I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.
Today’s song is From Heaven You Came, from 1984.
The song was commissioned for Spring Harvest, a major UK Christian festival, whose 1984 theme focused on Christ as the Servant. It’s funny because back then, though I was an evangelical Christian, I had this image of Spring Harvest being full of “happy clappy” people. I didn’t see myself as being very happy or clappy, so I didn’t really embrace the movement or the music.
But as the years went on, the song became popular in all churches. And there’s nothing “happy clappy” about it. It’s all about Jesus and our devotion to Him. As I grow older, I’m much more careful not to make generalizations about movements or strands within evangelicalism or anything else. Any movement is made up of individuals and everyone is different.
I fear that many of these late 20th Century songs will eventually be forgotten – hopefully not this one.
Verse one speaks of the incarnation of the Son of God.
From Heaven, You came helpless babe
Entered our world, your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live
I’ve never doubted the deity of Jesus, but it’s easy to see how some would. He didn’t spend his life telling everyone explicitly who He was. Though we know about his birth and some aspects of his childhood, His public ministry only began around the age of 30. And for most of that time, He still allowed some ambiguity about who He was. He preferred to focus on serving, and He allowed people to gradually conclude who He really was. And the culmination was after the resurrection, when doubting Thomas made the following declaration:
John 20:28
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John’s gospel, which is thought to be the last one to be written, reflects more on the life of Jesus, and has more emphasis on who He was. But even the others touch on the fact that He was both God and man. Here are some examples:
Matthew 14:33
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Mark 1:1
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
Luke 24:52
Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Could you worship someone who wasn’t God? You could, but you’d be rebuked. In Scripture, people are always taken to task for worshipping anyone other than God, even if they’re great men or angels. So, the fact that Jesus accepted worship is just one of many indications of who He really is. Scripture has some very explicit statements on the deity of Jesus, but also many verses that assign the unique attributes of God to Him.
Some might wonder how God can have a son. Well, it’s not equivalent to the birth of a human. It’s more like the status of the son of a King. Think of Prince William. I don’t imagine that I’d see him as anything less than King Charles.
All three members of the Trinity existed before time was created. And everything that was created came through Jesus, so He himself was never created.
John 1:1-3 and 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
No human metaphor can totally capture it, but I think of it a little like the light from the sun. When I look at the sun, am I looking at the sun itself or the light from the sun. I can call both the sun.
“Eternally begotten” sounds complicated, but another poor metaphor would be King Charles and Prince William living in a universe where time never existed. Both would be royalty, yet different persons. And because time never existed, Prince William would never have been born.
Of course with God, you are talking about one being with three person, co-equal and co-eternal. Theologians debate about how Jesus related to the Father before He came into the world. But I think that that’s all way beyond our understanding. We should focus on what God has revealed to us. I would think that most religions agree that God is beyond our understanding, but that He has revealed something about Himself. W
Another silly metaphor that I sometimes think of, is me meeting my 20-year-old self and 30-year-old self for coffee. We’d all be me, yet we could have a chat. How could that happen? Well, it couldn’t happen in this creation, but why shouldn’t you have one being and three persons outside this creation?
Anyway, as I said, all metaphors fall short. Yet the fact remains that there is only one God, and that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And much of the New Testament focuses on the Father as God, and the Son as Lord of humanity, even though both are God in their nature, as is the Holy Spirit. If you are interested in exploring all the theology, I recommend these free Wayne Grudem lectures, particularly the ones on the Trinity and the Person of Christ.
The final verses of Matthew’s gospel mentions all three members of the Trinity:
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Anyway, here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 