Merry Christmas, everyone!
In this special holiday edition of Beyond the Lyrics, I will break down the lyrics of “Lowborn” by Wolves At The Gate and discuss how the song talks about Christ’s birth and His humility.
Photo of Wolves At The Gate band retrieved from their website.
“Lowborn” comes from the band’s Christmas EP (also called Lowborn) released last year.
Here is the official lyric video for the song, so give it a listen.
These lyrics are full of biblical references, so let’s dive in!
Lowborn to the world was the image of what was always invisible
Unending light now veiled in the flesh, impossible
Lowborn Savior, setting aside Your glory above
Emmanuel, what a world You love
The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will raise to life
The title of this song, “Lowborn,” refers to Christ’s humble birth. God could have chosen for Jesus to be born anywhere. He could have been born to a king or a wealthy family. But instead, He was born to a poor teenage girl.
The lyric, “Unending light now veiled in the flesh” is a reference to John 1:14, which talks about Jesus’s incarnation: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Sonn, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Because He left heaven and came to live among us, Jesus is called Emmanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The last lyrics of this verse about the blind seeing and the dead raising to life reference a prophecy that Jesus fulfilled with all the miracles He performed: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Matthew 11:5).
Hear the song of the angels
Glory lays in a manger
Fear not the advent of the Great I AM
Humble He comes to the world as a Lamb
Come behold and hear thе angels sing
Lift your voices, hail the Lowborn King
See thе mystery, God become a man
Lift your voices to the Lamb
The chorus of this song mentions “the song of the angels.” This lyric refers to the angels announcing Jesus’s birth to the shepherds in Luke 2: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” and “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Chased and hunted down by kings that sought His crown
Still He never thought to return and withdraw grace
Selfless, is the God who makes peace with us fallen people
He has come for those who are in the shadow of death
The lyric “Chased and hunted down by kings that sought His crown” shows that Jesus’s time on Earth was far from easy. Even as a baby, He was seen as a threat by those in authority (Matthew 2:13-18). And during His ministry, He endured people threatening, mocking, and spreading lies about Him. Yet, He “never thought to return and withdraw grace,” meaning He never decided to turn His back on us and leave us to fend for ourselves. He could have, and who would’ve blamed Him?
But Jesus decided to carry on with His mission and give His life for us because He loves us. Jesus talks about His love for us in John 3:17 by saying, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” He came to save us “who are in the shadow of death.”
O the Lowborn Savior
What a world You love
Hear the song of the angels
Glory lays in a manger
Fear not the advent of the Great I AM
Humble He comes to the world as a Lamb
Jesus came “to the world as a Lamb” because He came to sacrifice Himself to save us from our sins. Jesus is called “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) in the Bible since lambs were used as sacrifices during biblical times. By dying on our behalf, Jesus, like the lambs used for sacrifice, paid the debt of our sin.
Lowborn God, save us from sin!
Lowborn God, save us, save
Come save our souls!
The unseen God silently lays
Waiting until the glorious day
The Incarnate Divine put His life out on the line
For children of the dust while lifting up our curse
The line “the unseen God silently lays” alludes to Colossians 1:15, which identifies Jesus as the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Jesus “put His life out on the line” by dying for us. He took on our sin, and through His death and resurrection, He defeated the power that death had over us (the lyric “while lifting up our curse”).
Lowborn EP cover
The Lowborn will save us
Guide us into the way of peace
Lowborn, Lowborn, guide us into peace
Lowborn, Lowborn, make our sorrows cease
Jesus offers us peace, and even though our “sorrows” may not cease in this life, we know that when we see Jesus in Heaven, all of our pain will end. Jesus told His disciples about this peace the night before His death by saying, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Hear the song of the angels,
Glory comes to us as a Lamb
Hear the song of the angels
Glory lays in a manger
Fear not the advent of the Great I AM
Humble He comes to the world as a Lamb
Come behold and hear the angels sing
Lift your voices, hail the Lowborn King
See the mystery, God become a man
Lift your voices, glory to the Lowborn
Overall, this song reminds me of Philippians 2, specifically verses 7-8, which talk about Christ’s humility: “Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!”
Jesus left the glories of heaven to be born in a dirty manger. And the reason why is you and me. He loves us so much that He came to Earth, lived among us humans, and then died a painful death for us, freeing us from our sin. Remember that this Christmas, and every day.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Genius Contributors. (2021). Wolves at the Gate – Lowborn. Genius. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://genius.com/Wolves-at-the-gate-lowborn-lyrics
Solid State Records. (2023). Wolves At The Gate. Retrieved November 26, 2023, from https://www.solidstaterecords.com/wolves-at-the-gate