Handel's Messiah: The Person and Work of Christ

44. The Angels' Gospel Proclamation

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
The song of the angelic army in Luke 2 is the first New Testament proclamation of the Christian Gospel.

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 44 of a series. Read part 43.

The song of the angelic army in Luke 2 is the first New Testament proclamation of the Christian Gospel.

And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men. (Luke 2: 13-14)

The Song of the Angelic Army

As Handel's oratorio continues, the chorus sings one of its most familiar sections, the proclamation of the heavenly army that accompanied Messiah at His birth. There is some debate among commentators as to whether the words were said or sung. But the words "praising God" in the original text (ainouton ton Theon) mean the expression of joyful praise to God in a doxology, hymn, or prayer. Uses of the root verb aineo elsewhere in Scripture also indicate that the praise of the angels was indeed sung.

Therefore Handel's contemporaries Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, who composed the adaptation of Wesley's original poem, were not mistaken in beginning one of our most familiar Christmas hymns with the words,

Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!

We have already noted that this "multitude of the heavenly host" were in fact God's heavenly soldiers who came with the Messiah as He invaded Satan's realm in human form. The angels came to the shepherds bringing the most stupendous announcement that was ever made to mankind.

These facts bring us to a crucial question: What exactly was the message that they brought to shepherds on that night 2000 years ago, recorded for all time and eternity in Holy Scripture? More specifically, what is the significance of that message for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the world at large? Once again we must look at the negative in order to understand the positive.

What the Angelic Message Was Not

Let me remind you again of the words of their proclamation as we find them in Luke chapter 2: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." That is how the message is translated in the King James Bible and in the New King James translation. Some other translations render the original Greek of this passage in the same words, others differently. But none of those renderings actually communicate the force of the original language.

So often, when people hear and read these words, the message that the angels brought into the world is misunderstood - even in the church. There are many popular misconceptions about this message, and those misconceptions have spawned many misconceptions of the Christian message and the Christian Gospel.

The message of the angels in Luke chapter 2 is the core, the essence, of the Christian Gospel. But it is vastly different from the message that many mistakenly call the Christian Gospel in our day. The proclamation of the angels was not, as it is so often characterized, vague and indefinite. It was clear and concrete. We must understand this, and the church must proclaim this.

But far too often in our time the message of the angels is a falsely portrayed as a message of unqualified, unconditional tolerance.

The angels' message is not a statement of unconditional peace. It is not a statement or a prediction that men on this sinful earth will be, or even truly can be, at peace with one another. The angelic proclamation is not a touchy-feely, subjective kind of message. On the contrary, it is rooted and grounded in objective truth - the truth about God, about His Messiah, about the condition of man, and the condition of the world.

The message of the angels announcing the incarnation of the Son of God is not a message of "peace between men of good will" or "peace and good will between men" as we find in some Bible translations and paraphrases. It is not a message intended to give mankind a false sense of hope that somehow they will work out all their differences and achieve utopian tranquility.

This is not a message that is rooted in man, as we so often hear it portrayed from pulpits, in political speeches, and insipid songs such as Let There Be Peace on Earth, And Let It Begin With Me. It is not a song of empty sentiment expressing the false hope that the nations will someday, somehow, be at peace with one another.

God tells us plainly, in Isaiah chapter 48 and again in chapter 57 that "there is no peace for the wicked." Fallen men have no peace with God, so they cannot possibly have peace among themselves. This earth, and mankind on earth - every individual who has ever lived in all of history and has not trusted in Christ for salvation - all of them, and all of this universe, still stand under judgment of the righteous God against sin. And that judgment will inevitably come.

A Threefold Message

But when the Messiah came into this world in a body of flesh, when God the Son lived the perfect life that sinners could not live, when He died the death that they deserved to die, and when He rose from the dead in declaration of the fact that the justification of sinners by grace through faith alone had been purchased in full by the shedding of His blood - when those monumental events happened, the entire cosmic picture changed.

For four thousand years, the sacrificial blood of animals had postponed the inevitable judgment of God, but the blood of bulls and goats could never remove the curse of sin. Only the blood of Christ could. All of the accumulated works of righteousness of sinful man could never destroy the works of the Devil. Only the work of Christ could.

