Pastor’s Corner January 2008

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

George Handel’s musical masterpiece, Messiah, traces the promise of Christ from Isaiah 40 through to His ultimate glorification and triumph depicted in the book of Revelation. We tend to think of Messiah as an Advent-focused piece of sacred music, when in fact, it is a glorious survey of the whole of redemptive History revealed in Scripture. One of the very clear themes of Messiah is the increasing exertion of Christ’s Lordship on the Earth since His ascension to the right hand of the Father.

It is a mistake to think of the Kingdom of God in purely futuristic terms. The idea that Christ will reign on the earth someday ignores the teaching of Jesus that declares the Kingdom to be inaugurated upon the incarnation of Christ. The Kingdom is NOW, and growing. I think Handel captures this reality wonderfully in the second part of His oratorio, particularly as he progresses from the ascension of Christ to the Hallelujah chorus. Notice the Lordship of Christ expand by Handel’s Scriptural progression (from Part II of Messiah)-

– Unto which of the angels said He at any time: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? (Hebrews 1 : 5)
– Let all the angels of God worship Him. (Hebrews 1 : 6)
– Thou art gone up on high; Thou hast led captivity captive, and received gifts for men; yea, even from Thine enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them.(Psalms 68 : 18)
– The Lord gave the word; great was the company of the preachers.(Psalms 68 : 11)
– How beautiful are the feet of them: that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. (Romans 10 : 15)
– Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world. (Romans 10 : 18 / Psalms 19 : 4)
– Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed. (Psalms 2 : 1-2)
– Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us. (Psalms 2 : 3)
– He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision. (Psalms 2 : 4)
In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich