Tell the complete story. That, in a very brief summary, is what Stuart Townend said that Keith Getty and he were trying to accomplish in 2004 when they wrote “Joy Has Dawned”. Although one might think there are plenty of Christmas carols, Stuart and Keith thought there were far too few that really speak of Jesus becoming human. And so, the Christmas nativity (see masterpiece artwork The Adoration of the Shepherds here by 17th Century artist Matthias Stomer) was what they envisioned musically, but not just the scene. There’s so much depth in what God-With-Us meant for people as the 1st Century dawned, that the import of His entry, life, sacrifice, and resurrection cannot be exaggerated 20 centuries later. It’s a story that’s too important to be limited to just one time of the year, and it begins with how He chose to come.
Stuart and Keith set out to add one song to the world’s Christmas music repertoire, and what they discovered was that a whole album about this subject would emerge (see its contents at the end of this blog post with the link provided). These two British songwriters’ passion is to share the whole story about Jesus, and to spur the church to sing songs that have scriptural truths embedded within them. And so, they thought about ‘Joy…’ as part of a collection that would focus on musically accomplishing what the Apostles’ Creed has done for centuries. Telling the fundamentals of the Christian faith is therefore underscored with each one of the four verses they penned. Jesus was the ‘humble gift of love’ (v.1), a rather amazing present to mankind from the one who actually created all we can see (see Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3). Think of that: the One who is the Creator chose to be a new creature in the arms of a young woman named Mary whom He created. Incomprehensible and physically impossible, you say? Not for this God. He even ‘set the stars in place’ and ‘shaped the earth’, and now He’s a baby in a ‘stable’, ‘vulnerable and helpless’ (v.2). How could the Father entrust His Only Begotten to fallible humans?! Despite His lowly arrival, this baby was recognized as special, with appropriate gifts that could be seen as especially indicative of Jesus’ identity as a king and eventual Divine Sacrifice – ‘gold’ for his role as king of the Jews; ‘incense’ like that used by priests as an offering in the presence of God Himself; and ‘myrrh’ that was commonly used to embalm a dead body (v.3). Stuart and Keith round out their description of Jesus with several synonyms for Him: ‘Son of Adam, Son of heaven’, ‘ransom’, ‘reconcil(er)’, ‘Christ’, ‘Savior’, ‘Friend’, ‘glorious mystery’, ‘babe’, and finally ‘Lord of history’(v.4). Others are sprinkled through the other verses, like ‘Prince of life’ (v.2), and ‘the lamb’ (v.3). Are there really enough names for Him?
What Stuart and Keith might have concluded is that Jesus is a mouthful, and so much more. That is what spurred these two to write a new Christmas hymn -- that there was really too little that had been said musically about Him to properly express what He means to humanity. Maybe we all ought to be singing Christmas songs year-round, although doing so might make them rote performances. God needs to be special in the lives of people, and the Christmas season does that in some measure. But what Stuart and Keith have said in their title of the song – that this ‘Joy Has Dawned’ – in fact persists throughout the year and all of life. And, this characteristic will be true of the Afterlife and Heaven where we will be. His light will always be there (Revelation 21:23-24; 22:5). This joy that has already dawned has no sunset.
Read the song story here: Joy Has Dawned (December's Hymn of the Month)
See the entire album’s contents here: Joy Has Dawned - Downloadable Listening Tracks (FULL ALBUM) | Lifeway
Read about the two composers here: Stuart Townend (musician) - Wikipedia and Keith Getty - Wikipedia
See information on the picture here: File:Adoration of the sheperds - Matthias Stomer.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…The author died in 1660, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.
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