Creator of the Stars of Night

Known in Latin as “The Advent Hymn”, this ancient song is dated around the 9th century. The tune that traditionally accompanies it has been with it for about as long. This hymn exalts the Lord as the triune God, redeeming Creator, servant, and King. The Lord Jesus, who fills all and is in all, who holds all things together by the word of His power, is the Word of God incarnate who has come and who will one day come again. 

Creator

In the book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul says of Jesus: 

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:16-19

God exists as one essence in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since God is triune, everything that He does He does in unity within the persons of the Trinity. So, in creation, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all active. They act inseparably but distinctly from one another. They share the same essence, the same will, the same heart, the same aim, but each has a unique role.

So Jesus Christ can be called “Creator” as aptly as the Father or the Spirit. But this Christ is not only Creator, but Redeemer. He has redeemed us from sin and darkness so that He can truly be called the Light of the World, because of His perfect life, sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, glorious ascension. 

Servant

The book of the prophet Isaiah speaks of a Servant to come, saying:

 
For he [the Servant] grew up before him [the Lord] like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. - Isaiah 53:2

This Servant would come not in splendor, not in majesty, not in what we would perceive as power, but as one whom we wouldn’t even notice. In humility. In weakness. The prophet continues and says that the Servant would actually be one that people would hide their faces from. The treatment He would receive and the shame that would befall Him would be too much to look at. His way of weakness would be so contrary to people’s expectations, that He would actually look like a failure to many. We see in the teachings of the New Testament that this Servant from Isaiah’s prophecy is Jesus Christ the Messiah who was born of the Virgin Mary.

King

According to the Apostle Paul, this humble Servant “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). And he continues…

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9-11

The Father exalted Him to the highest place, to a place of preeminence and honor and authority so that every knee must bow. One day, at the end of things, all people from all time, whether in joyful praise or in sorrowful submission will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of the Father. This is the King of whom we sing.

Gloria

This God - this Father, Son, and Spirit - has worked in history to redeem His creation from the effects of sin, from captivity to the kingdom of darkness, and has set His people free from walking in darkness. The Son came as the light for all men to give them life - to give you life. To give you hope. To give you redemption. To give you peace.

This transcendent yet imminent God has been working for all of time to reconcile all things to Himself, and that is why this traditional advent hymn ends with a musical recitation of the 4th century prayer known as the “Gloria Patri” which says simply,

“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and evermore shall be. World without end. Amen.”

This Advent season, you are invited into more than celebrating that Jesus came. You can celebrate that the Triune God has been at work to save and redeem. You can celebrate that the Lord Jesus is the Sovereign King of the universe who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a redeeming ransom for many. And as you worship this glorious Trinity for the first coming of Christ, you can wait with confident, eager expectation for Christ’s second coming where He will make all things new.

Then we will be able to see Him as He is.

And all shall be well.

And all manner of things shall be well.