Handel’s Messiah, a Christmas Tradition
Published by admin under Christmas, Church, Dating, holidays on December 12, 2009When my husband and I were dating, and in our early years of marriage, we would go into New York City each year to hear a performance of Handels Messiah, it was performed every night for a week, if I remember correctly, and one night was a sing-along. We never went to a sing-along, but I would like too…hmmm…maybe it’s not to late.
In recent years we have been going to hear a beautiful performance of the Messiah done by the Cathedral Choir at a church 1/2 hour away from us…the choir is made up of people like you and me who have a basic ability to sing, professional singers for the solo parts, a chamber orchestra, and organist. This year’s performance was exceptional.
I love the Messiah, the music as well as the Man Himself. I always say it is what I want to be hearing as I pass from this life to heaven. Here is a nice series of video’s explaining the meaning of the Messiah and playing well-known pieces from the Messiah using beautiful pictures and scenes.
A man is explaining it in human terms, and some of the things he shares do not take into consideration the complete context of the Bible, I’d suggest you enjoy it, but also verify that what you are hearing is true in the Bible…for example (you’ll know why I’m explaining this after you listen), Jesus did not earn the position of sitting at the right hand of God when he died for the sins of mankind, He was God come down to dwell among man…fully God, fully man…a mystery hard for our human minds to understand. See John 1:1, 2 - “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.” and verse 10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him…” All of the gospel accounts of Jesus are good, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Also, Jesus death was not a universal death for all of mankind as these videos seem to indicate, it was conditional, we know this because John 3:16-17 tells us ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Romans 3:23 tells us that “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”….what greater gift can one receive at Christmas than the gift of salvation and eternal life by repenting of our past sins and believing in what Jesus did on the cross for us…this is the reason Christ was born, so that those who believe in what He did for them may have a loving relationship with God, free from guilt and condemnation, because of the blood of Jesus, and why “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”.
Enjoy, and have a blessed CHRISTmas season!
