A Savior in 16 Words
Which part of Christmas causes you to think about your great need of a deliverance? The decorations? Gifts? Songs? Lights? Food? Parties? Maybe the family traditions?
Christmas American-style is not designed to highlight our need for deliverance, but our wants for lesser things and this can cause you and me to miss one of the central truths of God’s Christmas story: deliverance.
Gabriel told Mary she would be the mother of “the Son of the Most High” and she responded, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:4-47).
The angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream that Mary would bear a Son and “He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).
Again, the angel of the Lord told some stunned shepherds that “in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
The Apostle John reminds us that “the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (I John 4:14).
God’s Christmas message was loud and clear: He sent a “Savior,” One who would deliver us from sin. So, what does this mean? It can be summed up in 16 words:
I need help: My biggest problem according to God is sin, and it requires a divine deliverance (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).
Jesus came to help: God sent a “Savior” who by His perfect life and substitutionary death provided a total deliverance from sin which provides an eternal forgiveness (Col 1:13–14).
I cannot help myself: In my sinful condition, God says I am “helpless” (Rom. 5:6), “dead” (Eph. 2:1), “unable” (Rom. 8:8), “blind” (2 Cor. 4:4), “deceived” (Titus 3:3), “enslaved” (Titus 3:3), “futile” (I Pet 1:18), and a child “of wrath” (Eph. 2:3) to name just a few. In fact, God says, “deliverance by man is in vain” (Psalm 60:11b).
I must accept His help: Deliverance from the ultimate Deliverer isn’t automatic. It requires a willing heart to turn away from sin and to trust in Jesus Christ, the One and only Deliverer (Luke 13:3; John 3:36).
Christmas is about the coming of a Deliverer. Have you been truly delivered by the only “Savior” Jesus Christ? If not, turn from your sin and put your faith in Him alone. If you have, make sure your Christmas is filled with many reflections on your Savior.
Pastor Jeff