Chris Tomlin (Feat. Lauren Daigle) – Noel

Chris Tomlin is a household name that requires no introduction.  He is a 26-time award recipient, including 23 Dove Awards, 2 Billboard awards, and 1 Grammy.

Tomlin released sixteen albums:

• Inside Your Love (1995)
• Authentic (1998)
• Too Much Free Time (1998)
• The Noise We Make (2001)
• Not to Us (2002)
• Arriving (2004)
• See the Morning (2006)
• Hello Love (2008)
• And If Our God Is for Us… (2010)
• Burning Lights (2013)
• Love Ran Red (2014)
• Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship (2015)
• Never Lose Sight (2016)
• Holy Roar (2018)
• Chris Tomlin & Friends (2020)
• Miracle of Love: Christmas Songs of Worship (2020)

Also, check out my reviews of God’s Great Dance Floor, Jesus Loves Me, My Deliverer, Wonderful Maker, Our God, At The Cross (Love Ran Red), and Home.

NOTE: This song is not to be confused with The First Noel.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

It contains a culmination of references to the Christmas story, including the star, angels, and baby Jesus.  This Christ-child was born to die for us; His love demonstrated in sacrifice.  He is the Son of God and Son of man who resurrects us from spiritual deadness.  He is the eternal God, who will take the throne of David and reign forever and ever.  Tomlin invites us to come and see His goodness so that we too would worship Him as the Magi did.

This song follows basic format.  The song ends with a repeated, second chorus.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

All of it is Biblical.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Love incarnate, love divine

References the incarnation of Jesus, where God becomes a frail, weak, human being (John 1:1, John 1:14, and Philippians 2:5-7).

Star and angels gave the sign
Bow to babe on bended knee

References three things:

1. The star that leads the wise men to Jesus (Matthew 2:2 and Matthew 2:9).
2. The angels who announced Christ’s birth to shepherds (Luke 2:13-14).
3. The wise men’s worship of Jesus (Matthew 2:11), inviting us to do the same.

The Savior of humanity

Summarized by the words of John the Baptist in John 1:29, that Christ has come to take the sins of the world.

Unto us a Child is born

Quotes from Isaiah 9:6, which prophecies Jesus’ birth.

He shall reign forevermore

As spoken by the Angel Gabriel in Luke 1:32-33, Mary’s son Jesus would take the throne of David and rule for all eternity.

[Chorus]

Noel, Noel

In the original famous anonymous song The First Noel, The word “Nowell” is a transliteration of the modern French word “noël”, which means “birthday”.  Some English versions use the word “Noel” rather than “Nowell”.  This references the birth of Christ (Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:6-7).

Come and see what God has done

Much like the angel’s invitation to the shepherds in Luke 2:10-12, Tomlin figuratively invites us to “come and see” the Christ-child.

Noel, Noel

Repeats line 1.

The story of amazing love
The light of the world, given for us

This is an indirect reference to Jesus’ mission on earth: to pay for our lawbreaking (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, and 1 John 4:10).

Noel

Repeats part of line 1.

[Verse 2]

Son of God and Son of man

Both the Son of God (Matthew 11:27, Matthew 14:33, Matthew 16:15–17, Matthew 27:43, Matthew 27:54, Mark 1:11, Mark 3:11, Mark 9:7, Mark 15:39, Luke 1:35, Luke 4:41, Luke 22:29, John 1:14-18, John 1:34, John 3:16-18, John 11:27, John 19:7, John 20:31, and Acts 9:20) and Son of man (Matthew 8:20, Matthew 12:8, Matthew 12:38-42, Matthew 16:27-28, Matthew 18:11, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 24:30, Matthew 25:31-32, Matthew 26:64, Mark 2:27-28, Mark 8:11-13, Mark 8:31-32:38, Mark 10:32-45, Mark 14:62, Luke 6:5, Luke 9:26-27, Luke 9:58, Luke 11:29-32, and Luke 18:31-34) are titles of Jesus.  They reference His divinity and humanity.

There before the world began

That is, Jesus is eternal (John 8:58, Colossians 1:13-17, and Hebrews 13:8).

Born to suffer, born to save

See commentary on Chorus, lines 4 and 5.

Born to raise us from the grave

References the final resurrection, where we are dead to our old lifestyle of sin, made alive spiritually in Christ, and will spend eternity with Him in His eternal Kingdom (Luke 20:34-38, Acts 24:15-16, Romans 6:1-5, Romans 8:11-13, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Christ the everlasting Lord

That is, Jesus is Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15 and Revelation 19:16) forever (see Verse 1, line 6).

He shall reign forevermore

Repeats Verse 1, line 6.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Most unbelievers will associate the star, angelic announcement, Noel, and the born Christ as elements of the Christian celebration of Christmas.  They will also see Tomlin’s connection between Christmas and Easter, given how prolific the statement “born to suffer” and its association with the cross propagates within Western society.  I can’t think of a single thing that unbelievers will misinterpret or will cause confusion, especially those who haven’t studied Christianity.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Christ as the Savior of mankind, eternal in nature and ruler of His coming Kingdom.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Chris Tomlin’s Noel is great.  Its narrative of the star, angels, baby Jesus, and Christ’s mission to save us from eternal damnation is Scriptural.  It proclaims Him as the eternal ruler, whose love compels Him to sacrifice and raise us from spiritual deadness, glorifying Him.  Unbelievers will have little to no trouble interpreting the basics of this song.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.

Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Noel (listen to the song)

Artist: Chris Tomlin (Feat. Lauren Daigle)

Album: Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship

Genre:  Christmas, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 4:17

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