I wonder what that sounded like, these words being lifted by an army of angels? An army, out in a field under a sky whose light was dimmed by the light shining from the ground. What an awesome spectacle!

But you know what part of that verse really strikes me?

“…and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

There is a very human part of me that, just for a moment, thinks “well, that can’t apply to me.” It only applies to those in His favor, which certainly leaves me out. It sounds exclusive to the skeptic in us because it contains a qualification, and anytime there’s a qualifier not everyone will measure up, right?

Wrong, at least in this instance.

How do I know? Well, I looked at the original language and I think you’ll love it as much as I. The word for “favor” is εὐδοκία (eudokía), and it means the following:

Good pleasure.

Good will.

Delight.

Satisfaction.

Desire.

Then it went on to say this:

Delight in any absent thing produces longing for it.

And you know what was absent from God before Christ?

Every single human being on the face of the earth. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

No exclusivity. No one left out. The arrival of the newborn Christ was a celebration of epic proportion, fitting only to be heralded by an army of angels, because those God delighted in most – longed for most – were no longer going to be absent from Him.

Revel in that today, my friends. They were singing because of YOU.