“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is one of the more well-known songs of Christmas. In its first three stanzas it tells the story of Christ’s birth with triumphant joy. And in the fourth stanza it draws from the deep mystery described in John 1.

The prologue of the book of John describes Jesus as the Word of God. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And in fourteen short verses of Scripture we find a summary of the purpose of the coming of Christ.

For all who receive Jesus, believing in him as the true light of the world, he gives “the right to become children of God.” Amazing!

John 1 tells us that “the Word be­came flesh and made his dwell­ing among us.” In other words, God himself came to be one of us. He came to live with us. He came to provide us the gift of becoming children of God.

“Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing”—this simple yet profound lyric reminds us that God himself has come to be one of us.

When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the mystery that God has become one of us—so that he could save us from the curse of sin and death, giving us new life as the children of God. And as the song’s refrain invites us to sing, “O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”