Jason Soroski – Christ the Lord Has Come

Jason Soroski is a pastor, writer, and musician who communicates in a way that is meaningful, relevant, and mindful of the small details that we may otherwise overlook in our everyday lives.

Tapping into his experiences as an educator, husband, and homeschooling father of five, he enjoys relating poignant stories from real-life experiences, and is passionate about encouraging others in their faith.

In December 2015 Jason wrote “Just Drop the Blanket”, a blog inspired by a moment he noticed in a Charlie Brown Christmas. This encouraging observation went viral, and created a national conversation about Christ taking away our fears. His writing has been featured by The Gospel Coalition, Preaching Today, Lifeway Women, Worship Leader Magazine, and in Kerry and Chris Shook’s 2016 book, “Find Your Miracle”.

Jason holds an M.Ed. from Missouri Baptist University, is a featured contributor to the Salem Web Network (Crosswalk.com, BibleStudyTools.com, Christianity.com), and author of A Journey to Bethlehem: Inspiring Thoughts for Christmas and Hope for the New Year. But even with all that stuff, he most enjoys spending time with his family, taking road trips, and going on new adventures whenever he gets the chance.

Introduction borrowed from https://jasonsoroski.net/about/ with permission.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Soroski invites his audience to feast their eyes upon events surrounding Christ’s birth:

• The first is the shepherds, who were watching over their sheep at night.
• The angels sang “Come out of darkness to Heavenly light”
• Jesus came and we are not alone.
• Mary who, while holding baby Jesus, treasures the shepherds’ proclamations of Jesus in her heart.
• Joseph is (probably) informed of the star, the angelic multitude, and of course, the visiting kings.

In response, we sing (in Latin) “Glory to God in the highest”.

The song also proclaims several attributes of God assigned to Jesus, atypical of Christmas music:

• Eternal
• Creator
• Sovereign
• Savior
• Almighty

As I will discuss in section 2, it pays homage to several classic Christmas carols, including Hark, the Harold Angels Sing, Gloria, and Away in a Manger.

It contains a few minor errors/issues, including the singing angels (this is Biblically weak at best), kings who visited Jesus (they are Magi), and that they sung “Come out of darkness to Heavenly light” (they did not); However, these are relatively minor issues that have a small impact on Soroski’s overall message. As does Soroski’s speculation regarding Joseph’s information on divine events and Jesus’ sleeping.

The Chorus is a little repetitive, but not to the point of annoyance.

Score: 8/10

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

Most of it does; However, it has minor inaccuracies/weak Biblical support concerning the singing angels and visiting kings and one error concerning a statement the angels made to the shepherds.  The angels may not have sung nor does Scripture state that the Magi are kings.  It also contains some non-biblical, reasonable speculation.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Come see the field where the shepherds were staying
Watching their flocks in the cool of the night

It draws inspiration from both Luke 2:8 and the unknown author of Go Tell It on the Mountain.

See where the angels appeared to them singing
Come out of darkness to Heavenly light

According to Luke 2:13-14, there was a multitude of angels exalting Jesus. Though there were heavenly hosts and they announced the birth of Jesus, Scripture does not support that they were singing.  Take a good look at Luke 2:13.  It says “saying”.  It comes from the Koine Greek word “legó”, which means “to say”.  That doesn’t mean that angels can’t sing (Job 38:7’s “morning stars” could be seen as angels), but the text doesn’t say that they sang.

As for the Koine Greek term Aineo (to praise), according to Bible Study Tools, praiseworthy singing is a possible translation for this word.  However, no major translation translates it with singing in mind.

Jesus is certainly the light to which those in darkness saw (Isaiah 9:2 and Matthew 4:16); However, my point is that contextually, the angels did not sing/say this. It is meant to draw attention to George Whitefield’s arrangement of Charles Wesley’s song Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

[Chorus]

Christ the Lord has come
Christ the Lord has come
We are not alone
Christ the Lord has come

That is, Jesus is born (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:26-38, and Matthew 1:18-25).

