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ADVENT 3
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, This is undoubtedly the most famous of the Christmas songs. It certainly is the shortest we will study in this series. These words have formed the basis of numerous carols through the years. The angels' song has been used as a refrain for carols as well as found their way inside carols we hear and sing every Christmas season. And what a glorious song this must have been! The angels are given but few chances to share the Gospel. This was one of them. I can picture that this song was likely the most beautiful ever heard in earth's history. I wonder if anyone in Bethlehem or even Jerusalem, five miles to the north, heard the song as it was sung? Or was that honor granted to the shepherds alone? Whenever an angel appears in Scripture, it signifies a significant episode in salvation history. The first angels to appear in Scripture's pages are the seraphim who guarded the Garden of Eden. This would have prevented Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life. Eating of the tree would have doomed mankind to an eternity of "life" in sin's domination. Imagine all the ailments that we suffer, which increase with age, being a part of us for all eternity (and time also being a part of existence). The posting of the angel guards was necessary so that death would give us respite from sin's ills-and a Savior could come to die in our place to pay for sin. Angels appeared with the pre-incarnate God to Abraham to announce the birth of Isaac. Angels appeared to Isaiah at the beginning of his ministry. Angels announce to Zechariah and to Mary the their life-altering pregnancies. An angel appears to Joseph in dreams to convince him to remain with Mary and later to escape to Eqypt when Herod ordered the execution of babies. Angels appear at the Resurrection and also at the Ascension. These rare occurrences were given the angels to proclaim God's love and mercy. And these angels give glory to God, the one who sits "in the highest." No Caesar can usurp this God. Everything which Luke records previously about Jesus birth, and the government decree it took to get Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, were because the God in the highest ordered His creation and controls world events.
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The copyright of the article Song of the Angels (Gloria in Excelsis Deo) in Lutheranism is owned by John L. Hoh, Jr.. Permission to republish Song of the Angels (Gloria in Excelsis Deo) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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