God Al­migh­ty in His wis­dom,
Has cre­at­ed all things well:
Numbered all the stars of hea­ven,
Built this earth on which we dwell.
Here He plant­ed us a gar­den,
Full of fruit and shin­ing flow­ers,
Where Love walked with man and wo­man,
In the qui­et ev­en­ing hours.

But they would not heed in­struct­ion
From the God who gave them breath,
So they list­ened to the ser­pent,
And then sin gave birth to death.
Paradise was lost to mor­tals,
Cursèd ground be­came their fate;
Love the Tree of Life had hid­den,
Flaming sword barred Ed­en’s gate.

But God’s wrath lasts not for­ev­er,
Sin can­not His pur­pose thwart;
He will not aban­don mer­cy,
Or the souls kept in His heart.
So, though sin was born in Ed­en,
And man wore the mark of Cain,
Love pur­sued us to a sta­ble,
Where a ho­ly Child was lain.

In Ju­dea’s fields that Christ­mas
Shepherds heard the an­gels sing:
In the sad, deep hour of dark­ness
God had sent the Sav­ior-King!
In a hum­ble, lowly man­ger
Mother-love had wrapped the Child;
In the ho­ly Babe, the God-send,
Love was flesh, but un­de­filed.

How we love the Christ­mas glit­ter,
Lovely trees and car­ols bright;
But the can­dle flame soon flick­ers,
And again de­parts the light;
When the mirth has ebbed to si­lence,
Can you hear the Sav­ior’s voice,
Offering life and light, and par­don?
Make eter­nal Love your choice.