Angels From the Realms of Glory - December 2025
- Cynthia Zager Godwin
- Dec 17, 2025
- 5 min read
IN THIS BLOG:
A Christmas Carol
Thoughts on Angels
Writer’s Corner – Update on “A Choice of Sides”
I’ve always been in love with the wonder and joy of Christmas. That God would become one of us, so that we could come back into relationship with him, leaves me more in awe of him each year.
Beyond that, I also look forward to shopping for presents for family and friends. In the past, the stores played all sorts of lyrics to Christmas carols like, “Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord!”
The past few years, only one Christian-owned hobby store plays Christmas carols. Sad. So, I play carols in my car while driving and sing along (as long as I don’t have passengers—I’m tone deaf)!
Since I write about science in this blog, a Christmas carol that included creation seemed appropriate. It turns out, “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” is also one of my favorites.
The hymn was written by James Montgomery. Born in Scotland, when he was 8-years-old, his parents left him with fellow believers and sailed for mission work in the West Indies. James never saw them again. They died four years later of illness.
As an adult, Montgomery worked at a newspaper. When a wealthy investor bought the paper, he hired Montgomery to head it. Montgomery became a follower of Jesus Christ in 1814 and began using his gift of writing to share God’s word through hymns. He would later go on to write over 400.
On Christmas Eve, 1816, Montgomery published his poem, “The Nativity,” in the newspaper he ran. It was adapted from an old French hymn, Les Anges dans nos campagnes. Not until 1853 would it become the beloved Christmas carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” Over the years, it has been set to more than fifty different tunes.
Part of the hymn’s refrain is, “Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king.” In thinking about the vastness God’s love for us, that seems like the perfect response. And even though I sing “the newborn king” part out loud, in my heart I always replace “newborn” with “coming” king.
Because Jesus Christ is coming back! Not as a little baby in a manger. Jesus Christ is coming back with a royal crown on his head to reign as king of kings over heaven and Earth. All of creation this time!
“Angels from the Realms of Glory”
Angels from the realms of glory,
wing your flight o’er all the earth;
ye who sang creation’s story
now proclaim Messiah’s birth
Refrain:
Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ, the newborn king.
Thoughts on Angels
Angels have always intrigued believers. Holy angels stand in the presence of God. But did you know they may have different jobs?
Speaking of angels, Paul writes, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).
Some angels are mighty warriors. The prophet, Daniel, asked for an interpretation to a vision he saw. After an intense, three-week battle in the heavens, Daniel’s answer came. But only after the mighty angel, Michael, was victorious against the angel that ruled Persia.
“Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding . . . your words were heard . . . but the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel 9:12-13).
Some angels engage in constant worship of the Lord and don't fit the usual description we have of them.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings . . . and one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, The ]whole earth is full of His glory”
(Isaiah 6:1-3).
Angels are often so staggeringly holy and beautiful when they appear that the first thing they say is, “Don’t be afraid!”
“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid . . . ” (Luke 8-10).
Angels can disguise themselves as people so believers don’t even know they’ve encountered an angel. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2).
Why mention this? Because I often see angels depicted as cute little Precious Moments figures who wouldn’t harm a homeless kitten. Or gorgeous women with flowing hair who wear pretty dresses. Nothing could be further from the truth! The Christmas angels the shepherds encountered were holy, majestic, fierce, powerful beings who had macho shepherds cowering in fear.
These are the angels who minister to and fight for believers.
Writer’s Corner – Update on “A Choice of Sides”
It turns out writing a novel is only about 5% of the work a writer does these days. Even if you’re traditionally published, you’re still responsible for all kinds of pre-submission editing (developmental, line, proofing, etc.).
Then there’s formatting for Amazon, Kindle, etc. And don’t get me started on pre-marketing and marketing. Since “trad publishing” has fallen off a cliff this year, I've decided to self-publish.
This resulted in purchasing ISBN numbers, locating an illustrator, and finding a program that will format my novel for uploading to Amazon, Kindle, etc. I picked Atticus’ formatting program since I write on a PC. (Vellum is only for Mac users).
After spending a week formatting my novel to Atticus’ specifications, I uploaded it. Atticus turned out to be slow, “buggy,” and had a problem even Atticus’ support team couldn’t fix. If you’re interested in the details, a quick google search will provide you with the myriad frustrations other users have encountered.
I googled other formatting programs and it turns out, Adobe’s InDesign, is also a formatting program. Up side: it’s used by the professionals for book formatting. Down side: it requires a monthly fee.
Since my wonderful husband already uses this powerful program, he’s offered to learn the formatting portion and handle the upload. My response: praise the Lord!
Enjoyed the bio about James Montgomery. His life could be a movie. Amazing how prolific of a hymnist he was--400! Also, enjoyed the post about the angels--great reminder that they're not cherubs or dainty females, but warriors and worshippers!