Messiah snippets, part 2

What then is the Gospel? Are they just the readings the priest does on Sunday? Or the 4 books of the Bible at the front of the New Testament/second half of the Bible?

‘Gospel’ is the English translation twice over of the Greek word euangelion, which means good message or good news and pertains to the good news that “Christ is coming, Christ has come, and Christ will come again.” Simply put, the Gospel is Jesus and his propitiary sacrifice – He is the reason we have breath, He is the reason we can love, He is the reason above every other reason for why we are here and for where He has placed us. He died in our place, because as sinful humans, inheriting the sin nature of Adam, we were under the condemnation of death, because the 'wages of sin is death.' God viewed us as spiritually dead, and unable to commune with Him. Not until repentance - a decision to choose Christ to be our Lord and Savior and turn away from the rejection of his sovereignty, so that the blood of Jesus' sacrifice for us restores us to a right standing with God. We have life because Jesus died instead of us and all of our sins we have ever committed and ever will commit can now be forgiven because of his death on the cross. That's why he cried out on the cross, because the sin burden of all mankind became charged against him, resulting in a separation from the Father who cannot look upon sin because He is so Holy. Thus, the Gospel message is at the heart of God’s purposes and relationship with his human creation.

That He would pierce eternity to be in communion with His people is not a simple matter. Many people enjoy the Gospel message sung to them in the beautiful work of Handel, yet I wonder how many find it a call from God?

We continue…

Isaiah 7:14 (prophecy) and Matthew 1:23 (fulfillment) “Behold a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.”

This is the greatest gift God has given us – Himself in Jesus and His Spirit. Do you know that when God calls you out from all of time to become one of His children, He regenerates you (i.e., you are born again – given a new spiritual life in Christ), and then – miracles of all miracles – He comes to live in us. Emmanuel – God with us. (Romans 8) His habitation creates a new life for us and in us, and enables us to live out lives that submit to His love. So, He came to live on earth, He came to live in Mary, and then He came to live in us. In the future, He will come again (but that’s another part of Messiah!!).

The air continues: Isaiah 40:9; 60:1 “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold thy God! Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

Being a prophet in ancient times was not the easiest job. Being a prophet of God Jehovah whom He used to foretell and forth-tell His Word to people could be downright life-threatening. The good news that God’s prophet was tasked with carrying to the people could be received either way, yet the news was life-giving. So that everyone will hear, a prophet could go to a high elevation to make the pronouncement. The weightiness of this particular message would necessitate the prophet or heralder to get up into the high mountain – the news would be echoed off the mountain walls and carried for miles! God emboldened His messengers to speak His Words. He put the Words into their mouths. The good news to the remnant of Judah signaled restoration and reconciliation was near. The light of the world has come. (John 1:1-18)

Jesus, the Light, came into the world, bringing His healing to a hurting people. He spoke from a mountain glad tidings to people gathered there, and they saw their God walking among them in the flesh. The glory of the Lord, and His grace and high favor had risen up on them. Their faces were alit by the divine presence. Today, we are the heralders. We are tasked to bring glad tidings to a lost and hurting world. We are given the Words of God that will reconcile people to Him. Nothing man can create or make up can accomplish the power that the words of The Word can. We are a privileged people to receive them and share them. Only through the message of this gospel can the glory of the Lord be seen on His people. Anything less is a shallow light.

The mood changes, but the message continues to be sounded, now beyond the remnant of Judah. The male voice says (Isaiah 60:2, 3; 9:2) “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  ³And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. …²The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Beyond the remnant of Judah – to the Gentiles. That is us! This is indeed good news – God’s message of salvation and reconciliation would embrace those who were non-Jews and not proselytized. His promise to Abraham was that his seed or offspring would bless the world; Jesus fulfills that prophecy. God calls a people from beyond time that would include all tribes and peoples of the earth to become His in a new relationship. He has called us forth from darkness – from alienation from Him, from spiritual death,  into the glorious light of Himself. (Ephesians 2:1-10) He has given us His Word – His message of Light, and true enlightenment to sustain us in that life in the Light. The ‘kings’ coming to the brightness of thy rising may refer to the so-called wise men who followed the light to where Jesus was born. How wise are we? Do we follow the light?

And, then, in a series of heralds, the birth of the Messiah is announced, and Handel is first inspired from Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 9:6 to score “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, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
The virgin named Mary – a teenage girl betrothed to the man Joseph – carried Jesus within her. She was not a popular girl any longer. Her friends deserted her. Her father and mother were ashamed; the family name was dragged in the mud. In those times a young woman who was perceived to have had sexual relations outside of marriage could be stoned to death - both she and any child she was carrying. God's law concerning marriage and sexual purity were still in effect. Everyone shunned her; even her fiance could not believe that she would wrong him like that! He was cut to the heart for he loved her. Yet, Joseph - a man broken by what he thought was deceit, and particularly believed to be a crime, decided with much anguish and pain to settle the matter quietly and not bring her before a tribunal. His sacrifice was rewarded by God's message to him explaining what had befallen Mary and the miracle into which his own life would be enmeshed.  As wondrous as this miracle was, it was clear that carrying Christ within one’s self does not always engender kind responses, not even from those closest to us. Yet, the joy that Mary would see, the faith that God had given her to continue this labor of love, helped her and eventually, her husband Joseph to press on.

