Glory to God in the Highest!

An old adage captures the relationship between the Bible’s Old and New Testaments. “The Old is the new concealed, the New is the Old revealed.” The Book of Hebrews is full of wonderful Advent images of contrast and wonder. As the shepherds heard angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest!” the incomplete of the Old was in the process of being replaced with New, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form ...” (Colossians 2:9) The Spirit -inspired author painted contrasts in Testaments frequently and colorfully. Hebrews defines old and new covenants; an old sacrificial system replaced by Jesus, the one sacrifice for our sins; laws written on stone or parchment are written on the heart; the old sanctuary made of animal skins, trees and precious metals is starkly contrasted with the “Holy of Holies” in heaven. Advent images, linguistic photographs, are replaced with flesh and blood, Jesus, the Christ! “Glory to God in the highest!”

Our home is appropriately decorated for the season, thanks to Pat’s eye for beauty and balance. Lights sparkle, stocking hang from the mantle, the tree is ready for our eight grandchildren to “ooh” and “aah.” In a few hours ripped wrapping paper will litter the floor but, who cares? Little eyes will be dancing with excitement and little arms will squeeze our necks! Life is good! I cannot imagine life being better!

As I write this morning I am listening to Handel’s “Messiah.” The aria and chorus whose lyrics come from Isaiah 7, make all the bulbs dim and lift my soul! By the Spirit, the prophet announced centuries before, “The 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. Every 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: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Emphasis mine) What had been concealed for generations was being revealed before the eyes of shepherds. Now, for the followers of Jesus the promise is revealed, alive, real, part of our experience! “Glory to God in the highest!” We who were born in darkness have experienced the light, “Glory to God in the highest,” Jesus is the revelation, the light, of what the darkness had concealed!

You may not have acquired an appreciation for Handel’s 18th century musical style, but if the concealed has been revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, allow the lyrics to seep into your soul! You may hear “Messiah” performed, free, by the world-class Philadelphia Orchestra and chorus http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=6581236&m=17357382.
George Frederick Handel penned his masterpiece in a mere three weeks, carried along by the Spirit, inspired by Eternal Truth that the concealed has been revealed! For me, Advent would be incomplete without hearing “Messiah” again, and again! “Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!