阅读经文 

《欢乐下降临世间》是另一首关于圣诞故事的现代诗歌。而且，如同其他许多歌曲一样，它谈到了耶稣到来的原因。“亚当之子神之子，赎罪代价天赐；神人和好大功成，基督战胜仇敌！”

歌罗西书第一章呼应了这个主题。“爱子是那不能看见之神的像……祂在万有之先，万有也靠祂而立。”（参西 1:15-17）

正如使徒保罗在这段话中所论述的，神的丰盛尽在耶稣身上体现。藉着圣子耶稣，父神能够使万物与自己和好。由于我们堕落犯罪，我们与神的关系出现了裂痕。而恢复这种关系的唯一方法是我们被基督赎回。我们的罪债必须完全被清偿。

耶稣，神的独生爱子，来为我们付上代价。耶稣基督，亲自为我们的罪偿还了债务，“藉着祂在十字架上所流的血成就了和平。”（参西 1:20）正如歌中所唱，“基督战胜仇敌！”

“奇妙救主罪人友！荣耀无比奥秘！”耶稣曾经是伯利恒婴孩，“现今为万世的主宰！”这的确是一个奥秘。神在基督里亲自偿付我们的赎价，我们的罪债，好使我们能与祂和好。

谢谢祢，耶稣！

"Joy Has Dawned" is another contemporary song about the Christmas story. And, like many other songs, it speaks of the reason Jesus came: "Son of Adam, Son of Heaven, given as a ransom,/ reconciling God and man, Christ our mighty champion."

Colossians 1 echoes this theme. "The Son is the image of the invisible God. . . . He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

As the apostle Paul shows in this passage, God’s fullness lives in Jesus. And through Jesus the Son, God the Father was able to reconcile all things to himself. Because of our fall into sin, there was brokenness in our relationship with God. And the only way to restore that was for us to be ransomed. Our debt had to be fully paid for.

Jesus, God’s own Son, came to pay our ransom. Jesus, the Christ, paid the debt for our sin, "making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." As the song sings, "Christ [is] our mighty champion"!

"What a Savior, what a friend, what a glorious mystery." It is indeed a mystery that Jesus, once a tiny baby in Bethlehem, is "now the Lord of history." God himself, in Christ, has come to pay our ransom, our debt of sin, so that we may be reconciled with God.

Thank you, Jesus!