²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ Mat 1:20-21

The name Jesus is the name Yeshua in Hebrew. It means God is salvation. In Biblical times, more than today, names were given for a reason and normally had a powerful and prophetic element to them. The angel told Joseph what his Son’s name was to be and why. “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”. As we mentioned yesterday, the people were in for a massive surprise. All along they were thinking that the said Messaiah was going to save them from a savage Roman empire. Little did they know that the one that they would despise and that would die at the hands of the very empire he is supposed to save them from was right in the middle of the great plan of God to save them all from their sins.

We might be the same today. Perhaps we are so consumed with looking for God to save us from a messy or oppressive political situation. Perhaps we are looking for God to save us from prevailing economic hardship and poverty. But God’s plan has always been greater than that. Jesus is a Saviour and his plan has always been to save men and women from their sins. He is a forgiving Saviour and chooses not to hold our sins against us.

Today, let us do 3 things:
1. Celebrate God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ. Thank him and worship him.
2. Confess any recent sin to God and ask him to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
3. Pray for anyone that you know who needs God’s salvation. Jesus died for them too.

Comments

comments