Monthly Archives: December 2009

  “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

There is a special blessing in the Christmas message that is frequently missed by many.  The birth of Jesus is not simply an interesting fact of history, wholly unrelated to present-day life.  Rather it has direct bearing on your life and mine.  Here’s why.  Something extraordinary happened before Jesus was born.  First, the angel Gabriel came from heaven and announced to Mary that she would bear a child and that the child would be “the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).  Then, sometime later, an angel came to Joseph and told him that Mary’s baby had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and that Joseph must “call his name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21)  Have you ever thought that it was for you that the Savior was born? Did you realize that when God sent His Son into the world, He sent Him to become your Savior?  Listen to the words of the angel who first proclaimed the birth of Jesus: ”I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  (A nativity set in Lulu’s supermarket in Oman on Christmas Eve! I don’t think you would even  find a nativity set in a supermarket in Canada with all the political correctness going on there!)

Jesus did not come to be the inspiration for sacred art.  Nor to be the theme of Christmas songs.  Nor to be a great moral teacher.  No, Jesus came to be the Savior – He was born for me, He was born for you.  How did Jesus become our Savior?  Bound inseparably with Jesus’ birth is the fact of Jesus’ death.  He came to save, and to save He had to die – to die in our place as sinners, to pay the full penalty for our sin, to bear the divine wrath of God that each of us deserves.  Just as Jesus was born personally for you, so also Jesus died personally for you.  What an amazing, personal message of God’s love and grace – a message that likewise calls for our personal response.  The Savior who was born is God’s gift to you – a gift that can only be received by faith, by believing that Jesus was actually born to be your Savior and that He died for your sins.  And because He rose again, He conquered sin and death, and He offers you, and to all who will receive it, the gift of life and joy – here and now, and for all eternity, in the presence of Jesus forever.  Won’t you receive the gift of God this Christmas?  (Adapted from “Christmas Blessing to You” by Dr. Willard M. Aldrich)  The delicious dinner my wife and sister-in-law prepared for Christmas Eve.  I thought about how appropriate it was for them to prepare lamb as Christ was the Passover Lamb the Old Testament pointed towards.  Hard to explain so here‘s a link to explain what I mean. (and another) 

Hope you’re all having a blessed Christmas season!