Their faith - no doubt tested severely on the trek to Bethlehem - yielded the fruit that changed the world. A son – a progenitor, giver of life – was born. Not just a child, but one who is the Mighty God and Everlasting Father. A ruler whose power would supersede human government. His name – Jesus, which means God is salvation – forth-told what His purpose on earth would be.

We, too, who have accepted God’s invitation to let Him dwell in us, will at times face difficulties because of that relationship. Yet, think of the fruit we are yielding – we are God’s instruments to carry life to persons through this transforming Gospel message. His indwelling Spirit makes it possible for us to achieve what no program no matter how noble, and no self-help set of seven principles can achieve – He empowers us even in the most challenging of times, to bring Jesus to others. What He has done is truly Wonderful!

Handel's Messiah - Not Just Another Music Score!

When I first experienced this work performed at our church, it was an eye-opener (and heart-opener and mind-opener, and subsequently a Bible-opener). It is as far away from being ‘just another concert’ as you standing in your living room is as far from Jupiter, and even farther away than that! Because it is the Gospel message directly from the Bible; it carries a life-saving urgency. The Messiah came and is coming again! A couple of notes of applicability from the sheet music of Messiah …

           Opening voices: Male voices sound the prophecy, exhortation, and God’s Grace provision. God’s people can feel comforted and assured that God will carry out his promised restoration of His people. He forgives sins. He has sent his messenger to make a pathway, to clear the way for the Anointed One – the Messiah. His promised restoration will raise up His people again, and in contemporary times, we are His messengers, we proclaim the Gospel and coming of Christ. His Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to receive the Messiah by breaking our mountains we have set against God in our sinful condition, and raises us to spiritual life.

Isaiah 40 --  ¹Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.  ²Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. ³The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  ⁴Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Then the choir – all voices – forthtell the immensity of the Anointed One’s coming

⁵And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Many people shun the truth of the Word – Jesus – but are happy to celebrate a holiday that is said to be about him. Just because folks reject him does not make him to be a nothing, or to be inconsequential – it is like being in front of a tsunami and saying it cannot bother you because you’re in a Hummer. The immensity of the wave is terrifying. On the other hand, those who have accepted Christ the Messiah as their Lord and King, and have been brought into fellowship with him, sense the immensity of God in another way. They already enjoy a revelation of God’s glory – measure by measure – within their lives. When brought into the family of God, God installs in us Himself in the presence of the Holy Spirit so that the Shekinah Glory remains with us and in us. All can witness God’s glory in those in whom God is present – if we continue to let our light shine before men and women. Why? Because God says so – He has purposed a people from before time and has brought them into His glorious light. (Matthew 5:16; 2 Corinthians 4:4) What He also says in this very short verse is that regardless of whether or not you accept the Messiah, you will see the Glory of God – either in a positive way, or in judgment.

                Malachi 3:1-3. Male voices speak of God’s preparation of His people for the day of His coming, and the choir responds

¹Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.  ²But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: ³And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Fuller’s soap was a cleanser that was used to scour and scrub wool and cloth. In ancient times, cleaning a wool fabric was not as simple as taking it to the dry cleaners, or using Woolite. If you have ever seen the wool on a sheep, you recall that the wool is full of impurities and is dirty. The person called a Fuller had the job of taking the cloth woven with that wool and scrubbing and rubbing against a rock or other hard surface until it was reasonably clean. These were some very strong-armed folks. Hand-washing made extreme. Likewise, the task of purifying precious metals like gold and silver requires very, very hot fire to burn the impurities away. It is not an easy job standing in the heat of the furnace all day then processing the metal for purity. That is where the ‘karat’ and fineness designations fit in – they describe the purity of the metal.

For the ancient Israelite priests – the sons of Levi who were the only Israelites permitted to be priests, they understood the need for purification – they were handling sacred things, and standing before the very presence of God within the tabernacle and temple. They had to be made holy by God because they were entering a holy place. The blood of a perfect lamb would be sprinkled on the priests to cleanse them of their sins. Their clothing was made to specifications designed by God. It was and still is a fearful and humbling thing to stand before the Creator! And terrifying to come before Him unprepared. Without being made pure by God’s standards, it was impossible for the priest to offer up anything of worth to God. The book of Malachi speaks to how the priests had become wicked and had trashed the word of God. They worshipped other gods and mistreated the people. They refused to be sanctified and purified as God prescribed. Their offerings were worthless before God. Today, we are in the same situation. As a called-out, redeemed people, God has appointed us as his “holy nation of priests, a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9) and we are tasked with the responsibility of carrying out worship in our spiritual temples - our bodies. We are purified, made pure by the fire of His Word (Jeremiah 23:29) and His transforming Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), so that our worship can be acceptable to God. We who subject ourselves to the authority of the Word, are cleansed and we are also washed in the blood of the Lamb, as the Israelite priests were during the cleansing ritual. (see Eph. 5:26; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 7:14; 1 Peter 1:18-20) If we reject God’s Word and authority, and do not submit to His Holy Spirit’s counsel, we are in the same predicament as those priests spoken of in Malachi chapters 2 and 3, and come under the judgment of God.

            Next time, we will look at the succeeding airs and chorus pieces in “Messiah” so as to understand what we are saying when we share this Gospel with others.