Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

This chorus first ascribes glory to God, for all things good and
beautiful come from him and express his glory, as all rays of daylight
shoot from the sun and are its splintered splendor. The gift of Christ
manifests the glory of God in that it displays the divine wisdom in
devising the plan of salvation, the divine power in executing it, and
the divine love as its mighty motive. The glory of God, that streams
through the heavens as through a dome of many-colored glass, is
concentrated and burns with the interest brightness in the person of his
Son.

The chorus next pronounces peace upon men. Divine glory and human good
will are related as cause and effect. When men get right with God they
at once get right with one another, as the center of a circle, when
truly located, pulls every point on the circumference into its proper
place in the curve; but when men are at variance with God they are at
enmity among themselves. Divine glory is the sun shining in the heavens;
human good will is a garden and orchard all abloom with flowers and
laden with fruit. As the glory of the sun is transformed into rosy buds
and sweet fruit, so is the glory of God transformed into human good
will. The glory of God and the peace of men are never in antagonism, but
are always complementary and harmonious, they are the two sides of the
same gospel, two parts of the same song. They cannot be separated and
must go together; in glorifying God we make peace among men, and in
making peace among men we glorify God.