“Born a Savior”
Luke 2:1-20
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord – Luke 2:10-11
Way back at the very beginning is the record of Adam’s sin: it was the first of man’s rebellion against God. The consequences were catastrophic. It created a fundamental separation between God and man.
God, who is holy, would now have to relate to the unholy; men and women like you and I. A temporary [and incomplete] reconcile came through the blood sacrifice of animals. It covered sin. However, it could not remove sin.
In Genesis 3, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” These “garments of skin,” were their covering. The taking away came later through the “Seed of woman” [Gen 3:15]. That Seed was Jesus, of Whom we read of His birth in Luke 2:1-20.
Notice, however, that this birth was prophesied back in Gen. 3:15. Scholars call this the protevangelium, a Latin term meaning the first giving of the Gospel. It is Scripture’s first declaration of a Savior. The Savior would be born of a virgin [Isa 7:14] and would come into the world at a precise time in history to save His people from their sins. His name would be Jesus, meaning “God is salvation.”
In Luke 2:1-20 we begin to see the protevangelium fulfilled. An angel of the Lord appears to shepherds in the field and declares, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
In other words, “It was time!” After four hundred years of silence and an entire history of “missing the mark,” Joseph and Mary, and common shepherds welcomed the Savior into the world. It was good news, good news indeed! And God chose to express that good news through simple, common, ordinary, faithful people.
It is the same good news that we have the privilege of sharing today. And God still uses simple, common, ordinary, and faithful people. It begins, however, with receiving it. It is good news for the one who receives Jesus as Savior and Lord.
And that is the important question that must be asked of you this day. Do you know Jesus as Savior and Lord?
