Joy has dawned

Keith Getty and I wrote “Joy has dawned” as part of a project we’ve been working on entitled “Creed” – a collection of new hymns and songs based on the themes of the Apostles’ Creed. Keith and I both share a passion to see churches singing songs full of truth, compositions that not only express our love and devotion to God, but also declare the wonderful truths of the faith – truths that form the foundation of our lives.

With that in mind, we realised that there was shortage on new material on a number of key themes – one being the Incarnation. We therefore set about trying to write what is essentially a Christmas carol, telling the story and significance of Christ’s birth, and this is the result.

There are parts of the Christmas story that are so familiar to us, we tend not to appreciate how extraordinary they are: the humble circumstances of the birth of the King of kings; His choosing to come into the world as a helpless, vulnerable baby; the prophetic significance of gifts from traveling astrologers; the list goes on…

It’s a song that lends itself to a variety of musical styles, from a worship band setting to a choral piece, perhaps even a Salvation Army band arrangement, and I hope it’s a useful addition to a church’s Christmas repertoire.

Stuart Townend

WANT TO DOWNLOAD THE SHEET MUSIC TO THIS SONG? Visit www.kingswaysongs.com - the quick, easy way to get music for your church.

Comments

[Mary Mac]

Mr. Townend,
I deeply appreciate your passion to have doctrinal truth in our worship. It takes worship to a whole new level. I look forward to the upcoming christmas season to sing "Joy has dawned."
Question: In "How deep the father's love" did you write the line: "It was my sin that held him there" or is it "it was his love that held him there?"
God bless you and your gift!
Mary Mac

[Deborah Tillman]

Did you mean "astronomers," not "astrologers"?

[Stuart]

Hi Deborah

Good question! I have to confess to using the word a as a bit of a provocation! No, it seems to me that people who study the heavenly bodies on a purely observational level are astronomers, but those who see the stars as having some kind of correlation to earthly events are justifiably called 'astrologers' - in the sense that the stars are NARRATING rather than GOVERNING earthly activity (as horoscopes might be seen to propose).

I have to say, it's just another of those things that blows my mind and gnaws at my nice neat systematic theology - if someone today was to announce their knowledge of some significant event because they'd seen it in the stars, we'd at best call them nutters, at worst call them 'dodgey', even demonic!

[Stuart]

Hi Mary

I realise with some embarrassment that I never replied to your question about "How deep"! No, the line should read "my sin".

It's something that a couple of people have challenged over the years, suggesting instead that "His love" would be better.

But I prefer "my sin" because it brings home that sense of personal responsibility we all have for the cross. It doesn't imply to me (as it does to some) that, because it 'held' Him there, somehow He had no choice in the matter; He chose to go to the cross, but He did it because I stand guilty before God for my sinfulness, and a price had to be paid.

I suspect the questioning of that line in some quarters again comes back to the "In Christ alone" issue (see elsewhere on this website for that debate!), ie the question of the wrath of God, penal substitution etc. And I'm sure that debate will continue to rage. But hopefully this has cleared up what the line should read.