December 27 

Joy Has Dawned upon the World 

TEXT: Stuart Townend

b. June 1, 1963, West Yorkshire, England

Stuart Townend was a literature major at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. His texts reflect this scholarship and are spiritually deep and filled with Scripture. He states,

Songs don’t just have to give us an “experience.” They can teach us and challenge us. They can retell the stories of the Bible in a meaningful way. They can also (like the Psalms) attempt to explore the joys and sorrows of the human condition in the light of our faith. These kinds of songs may not “push the happy button” for a congregation, but nonetheless they are vital in grounding our faith in reality.⁴¹

Townend and Keith Getty wrote this song while working on a larger project titled “Creed,” referring to the Apostle’s Creed. They had realized there is a shortage of newer hymns on important Christian foundations such as the incarnation, God coming into our world through Jesus as a human being.

TUNE: Keith Getty

b. December 16, 1974, Lisburn, North Ireland

Keith Getty characterizes this hymn as a Christmas version of “In Christ Alone.” It tells the story of Christmas, from prophecy to wise men, just as “In Christ Alone” tells the whole gospel story. When performing this hymn in concert, Getty and his wife, Kristyn, often pair it with the refrain “Gloria in excelsis Deo” of “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

As you sing this hymn … think about the beautiful experience of dawn! Nighttime darkness, terrors, and fear are all shattered at that very first ray of light. Every twenty-four hours, dawn is a reminder that in the dark, oppressive world of the first century BC, one tiny wail in a dark and lonely manger forever crushed sin and the dominion of darkness. Did everyone know and see it then? No, but we can now look back and wonder at the unfolding mystery of God since creation. The light has dawned, and it continues to dawn upon people in whom God’s Spirit reveals Himself.

But we live in an age when we expect the spectacular. We would like the declarations of God and His plan for us to be written across the sky. We are used to Hollywood productions, even in Christian media. In a long out-of-print Christian satirical periodical called The Wittenberg Door, we remember a cartoon picturing a church production with big orchestra, multiple choirs, flashing colored lights, set, drama, and animals. Under it, the caption read, “First Church presents the simple story of Christmas.”

How ironic that “not with fanfare or scenes of glory” but with the simple birth of a baby, God communicated that He loves us. This carol could be sung year-round as it declares what God was doing—paying a ransom, reconciling, becoming champion over sin and death, and becoming our Savior and even our Friend! There have been great men, great leaders, and great rulers in history, but here we declare that Jesus is the “Lord of history”! The simplicity of the story may puzzle you, the humility of God in Christ will astound you, but the truth of what Jesus came to earth to do should change you forever.