Harkening the Heralds: Raising

Mild he lays his Glory by,

Born that Men no more may die;

Born to raise the sons of Earth,

Born to give them second Birth.

The sixth section reminds us of the Saviour’s temporarily leaving behind his eternal majesty, and then gives us the consequences of this selfless act, which I take in Johannine order:

The second birth, described to Nicodemus in the third of John, is the experience that all true Christians have. Christians do not pop out of mothers' wombs, they are born a second time, which we might call their conversion. Upon seeking to follow the Lord Jesus, a new life begins: the old is gone, the new is come.

Having been born again, they do not die. Their bodies fade and decay, and from them their spirits shall one day separate, but not to sheol or hades, abode of the dead, for this is no longer their destination. They go up to be with Christ, which is better by far. In the eleventh of John, the Lord tells Martha that whosoever ‘liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’

The sons of earth are raised: in this life, to a status not unlike Adam’s before he fell; at the end of this life, to a higher home in heaven and thereafter with a resurrected body. They enjoy a privileged and honourable position as princes and nobles of the heavenly estate. And all because the Exalted One laid His glory by.

Harken!