THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Ever had a brush with someone famous?
- A backstage pass to meet the band.
- A quick handshake at a political rally.
- A celebrity spotting at the airport.
You’ll know if one of your friends has such an encounter—because they’ll tell you! That’s not a big deal at first. But it can be pretty annoying when someone starts dropping names like spare change.
Things are different when we encounter Jesus, though. That’s because Jesus Christ is no mere celebrity. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. While dropping a star’s name is a boastful act, talking about our encounters with Jesus is a gracious act—because everyone has the same opportunity to know Him and follow Him.
God revealed Himself in many ways, one being through His Word. In His Word, we learn about Him. God's fullest self-revelation, of course, was through Jesus Christ - the Word became flesh, fully human and fully divine. Jesus came to declare the great love of God, to bring us salvation, and to make possible a right relationship with God. In Jesus, we truly get to know God. That is the wonderful message to be declared and celebrated on Christmas Day!
We are reminded in this lesson, of the the promises of God's Word that are fulfilled in the coming of Jesus into the world as Savior!
If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please make that profession of faith now, and I promise you that this will be a Christmas to Remember!
The Bible tells us “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
This week of Christmas, we’ll look at two passages that show us why we should tell others the good news about Jesus.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
I. A Word of Promise - Psalm 119:41
41 Let Your faithful love come to me, Lord, Your salvation, as You promised.
The term “faithful love” used in this verse is the covenant love of God. It’s His loyal love—a love that is unconditional, unchanging, and unending. The psalmist knew he couldn’t force this love to come to his way; he could only pray for such a blessing.
The psalmist’s next phrase revealed why he needed God’s love in the first place: salvation. While the word “salvation” has a specific meaning in the New Testament, the Old Testament writers used it more broadly to speak of rescue from trouble or deliverance from distress. Here, the psalmist responded to his difficult circumstances by praying that God, out of His loyal love, would rescue and deliver him from his burdensome situation. The psalmist wasn’t necessarily looking for a miracle or a supernatural experience. He simply asked God to help according to the faithful promises He’d already given. What God promises, whatever He says, will happen.
Now that we have the benefit of the New Testament, we can see that God’s promises about salvation throughout the Scriptures are ultimately about Jesus Christ. Specifically, the Word of God promises that sinners can be saved from eternal punishment through faith in Christ. As John wrote: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is what the Word of God is all about.
It’s important that we understand this truth: all of the Bible points to this message of salvation in Jesus (see Luke 24:27). In fact, the Bible is all about the Lord Jesus Christ—heaven’s wonder, hell’s worry, and humanity’s way out from sin and death into the presence of God.
Some lasting truths from Psalm 119:41...
The Lord if filled with great mercy. The Lord is our salvation. Mercy and salvation have been promised to us in God's Word. The Lord always keeps His word; the promises of the Lord are sure and steadfast.
II. The Word as Flesh - Luke 1:30-33
30 Then the angel told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Hundreds of years after the psalmist wrote Psalm 119, God changed the life of a young woman. This virgin would give birth to a son, the Savior of the world. In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary God’s plan and her role in it.
The angel’s statement made it clear that Mary’s son would be divine—the Son of the living God. But it’s also significant that Gabriel made this statement about a child Mary would bear.
In short, Jesus became one of us. He was divine, yet He was born and lived and died as a human being.
Hebrews 4:15 assures us: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus was tempted in every respect, just as we are; therefore, He can sympathize with our weakness. He knows how we feel when we bear the weight of life’s tests, trials, and temptations—yet He never sinned.
Jesus experienced every aspect of our human nature except our sin nature. If Jesus had committed any sin, He would not be qualified to be our Savior. You cannot be a sinner and Savior at the same time. Jesus is the only true Savior because He lived the perfect life we should have lived before God. As Paul wrote: “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The eternal Son of God became human to be our representative before God. “There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Because of Jesus’ unique status, salvation is found in no one else (see Acts 4:12). Jesus Himself declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
God promised salvation, and He brought it to us when He came to earth as a human baby born to a virgin.
Some lasting truths from Luke 1:30-33...
The Lord's call to salvation and service are according to His grace, not according to our piety or good works. In Jesus, God fulfilled His promises of salvation and the coming of His eternal kingdom. God works in miraculous ways and by His sovereign will to accomplish His purposes. Jesus is God's holy Son, fully human.
