"Come Let Us Adore Him"
Christmas 2025
What a glorious season we are in, one that draws us closer to each other and to our Heavenly Father! Usually during the Christmas season With Wondering Awe, we listened to the young children–yes, truly "Angels We Have Heard on High"–sing hymns and carols that radiate "Joy to the World"....” We listen to talented ward and community members who “touch their harps of gold” and let “their heavenly music float/O’er all the weary world.” Today, and the rest of our lives, we must allow “the Dear Christ in.” We all must sense something burn within us. That is the spirit of Christ.
In the precious Christmas hymn "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful" that we sing at least once or twice at Christmas come three wondrous strains: “Come, all ye faithful,” “Come, and behold Him,” and “Oh, come, let us adore Him.” I sincerely believe that each of these phrases deserves special treatment and explanation.
“Come, all ye faithful”
During this Christmas season, the faithful followers of Christ congregate to sing joyous hymns to Him as we have done today. Note that the Lord did not say, however, “Come, all ye faithful” for just this season. Instead, the words merely state, rather succinctly, “Come, all ye faithful.” The Lord wants us to choose to be faithful every minute of the day, every day of the week, and every week of the year.
Thankfully, at Christmas time, we tend to listen to our hearts more than to our heads, the spiritual more than cerebral, the perennial more than the ephemeral. We seem to want to fix our lives so that they are in accordance with the Lord's. Yes, we tend to “come unto Christ and adore Him.” Wouldn't it be nice if every year we had twelve Decembers? Then we wouldn't have to be trying to repent every 12th month or trying to add kindness to our repertoire of Christmas thoughtfulness.
“Come, and behold Him”
The shepherds “came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger” (Luke 2:16). After the shepherds had seen the Christ child, they returned to their flocks, herds, and families, “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen....” (Luke 2:20). There also came “wise men from the east to Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:1) and began asking about: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). And we know not how many others came to “behold him” as he lay in the manger or worked by His father’s side.
Often, we believe that to “behold God” we must be completely spiritually pure. In one sense that is correct, but in another, we can behold God–through daily communion with Him and understanding who He really is. Plus, our hearts can be filled with Him always if we but “yield our hearts to God” (see Helaman 3:35).
“Oh, come let us adore Him”
What does it really mean to “Come and to adore Him"? According to that great Old Testament prophet Isaiah, He is called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace....(Isaiah )...the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity.... and President Hinckley added: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, “At the Summit of the Ages,” October 1999).
The ancient Prophet Moroni, as he ended his work and closed the abridgment of the record of God’s dealings with His people, which is the Book of Mormon, that glorious book that teaches gospel truths, called upon all who read his ending passage: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).
What does it really mean to “Come and to adore Him"? According to that great Old Testament prophet Isaiah, He is called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace....(Isaiah )...the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity.... and President Hinckley added: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, “At the Summit of the Ages,” October 1999).
The ancient Prophet Moroni, as he ended his work and closed the abridgment of the record of God’s dealings with His people, which is the Book of Mormon, that glorious book that teaches gospel truths, called upon all who read his ending passage: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).
Conclusion and Christmas Challenge
Thus, the challenge: “Come, all ye faithful....come, let us behold Him...[and] come let us adore Him.” The real goal is to “Come Unto Christ.” May we accept the challenge and experience the glorious days that the Nephites of old had with the Savior that we may at some time "thrust [our own] hands into his side, and ...feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet...[that we may] see with [our own] eyes and...feel with [our own] hands, and...know of a surety and...bear record, that it was He, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come...[that when we have] all gone forth and...witnessed for [ourselves], [we] can cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And then [we will] fall down at the feet of Jesus [our Savior and Brother], and...worship him” (3 Nephi 11:15-17)….
Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever” (Alma 26:16) who is the Truth and the Light and the Prince of Peace is my Christmas challenge to all!
Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year!
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