Understanding the Lost Verse of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
The lost verse of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" emphasizes humanity's need for Jesus, Christ's victory over sin, our transformation through sanctification, and ultimate glorification.
The Lost Verse
When we sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” we typically stick to the first three verses and the chorus, then conclude our singing. Charles Wesley, the original writer of this timeless hymn, included a powerful verse that we rarely hear today:
Come, Desire of nations, come, Fix in us Thy humble home; Rise, the woman's conqu'ring Seed, Bruise in us the serpent's head. Now display Thy saving power, Ruined nature now restore; Now in mystic union join Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.
The Journey of Salvation
This verse tells the complete story of salvation through four key theological concepts:
1. Our Need for Jesus (The Human Condition)
The opening lines, "Come, Desire of Nations, Come / Fix in us Thy Humble Home," speak to humanity's fundamental need for divine intervention. Drawing from Haggai 2:6-7, these words echo our deep longing for God's presence in our lives. The LORD will “shake the nations” through judgment. They will desire for him to stop. However, he is also the proper desire of the nations. The Psalmist exclaims he will sing praises to God among the nations, pleading for his exaltation and glory above, in, and below the earth.” As Ephesians 3:17 teaches, we need the Spirit's power to dwell within us, rooting us in love. The world is broken. We are broken. We need Jesus to dwell richly in us through the Holy Spirit. We need him to come not just in word but power and conviction through the Holy Spirit.
2. Christ's Victory (Justification)
The lines "Rise the woman's conquering seed / Bruise in us the serpent's head" reference the first messianic prophecy in Genesis- the protoevangelion. After God faces Adam and Eve after the introduction of sin through their rebellion, he gives a promise to all three figures.
To the serpent- "I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
To the woman- "I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you."
To the man- "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat from it': The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust."
This beautiful imagery in God’s message to the serpent points to Christ's victory over sin through His death and resurrection. Jesus is the seed of the woman. He is the Son. Through justification, we are declared righteous because of Jesus's sacrifice. He has curb stomped Satan’s head through his life, death, and resurrection. We are declared righteous because of this act.
3. Our Transformation (Sanctification)
"Now display Thy saving power / Ruined nature now restore" speaks to the ongoing work of sanctification in believers' lives. It is only by the power of Christ can we be restored from our ruined nature. This is God's gracious work of gradually conforming us to Christ's image, enabling us to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. Jesus gets to show his saving power through our broken natures because he can restore them.
For those in Christ, there are glimpses of the restored nature. We still fall short daily, but in his grace and mercy, we can display his glory through our faithful obedience.
4. The Final Union (Glorification)
The verse concludes with "Now in mystic union join / Thine to ours, and ours to Thine," pointing to our ultimate glorification - the perfect union between Christ and His church. We cannot understand all the mechanics behind this, but we know that he has joined himself with us. We live Christ in us. This reminds us that while Christmas celebrates Christ's first coming, we eagerly await His return when this mystical union will be fully realized.
Looking to Jesus
Just as the angels proclaimed "LOOK!" to the shepherds that first Christmas night, this verse calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus - our hope and peace for the past, present, and future. He is the one who saves us, transforms us, and will ultimately restore us to perfect fellowship with God. Hark! The herald angels sing glory to the newborn king. The lost verse of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” gives us a peek into the salvation arc brought about by Jesus Christ and him incarnated.