spiritual gulf that exists between the holy God and sinful man. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). In sin man is utterly divorced from God with no hope of reconciliation. No amount of religious effort or good intentions could ever bridge that gap.
Most people believe that good people go to heaven. The Scriptures say, “There is none who does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:12). Salvation is not something we do, but something God does for us. All we have to offer Him is brokenness and strife. He alone is able to make something beautiful of our lives.
The little Lord Jesus came to do what we could never do. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). He came as the “Lamb of God” to take away “the sin of the world” (John 1:29). On the cross He “died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). He offers salvation to any person who will humbly place his or her faith and trust in Him. He alone is able to cause us to be born again and “fit us for heaven to live with Him there.”
AWAY IN A MANGER
Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay
The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side,
'Til morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And fit us for heaven
To live with Thee there
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