A Savior Has Come

Christmas is an amazing time of the year. Christmas carols, candles glowing, Christmas trees twinkle, and the laughter and joy that makes this time so special to us all. However your family celebrates this wonderful season, one thing is for certain…if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, it’s a time when you pay special attention to Him…His birth and the reason He came to this sin-filled world. For even though He came as a helpless baby…His purpose was to die so that we might be reconciled to the Father through Him.

At this time of the year I love to go over the Biblical accounts of His birth and I try to imagine what it would have been like back then. I usually enjoy reading Luke’s account of His birth, and I am always fascinated when I come to the part about the shepherds in the field “watching their flock by night”. There they were just going through their normal routine, and then chapter 2 verses 8-12 records that an angel appeared to them and announced the birth of the Savior…and then as I read on in verses 13 and 14 a wonderful thing took place. Luke describes it this way, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” I try to envision how they must have felt as they stood there in that open field, and as far as their eyes could see in either direction, the skies were full of angelic beings shouting praises to the New Born King. What an awesome sight it must have been. I love that story.

But today, I was reading in Matthew’s account of his birth, and what a different story Matthew describes. He first begins his gospel by describing to us the genealogy of Christ beginning with Abraham 14 generations until King David; and from David until the Babylonian capture, another 14 generations; and then from the Babylonian capture until Christ was born was yet another 14 generations. Matthew seems intent on proving to his readers that Jesus IS the long awaited Messiah and also that His birth fulfilled every prophecy in minute detail. 

You know, sometimes I wonder if I had lived back then if I would have recognized Jesus when He came. In reading through the scriptures, it could have been a bit confusing. In Matthew chapter 1 verse 23 we see that prophecy was fulfilled as spoken by the Prophet Isaiah when Matthew wrote “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” But the most confusing prophecies of all would have been concerning His origin. In Micah 5:2 we find this piece of the puzzle: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” So we see that He was to come out of Bethlehem, just as the wise men told King Herod. But then Matthew points out that in Micah 11:1 we also have this prophecy fulfilled when Joseph took the child and fled to Egypt: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.” And then to make things even more confusing, Matthew also brings to our attention that according to the prophets of old, Jesus was to be called a Nazarene. So yes, it is understandable how reading from Old Testament prophecies the people could have been confused concerning the birth of Christ, but in truth, He fulfilled them all. 

But I believe that all it would have taken for me to know Who He was, would have been to watch His life. From the time he was a young boy, there was something special about Jesus. As He stood in the Temple that day astounding the religious leaders, and to watch how much He loved the children. When He talked about the Kingdom of Heaven and His Heavenly Father…ah…there was something very, very special about this Man Jesus. There was such peace in His countenance…such love in His eyes. How could this be anyone else besides the One they had waited for so long? As He spoke that day on the mountain, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:3-5) No one had ever spoken with such power and authority…yet also with such kindness and compassion before. And who could forget that day when He walked up to the tomb where Lazarus had lain dead for 4 days? All it took was for Him to command the dead to live, and His friend Lazarus rose and came out of that grave. Surely everyone should have known who He was by this time. As they watched Him heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead…would I have known this was Jesus? Would you?

The Disciples knew it…Peter proclaimed this truth when He declared in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The veil over his eyes had been lifted and he recognized that Jesus, the Son of God, had come in the flesh to set His people free. But even though they walked with Him and talked with Him and saw all the evidence…most of the people did not know who He was.

But let me ask you this…with all the evidence we have and with all the truth that’s laid out before us…Do YOU truly recognize this Man Named Jesus? Do you REALLY KNOW Him?

Because unless we see Christmas as more than a nice time to celebrate and to give gifts to our friends and loved ones, then we have missed the whole purpose that we celebrate. Because, you see, unless we realize who He is and why He came, we may be lost for all eternity. We need to understand that there is even more to the story than the virgin birth of the Christ-child, there is also the cruel death of Christ, the Son of God for the remission of our sins.

My least favorite thing to talk about during such a beautiful time of year is sin…but unless we talk about sin, then we miss the whole point of Christmas. You see, Romans 3:23 makes it clear that every single one of us, since Adam and Eve, was born in sin…it says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”…that is everyone except Jesus. He was born sinless, He lived a sinless life and He was innocently punished to pay the penalty for our guilt. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages (or the penalty) of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So Jesus was crucified in our place and because of our sins. The Innocent One paid the price for the guilty to be free. And the story doesn’t end there. After 3 days, He then arose from the grave, guaranteeing us life with Him forever. He appeared to more than 500 people at that time, and many eyewitnesses shared what they saw. Then He ascended back to Heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us there.

Jesus did this for one reason and one reason only. John 3:16 is probably the most beloved scripture in the Bible and it tells us that reason. It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, God wanted to have a relationship with you and with me and so He offers us this free gift, but it cost the life of His own dear Son.

And so I want to ask you today, have you received the Gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. If you have never received Christ as your Savior I would like to tell you about the most precious gift you could ever imagine for this Christmas…I would like to invite you to receive forgiveness of your sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) If you would like to do that today my Friend, then God would have you to first recognize that you are a sinner. And then He would have you to repent, or desire to turn away from your sins so that you can have a new life. And if you will do this, then God has promised that He will send His Holy Spirit to help you and to guide you so that you can begin to live the life that He created you to live for Him. If you are ready in your heart to repent of your sins and receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, then I would ask you to pray this prayer with me. 

Prayer: Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. Please forgive my sins and help me to live the rest of my life for you. Come into my life and make me a new person…help me to become the person You created me to be. Thank You for dying on the cross to forgive my sins, and thank You for rising again to new life so that I can have eternal life with You. Thank You Lord for all You have done for me. Amen.

Now if you truly meant that prayer from your heart you are NOW a child of God and you can look forward to spending eternity with Him. Congratulations…and the Bible says that Angels in Heaven are rejoicing right now…and I also rejoice with you. God bless you and Have a Jesus-filled day and Christmas season!