[Verse 2]

Mary the mother is holding the baby
Treasuring all of these things in her heart

That is, Jesus is born (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:26-38, and Matthew 1:18-25). A possible loose connection with Isaac Watts’ Joy To The World.

Joseph her husband is filled with amazement
Of angels and kings and a glorious star

Though Scripture does not support that Joseph was amazed by the angels and star, it is conceivable that the visiting shepherds informed him, along with the Magi, who visited Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12). Though it draws its inspiration from John Henry Hopkins Jr’s We Three Kings, the Magi are not described as kings in Scripture.

[Bridge]

Singing Gloria in excelsis Deo

Since this comes directly after the chorus, I can only assume that “We are not alone” sets the context as “we”, the church, as the one who sings this song.  The song itself is Latin, meaning “Glory to God in the highest”, which happens to be the utterance of the multitude of the heavenly host (Luke 2:13-14). It is an obvious reference to the 2nd to 3rd century anonymously authored Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Singing Gloria in excelsis Deo

Repeats line 1.

[Verse 3]

Infinite Father, Creator, Sustainer

Three attributes of God, including:

1. His eternality (Deuteronomy 33:27, 1 Chronicles 16:34, Job 36:26, Psalm 48:14, Psalm 90:2-4, Psalm 102:12, Psalm 102:26-27, Proverbs 8:23, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 41:4, Habakkuk 1:12, John 17:5, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 1:11-12, 1 Peter 1:20, 2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 11:17, and Revelation 22:13).
2. Creator (Genesis 1:1, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 8:3-8, Psalm 33:6, Psalm 96:5, Proverbs 3:19, Isaiah 37:16, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 66:1-2, John 1:1-3, Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, and Revelation 4:11).
3. Sovereign over His creation (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11).

Savior of all who have wandered away

A nod to Christ’s payment of sins (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

Almighty maker of earth and of Heaven

That is, Creator.  See commentary in Line 1.  The term “almighty”, in reference to God, contains 48 references in the Old Testament and 10 in the New Testament.

Little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

Though not stated in Scripture, it is highly reasonable to think that Jesus slept in the manger full of hay to which Mary laid Him (Luke 2:7).  This pays tribute to Kirkpatrick-authored Away in a Manger, arranged by James Ramsey Murray.

Score: 7/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

The usual shepherds, angels, Christ coming, Mary, and Joseph make interpretation easy for non-Christ followers.  It is a Christmas song that celebrates Christ’s birth, containing additional attributes that cement Jesus as God.

The errors outlined in earlier sections have little impact on unbeliever interpretation.

Score: 9/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God through its celebration of Jesus’ birth and declaration of His divinity, though slightly veiled with minor errors.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Jason Soroski’s Christ the Lord Has Come is a decent song.  It proclaims Christ’s birth with its usual shepherds, angels, and baby Jesus and unusually inserts His Divinity in several attributes, making unbeliever interpretation easy and glorifying God.  It also contains the usual angelic singing and visiting kings, neither of which is supported/strongly supported by Scripture.  It also has a statement not uttered by angels.

Do I recommend this for worship?  If you happen to agree with my wife, who believes that my criticism is “excessive nitpicking”, then by all means ignore it and belt this one out within your Sunday services, public caroling, or family get-togethers.  If you believe my criticism is justified, then feel free to skip this one.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: Christ the Lord Has Come (listen to the song) (buy the song)

Artist: Jason Soroski

Album: Born Is the King (buy the album)

Genre: Christmas, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2016

Duration: 3:28

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2015 Jason Soroski, Hourglass Ministries (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.  Used by permission.

Updates:

10/25/2022 – Upon recent information from Heather’s comment on Joseph Mohr’s Silent Night, I updated my commentary on the singing angels. The song’s rating is unaffected.