JJ Heller's trademark ability to be transparent and vulnerable resonates throughout her spectacular 2015 album Sound of a Living Heart, featuring "Fully Known," and "The Well." The project is JJ's best overall album so far, and it was one of my top 3 albums of 2015. 

Naturally this year I was excited to hear her first full-length Christmas release Unto Us, to enjoy as these songs ushered me into worship with both well-known traditional Christmas hymns and some amazing original songs including "Christmas is Here," "Unto Us" and "Oh, To See Christmas." I had the chance to speak with JJ and Dave Heller about "Christmas is Here."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

JJ: I was sitting up in a guest room on the second story of our house in Nashville, where it rarely snows. I was sitting at my desk looking out the window as snow was falling, and I could look out and see the rooftops in the neighborhood, and it looked like diamonds sparkling. 

It got me thinking about how there are so many symbols at Christmas time of the coming of Christ. One of the lyrics of the song talks about how snow turns the world from grey to white. The entire Old Testament is about the anticipation of the coming of Christ, and Christmas is a time to celebrate and worship our King. I combined a lot of sentimental things that happen that all point our hearts towards Christ and His birth. 

I also drew inspiration from a Christmas book that Sally Lloyd-Jones wrote. There's a line on the last page of that book about baby Jesus sleeping under the stars that He made. I just fell in love with that concept. It's so profound that the Creator of the Heavens would humble Himself and become a human baby in order to save mankind. I knew I needed to put that lyric in the song somewhere. It's probably one of my favorite lyrics on the whole album.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV): "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool."

Luke 2:13-14 (VOICE): "At that moment, the first heavenly messenger was joined by thousands of other messengers--a vast heavenly choir. They praised God. To the highest heights of the universe, glory to God! And on earth, peace among all people who bring pleasure to God!"

Matthew 4:16 (NKJV): "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned."

John 8:12 (NKJV): "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'"

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV): "He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; By His wounds you have been healed."

Revelation 21:4-5 (NKJV): And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

What is the takeaway message?

Dave: The song went through about eight iterations, and we knew there was something special about it, but we couldn't find the chorus for the longest time. We played the song for Jason Gray when we were on tour with him. We had established that the bridge would be an instrumental melody of "O Come let us adore Him," and Jason latched on to that and suggested that the chorus move into the active, more worshipful "let us adore Him" posture. That first line of the chorus is all Jason, as he helped guide the direction of the song and was the glue that brought everything together. 

What we tried to do with making this album was to create something that is as timeless as possible. The themes of Christmas are never going to go out of style as we celebrate the arrival of Christ. The song selection includes classic songs like "Winter Wonderland" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas," songs expressing the sentiment of the holiday and being near the people we love and enjoying the holiday, in addition to acknowledging the sacredness of Christmas as well. There's a common theme as you move from the popular Christmas songs into the more sacred Christian hymns "O Come O Come Emmanuel," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Silent Night" and our original songs. Musically, it's one of my favorite albums we've made.

Lyrics:
I see the candles, glow in the windows
I hear the Church bells starting to chime
Millions of snowflakes, falling from Heaven
Turning the world, from grey to white
Even the hardest of hearts
Cannot deny the magic in the air

Let us adore Him
Lift up your voices
Sing it out loud
Sing it out clear
Christmas is here

Join in the chorus, sing to the baby
Sleeping beneath the stars that He made
Light in the darkness, hope for the hopeless
His love will never fade away
Heaven came down to earth
To bind our wounds, and wipe away our tears

Let us adore Him
Lift up your voices
Sing it out loud
Sing it out clear
Christmas is here

There is a longing in the melody
I feel it every year

Let us adore Him
Lift up your voices
Sing it out loud
Sing it out loud
Sing it out clear

Let us adore Him
Lift up your voices
Sing it out loud
Sing it out clear
Christmas is here
Christmas is here

The youngest of my three daughters, Bethany, is ten years old, and she has that childlike faith that God challenges us to have. As a father of three young girls, I need to point my girls to their Heavenly Father. There's a lot more we can accomplish together by leaning into God as opposed to trying to solve life's challenges on our own. Life is messy, and JJ Heller's song "Christmas is Here" is a great song celebrating the joy of Jesus coming and living among us as Emmanuel, God with Us. 

As Christians, one of the after-effects of the most important birth in the history of the world is the commercial celebrations we see all around us. What we need to remember is to "not be conformed to the patterns of this world." We need to sing "Gloria" and celebrate the birth of our King and Savior. The song expresses the blessed hope of our Savior, Jesus: "Light in the darkness, hope for the hopeless, His love will never fade away. Heaven came down to earth to bind our wounds and wipe away our tears." Ask the Lord Jesus to look into your heart and allow you to receive Him with a childlike wonder. That's what Christmas is all about. Amen to that!

Watch the lyric video below.