The song of the angels in Luke chapter two is the battle song of an army invading the dominion of Satan, led by their Captain, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is sung thus in Handel's Messiah:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

As we observed earlier, this is not the best rendering of the original language. What they were singing, literally, is this: "In the highest, glory to God; and on earth peace; and in men, good pleasure because of grace." It is a threefold declaration, and it speaks of three different spheres - Heaven, Earth, and the heart of man. What is the significance of this message for the people of God? What is the significance of this message for the world at large?

"In the Highest, Glory to God"

First of all, as the Messiah is born into the world, the angelic army sings, "In the highest, glory to God." Why? Because God had kept His promise to crush the head of the serpent through the seed of the woman. God had kept His promise to destroy the works of the Devil through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

For all the promises of God in Christ are Yes [given in the prophets], and in Him Amen [fulfilled in Jesus], to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Ephesians 1:5 declares that: God has

predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

And so, the angelic message is, "In the highest, glory to God" - because He has kept all of His promises in Jesus Christ. "In the highest, glory to God" - because He has crushed the powerful and bitter enemy of the saints. "In the highest, glory to God" - because of the glory of the grace by which He has made us accepted before Him in Jesus Christ.

Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle (Psalm 24:8).

This is the God whom the angels glorified: God who won the victory for us over the powers of darkness through the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the first great statement of the song of the angels.

"On Earth, Peace"

Secondly, as Christ is born into the world, the angelic army sings, "On earth, peace." We must understand the nature of this peace. This is not a peace treaty between nations that will soon be broken. This is not the empty peace that men seek in false religions, in material possessions, in worldly philosophies, in psychology, or in many other things of this earth.

This is not man making his peace with God. I have sometimes heard preachers extend what they say is a Gospel invitation by saying to people, "Have you made your peace with God?" That is a false invitation. Man cannot make peace with God. God must make peace with man. That is why He sent His Son.

Jesus said in John 14 verse 27, "My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give to you." What is the nature of that peace? Jesus tells us in the verses that precede this great statement. He says that the peace of the Christian is a peace based on knowledge of the truth of God and the Word of God.

This is a peace that comes through the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has been sent by the Father and the Son into the heart of every Christian. "He," Jesus said in John 14:26, "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." That is the nature of peace on this present sin-cursed earth. That is the only way there can be any peace on this earth.

Colossians 1:20 declares that Jesus has "made peace through the blood of His cross." It is because of this that God is able "to reconcile all things to Himself, by [Christ], whether things on earth or things in Heaven..." The ultimate peace of the future New Heavens and New Earth is only possible because Jesus Christ came onto this earth.

"In Men, Good Pleasure Because of Grace"

We come now to the final words of the angelic song. Most Bible translations do not give us the full weight and power of the original. Some translations render it, "goodwill toward men" and others, "peace toward men of goodwill." But in the original language, the statement is much stronger, and would be rendered more literally, "In men, good pleasure because of grace."

Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation enjoy the good pleasure of God because of grace. Our sins have been taken away as far as the east is from the west, our sins and iniquities are remembered against us no more, because of the person and work of the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 tells us that

having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Moreover, we have the great promise of God given to us in Second Thessalonians chapter 1, that just as the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world the first time accompanied by His mighty angels, the day of His second advent is coming,

when the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe... (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

The Song of the Angels is the Song of the Saints

And so, as soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth in the present day, those who are trusting in Him for salvation can truly declare with the angelic army of God, "In the highest, glory to God. On earth, peace - the peace of Jesus Christ. And in men - in the chosen people of God - good pleasure because of grace." The song of the angels of glory is also the song of the saints of God on earth.

That song embodies the Gospel message we are to proclaim to a lost world. God's glory - His perfect holiness, His infinite wisdom, His supreme sovereignty, His creatorship and sustenance of all things. On earth, peace - because man in sin is at war against God, and peace can and will only be restored on God's terms with those who will bow the knee to Him. And in men, good pleasure because of grace - the eternal peace of God extended to those who trust in His gracious provision of the Way of peace: the perfect person, atoning sacrifice, present intercessory work, and future glorious return of Jesus the Messiah.

Next: A Resounding Refutation of Deism

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