HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS

DECEMBER 2022

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
—Matthew 1:18-21

The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Bible prophecy (Isa. 7:14) and the beginning of God’s redemption plan. Now we understand that the Lord was not born on December 25, but that’s not really important. What is important is that He was born. The verses of my text not only tell us that He was born, but also why He was born. As we look at this text, I am going to start with the last word of Matthew 1:21—sins.

SIN
The cause of all the heartache in the world is sin. The pain, the sickness, the suffering, the hunger, the war, and, ultimately, death is all because of sin. Our nation is divided today because of sin. Sin is so eroding the fabric of our nation that we have criminals who are more valued than victims of crime. We have the vile agenda of transgenderism that is even more sinister than that of the homosexual and lesbian agenda, and it’s all because of sin. There are about fifty million Americans addicted to either gambling, alcohol, or drugs. Why? The reason is sin.
You could either spend hours discussing all that is causing harm to Americans or simply identify the problem in one second by the use of one word—sin.
Sin is the result of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. Their sin was disobedience to the Word of God, and man’s sin today is disobedience to the Word of God.
Acts of sin—and there are many—are really secondary to the great sin, which is refusal to accept Jesus Christ.
Since man could not redeem himself, God had to have a redemption plan, and that is the story of my text.

SHE SHALL BRING FORTH A SON
In this statement, we find the beginning of God’s plan. As man could not redeem man because man is a sinner, God would have to become flesh. Through the miracle of the incarnation, God became flesh and blood in order to be the ransom for man. Man’s debt to God had to be paid; therefore, as it was a man that sinned, it would have to be a man that redeemed. But no man was able because all men are born sinners, so God became flesh (John 1:14).

JESUS
Then the text says, “Thou shalt call His name JESUS.” His very name means “Savior.” In the name Jesus, we find all the attributes of who He is. Jesus is not only our salvation, but He is also our healer, deliverer, baptizer, justifier, and sanctifier. He is our all in all. He is the “I AM.” (John 8:58)

HE SHALL SAVE
In the Greek, the word save is sozo, and it means “salvation from sin.” This is my problem; this is your problem; this is the world’s problem—sin. Notice the Scripture says, “He shall save,” meaning that the church cannot save, religion cannot save, and works cannot save. Only Jesus can save. Therefore, God stepped out of eternity and into time and became flesh—was very God and very man—to die on the cross that we might live and not die.
So this Christmas, don’t let the true meaning of Christmas get lost in all the commercialism that consumes America. Instead, focus on one thing—salvation.
And from our family to yours, Merry Christmas!