Hail! the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail! the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

Ris'n with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,

Born that man no more may die;

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the new-born King!

— ("Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," Hymns, No. 209.)

Long after strains of Christmas carols and hymns about the birth of the Christ Child fade into a new year and season, the timeless message of this most sacred birth will remain with us.

"Born that man no more may die; Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth." So we've sung throughout the final weeks of the year, and so we could sing beyond Christmas Day, every day in the months ahead.

Much of Christendom divides the Savior's birth, and His atoning sacrifice and subsequent Resurrection into two seasons: Christmas and Easter. However, these two matchless events cannot be separated, as so aptly proclaimed in the hymn: the "heav'n-born Prince of Peace" has "Ris'n with healing in his wings."

In fulfillment of His Father's plan to redeem all His children, Jesus left His royal courts on high to be born in humble surroundings in Bethlehem of Judea a little more than two millenia ago. His birth had been proclaimed by prophets through the ages, including Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

An essential part of His Father's plan that the Redeemer came to earth to fulfill was the Atonement, through which He took upon Himself the burdens and sins of all the world's peoples of past, present and future generations. He died, literally, so that all would live again. And, in an act as miraculous as the conditions surrounding His birth to the virgin Mary, He came forth in the Resurrection from His grave in the garden tomb.

We have records of Old Testament prophets' proclamations of His birth; testimonies and teachings of His apostles and disciples in New Testament times; and the witnesses of prophets, disciples and adherents in the Book of Mormon. Added to these are testimonies and declarations by modern-day prophets and apostles.

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith the Savior describes His suffering:

"Which suffering caused myself...to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit — and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink —

"Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18-19).

In Section 76 of Doctrine and Covenants, we find this witness of Jesus Christ by Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration (whose birth on Dec. 23, 1805, we commemorate also at this season) and Sidney Rigdon: "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" (v. 22).

From Joseph Smith to President Gordon B. Hinckley, prophets of this dispensation have testified of Jesus Christ, born in a stable in Bethlehem who, in reality, is the King of kings and Redeemer of the world.

In a First Presidency Message in the December 2002 issue of the Ensign, President Hinckley wrote: "We honor Him, we worship Him, we love Him as our Redeemer, the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New Testament. The entire thrust of the testimony of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants declares our living Lord before whom we kneel in humility and faith....

"It is proper during this season when we commemorate His birth that we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in reverence and with love. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has brought meaning to our mortal existence. He has given us the gift of eternal life. He was and is the Son of God, who was 'made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth"' (John 1:14).