Matthew 1:21 – “He shall save his people from their sins.”
When God created man, he was in an innocent state – not
perfect, because sin was not yet in the world – but innocent, because he had
not yet been tempted. Then when the temptation
came and the woman yielded to the temptation, man made the conscious decision
to commit sin. From that moment on, a
Saviour was needed, for man then fell “short
of the glory of God (Rom 6:23).” God
set the beginnings of salvation in motion when He had to judge man for his
sin. He placed the curse of God on man
and on all His creation. Just as He had
promised when He told man “thou shalt surely die,” man became spiritually dead,
and a saviour was needed to reconcile him to God. Speaking to the serpent, He made a promise to
man that a saviour would indeed come, “And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen 3:15).”
From that time on, the sons of man began looking for the
Messiah. When Eve delivered a manchild,
they were sure that this was the saviour they were promised, so they named him
Cain, “Saying I have gotten a manchild
from the Lord (Gen 4:1).” But he
wasn’t the one promised. He became a murderer. When another son was born, they once again
acknowledged their need of a saviour – they named him Seth, which means “a
substitute needed.” When God called out
Abraham for a chosen people unto himself, He passed to them the knowledge of
their need for a saviour. He promised
His chosen people in the Abrahamic Covenant that the Messiah would come from
the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and then made the same promise to Moses
in the Mosaic Covenant. He gave Moses
the Law, summed up in the Decalogue, which established the ceremony and ritual
of the Jewish religion. In these
ceremonies were hidden pictures, types, and shadows of the eternal Lamb which
would one day come.
The prophets then foretold the coming of the true Messiah;
the psalmists and poets sang of His advent; the bards of Israel directed
the imagination of the people to the incarnation of God among men; but the Jewish
religious leaders got tired of waiting for Him.
So they began making their own way – adding to the law of God – burdening
down the people of God with loads too heavy to bear.
But God was not to let this take the place of His plan. He began to bring about the fulfillment of
His promise from so long ago. He caused
His Son to be born among men – the Lamb of God was now come. “And
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us
(Matt 1:23).” He commanded that they
“call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins (Matt 1:21).”
And in Him was every picture – every type – every shadow – completely
fulfilled. He was perfection in
person. He was the altogether lovely one
of the Canticle. He was God in the flesh
– the God man – the Son of God. He is
the source of our salvation. He came to
die upon a cruel cross and through His blood we are offered the free gift of
salvation.
"Lord, Thank you for one day leaving the glory of heaven - for being born in a lowly stable - for putting on the flesh of man - for enduring the trials of humanity - for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you for salvation. Amen."
