Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4 7 -12
The carol Love Came Down at Christmas is based on the words of scripture above. It was written originally as a poem by Christina Rossetti in 1885. Christina wrote many poems in her lifetime and this one and In the Bleak Midwinter were later set to music.
I remember as a child that this carol was the favourite of our then Minister’s wife and I admit that at the time I did not see what was so special about it.
Let us have a look at the words:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine.
Love was born at Christmas
Star and angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, love divine.
Worship we our Jesus
What shall be our sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine.
Love to God and neighbour,
Love for prayer and gift and sign.
Now looking at the carol today the line, “Love was born at Christmas”, is a simple statement about the very being of the Christmas season. It is everything that Christmas should be about, that love “came down” from Heaven in the form of a tiny baby, our Lord Jesus Christ. This love is ours to have today and not just for us, it is there for all people everywhere to share. As Christina Rossetti says, “Love be yours and love be mine”.
So, this Christmas, let us receive the wonderful love sent from Heaven above and share it with others, our Christmas maybe different this year, but let us put God's love at the centre of our celebrations.
I recently came across this version of Love Came Down at Christmas on YouTube, recorded by a Christian group, Jars of Clay. You may already be familiar with the recording, it is a little different, but give it a go!
Julie Burnett