Unto Us A Child Is Born, Fine Art Print
Unto Us A Child Is Born, Fine Art Print
Unto Us A Child Is Born
Handel’s Messiah was the sound of Christmas in my home as a child. This music, with lyrics extracted directly from the Bible, distilled upon my heart the true promise of Christ coming to save a fallen world.
In 1741 George Friedrich Handel was 56 years old and facing bankruptcy. Most esteemed him as a washed-up has-been. He went from one failure to the next, his earlier successes in the distant past. Now, he was facing debtors' prison.
Charles Jennens Jr., a devout Christian, had compiled a collection of scripture from the Old and New Testament that testified of Christ. The elite were leaving Christianity for Deism. Jennens wanted to stand up for Christ and lead others back to the Messiah. Because Jennens was an admirer of Handel’s work, he gave his manuscript to Handel.
Handel had been commissioned to write music for a charity event in Dublin. He took the scriptures Jennens had compiled and went to work. Handel wrote “The Messiah” in 24 days, and it is said that during that time he barely ate. After he finished writing the Hallelujah Chorus, he had tears in his eyes and cried out, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” The Messiah debuted in Dublin in 1742 at a charity event. A source records that 142 men were freed from debtors' prison from the proceeds of the concert. Handel would also be freed from the threat of debtors' prison by the Messiah.
Of his audience, Handel said, “I should be sorry if I only entertained them. I wish to make them better.”
Handel’s riveting music immortalized the description of the Savior in Isaiah 9:6 says:
"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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Just as the strains of impactful music can touch the hearts of the young and old, having art of the Savior in your home offers the opportunity to tell the greatest story ever told and how that story continues in our personal lives.
“Unto Us A Child is Born,” captures the tender moments after the sacred birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ came to earth to live as a man and to atone for the sins of mankind, we all have the promise of everlasting life and freedom from the prison of death and hell.
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