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12 DECEMBER AN EXTRAORDINARY NIGHT O holy night! The stars are brightly shining It is the night of the dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Revelation 4:8-11 Of course this night is holy. How could it not be? This is the night God ordained from eternity past for His Son, Jesus—the long-awaited Messiah!—to come to ear th. How fitting it is, then, for this song to describe this night with God's own attribute. This holy night is a sanctified, set-apar t night, eternally marked off for special use. On the night that forever belongs to the incarnation, creation itself par ticipates in this arrival of God's glor y in Christ. Matthew 2 records that a star rose from the east to lead the Magi to Bethlehem. Luke 2 adds that Bethlehem's night sky is suddenly inundated with a heavenly host of angels who appear to shepherds in the nearby fields, announcing the good news and praising God. Miraculously, the anticipation of this night and its glorious fulfillment in Christ is in itself a holy anticipation of the ultimate redemptive purpose of His arrival. In John's vision of God's throne room in Revelation 4, heaven resounds with holiness-shaped worship of God. The Revelator describes that when the living creatures praise God with glor y, honor, and thanks, the elders fall in worship, saying, "You are wor thy, our Lord and God, to receive glor y and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being" (4:11). How wonderful it is that the worship God receives on this night announces Jesus' arrival even as it echoes the worship Jesus has always received as the preexistent Son and foreshadows the worship the Trinity will receive for all eternity! The beauty of this night reminds us that God sent His Son by the power of the Holy Spirit to establish peace between Himself and humanity (John 3:16). What a privilege we have, that in Christ we can respond to God's gift of salvation. As we do, we add our worship as sanctified, set- apart ones to the chorus of the angelic multitude who on this night declare, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14), and who in the highest heaven continually proclaim, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8).Truly, this night is extraordinary. On this holy night, a child is born who was, and is, and who will always be anything but ordinary. Isaac A. Olivarez, Student, Master of Arts (New Testament) O Holy Night Lyrics by Placide Cappeau (1843), composed by Adolphe Adam (1847)