III. The Word is Divine - Luke 1:34-35
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”
When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would have a child, she was understandably confused. She was a virgin, after all. “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” Mary didn’t doubt the truth of what God had promised, but she couldn’t fathom how such a thing could happen. The angel explained the core truth of the mystery in verse 35: God would accomplish His will through His power.
The birth of Mary’s child clearly would not be a normal birth. She would conceive the child by “The Holy Spirit” and “the power of the Most High.” The child therefore would “be called the Son of God” because He would be the Incarnation of the living God.
In short, Jesus is God in the flesh.
This unmistakable claim to deity permits no middle ground. Jesus is either a liar who intentionally deceived people or a lunatic who sincerely but mistakenly believed He was God—or else He is exactly who He claimed to be: Lord of all. This is the One we proclaim: Jesus, who is fully man and fully God.
- The one who went to sleep in the back of the boat on the Sea of Galilee was the One who quieted the raging storm (see Mark 4:35-41).
- The one who went to the wedding feast as an invited guest was the One who turned water into wine (see John 2:1-11).
- The one who wept at the tomb of Lazarus, His friend, was the One who raised him from the dead (see John 11:1-44).
Jesus is infinitely more than just a sweet, little baby in a manger whom we celebrate at Christmas. That fully human child was also fully God, and He grew to be a man who brought the ultimate salvation promised in the Old Testament. This salvation isn’t a work of human achievement; it’s a work of divine accomplishment—and a gift to us from God. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift” (Eph. 2:8).
Look back to the prayer offered in Psalm 119:41—“Let Your faithful love come to me, LORD, Your salvation, as You promised.” Isn’t it great to see that God’s faithful love has come to us in the birth of a child? What a blessing to know that Jesus has given us God’s promised salvation.
Here are a couple of lasting truths from Luke 1:34-35...
The Holy Spirit has unlimited power to do that which is beyond our imagination or comprehension. Jesus is God's Son, fully divine.
The psalmist reached out to claim the salvation promise of God. We can too. God brought His promises to completion in Jesus Christ.
"He brought forgiveness and salvation. He established His covenant once and forever. He invites us to be a part of that covenant. He invites us to believe that God has done the impossible. God has opened a path for us to be in constant relationship with His mercy. He invites us to admit our sins, let Him forgive them, and thus know His salvation. He wants to make us holy, separated from the world to serve Him in moral purity."
All this becomes reality to any person who responds in faith and believes in Jesus, "the Son of the Highest" (Luke 1:32). He is the ultimate Word of promise from God who brings salvation.
LIVE IT OUT
How will you allow Jesus to impact your life this week? Consider the following suggestions:
- Accept the gift. Jesus came to earth to give you life. Believe that truth and trust your life in His hands. To know more about how to become a Christian, read the inside front cover of this book and talk to your Bible study leader.
- Live the gift. A life in Christ is a changed life. Pray daily that Jesus would make you more and more like Him. Identify one step you can take to more fully obey His Word.
- Share the gift. Many people are aware of the basic story of Jesus’ birth. Tell them the significance of that event— God came to earth as a man to save us—and lead them to embrace the gift of salvation by faith in Christ.
You don’t need any kind of special access or backstage pass to meet someone famous. You can have a one-on-one connection with Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
Take advantage of that opportunity.
Step 1 – God loves you and has a plan for you!
The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”—a complete life full of purpose (John 10:10).
But here’s the problem:
Step 2 – Man is sinful and separated from God.
We have all done, thought or said bad things, which the Bible calls “sin.” The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The result of sin is death, spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23).
The good news?
Step 3 – God sent His Son to die for your sins!
Jesus died in our place so we could have a relationship with God and be with Him forever.
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
But it didn’t end with His death on the cross. He rose again and still lives!
“Christ died for our sins. … He was buried. … He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6).
Step 4 – Would you like to receive God’s forgiveness?
We can’t earn salvation; we are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness. Then turn from your sins—that’s called repentance. Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. What matters to Him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. May I suggest praying the following prayer to accept Christ as your Savior:
“Dear Lord Jesus,
I know I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Guide my life and help me to do Your will.
In Your name, Amen.”
And so, as Tiny Tim said,
"A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!"
God is, with us!!
In His Love,
David & Susan
