“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people, ‘A light to enlighten the Gentiles,’ and the glory of your people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

Are you ready to die and stand before God, your Maker? Are you at peace with God, knowing that full atonement has been made for your sins? Do you have the assurance that God forgives your sins and accepts you for Jesus’ sake?

Simeon was an old believer who had been waiting for the coming of God’s promised Messiah and Savior. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ (the Lord’s Messiah) with his own eyes. And directed by the Spirit to come into the temple at Jerusalem precisely when Mary and Joseph came to the temple with the baby Jesus, Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and said: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people, ‘A light to enlighten the Gentiles,’ and the glory of your people Israel.”

He had now seen the long-promised Christ Child — God the Son in human flesh — and held Him in his arms. Simeon was now ready to die in peace and face God’s judgment because he knew that His God and Savior had come and that, for the sake of the holy life this Child would live in his stead and for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death this Child would accomplish, atonement would be made for all his sins. Simeon was assured that through faith in Christ Jesus, he was forgiven and acceptable in God’s eyes. He was ready to die in peace, for in Christ Jesus he had a Savior from sin and its eternal punishment!

What about you? Are you ready to die and stand before God, your Maker? Are you at peace with God, knowing your sins are paid for and forgiven for Christ’s sake?

For such confidence, we look to the pages of Holy Scripture, for there we see our Savior and the salvation God has provided for us. There we see Christ’s holy life under God’s law, and there we see His bitter sufferings and death on the cross for our sins and His victorious resurrection. There we see Jesus, our Savior, the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of His people Israel. There, we learn of God’s pardon and forgiveness. There, we learn that, through faith in Christ Jesus, we are not condemned but have God’s pardon and peace and life eternal!

When we look at Christ through the Scriptures and trust in Him, we too can be ready, as Simeon was, to depart this life in peace!

God grant us such faith in Christ Jesus our Savior!

Lord Jesus Christ, let our eyes look upon You through the pages of Holy Scripture, that we too may trust in You and be found ready to depart this life in peace. Revive the weak in faith and strengthen all of us so that we may hold fast to You, our Savior, until You return and grant us and all believers life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible]

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 (Read Luke 2:1-20)

Far more than a quaint story, these verses from Luke, chapter two, describe a historical event which occurred at a real time and in a real place. It happened in the days of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Cyrenius was the governor of Syria.

Though Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, the ancient prophet foretold the birthplace of Messiah to be in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2ff.); and God, in His divine providence, moved Caesar Augustus to take a census at just the right time, making it necessary for Joseph and his espoused wife to be in Bethlehem when the days were fulfilled for Mary to bring forth her firstborn son.

When Messiah Jesus was born and laid in a manger, an angel announced His birth to shepherds living a field nearby and keeping watch over their flock by night. The heavenly messenger brought them good tidings of great joy for all people; for that very day in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior was born, the Messiah, the LORD (Jehovah) Himself in human flesh.

And, as the angel choir said in its hymn of praise, this child brought about peace between God and man and God’s good will toward sinful man. How would this be? Christ Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of God’s holy law for us, and He suffered and died on the cross and paid in full the just punishment for the sins of the world that God might have mercy upon us and graciously forgive our sins when we look to His Son in faith for pardon and peace!

Having heard these things, the shepherds were not content to go back to their work of guarding the flock; they went to see the things of which the angel had told them. And, they found it just as the angel had said. They found Mary and Joseph and, with them, the Christ Child lying in a manger.

Nor did the shepherds keep the good news to themselves; they told everyone — they made known abroad — what the angel had told them concerning this Child born in Bethlehem. Mary herself treasured up the words of the shepherds concerning her Son and pondered them in her heart.

When the shepherds returned to their flock, they were glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, which was just as the angel had told them. They were rejoicing in God’s gift of a Savior who would redeem them and give them a place in God’s eternal kingdom.

Of course, these events in history have great significance for each and every one of us today. God’s own Son was born in Bethlehem on that historic day. His birth is good tidings of great joy to us as well, for He is the long-promised Messiah, the LORD God Himself; and He went to the cross for the sins of the world — for the sins of each of us — and He rose again in victory that each and every one of us might have forgiveness for all our sins and life eternal through faith in Him!

O dearest Jesus, we thank you for coming into this world a true man — that babe born in Bethlehem — and going to the cross to redeem us and make us Your own. Move us to take the time to see, to worship and to spread abroad the good news of Your salvation. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

In Luke 2, we read of the birth of the Christ Child, how it was that He was born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy in Micah 5:2. We are told how He was born, not in the best hotel in Bethlehem, but outdoors, possibly in a stable, and He was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn.”

But what does it all mean?

It is far more than a quaint story of a humble birth. It is the fulfillment of God’s promises, made since the world began. For, in the fullness of time, God kept His promise to send the Seed of the woman who would undo the work of Satan in the Garden (Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:14-17). He fulfilled His word to send the Seed of Abraham, who would bring blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3; 22:18). He fulfilled His word to “redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Ps. 130:8) — to send the One who would suffer and die to bear our iniquities and rise again (Isa. 53, Ps. 22).

“God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law …” God sent His only-begotten Son into the world as a man, born of a woman, to fulfill His promises and redeem mankind from the law’s curse and condemnation. The LORD God Himself took on human flesh and blood and became one of us so that He might take our place under the law and die in our stead, for our sins, and redeem us (cf. John 1:1-5,14; Gal. 3:10-14; Heb. 2:14-17). Jesus Christ did this and rose again in victory on the third day (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-4).

And why did God do all this? “That we might receive the adoption as sons.” So that we, who were condemned by the law and unacceptable to God, might be made acceptable in His sight and be received into His everlasting kingdom as His sons through faith in Jesus’ name (cf. Eph. 1:6-7; Gal. 3:26-29).

Therefore, we rejoice and give thanks this day and always that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary and laid in a manger, that He might go to the cross and redeem us and that we might trust in Him and be adopted as God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus!

We thank and praise You, O God, for the gift of Your dear Son, sent into this world a true man, born of the Virgin Mary and laid in a manger, that He might redeem us from our sins and adopt us as Your own dear children through faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, 70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, 73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: 74 to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. 76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, 78 through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:67-79

In prophetic words, Zacharias, the priest, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of the salvation God was providing in His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and making known through the ministry of his son, John the Baptist.

Jesus, Son of God and descended from David through the Virgin Mary, came into the world as promised from the very beginning. In Jesus, God Himself visited and redeemed His people.

Jesus bore upon the cross the punishment for the sins of the whole world and made atonement for God’s people and all of mankind. He suffered, died, and rose again so that He might set us free from the curse and condemnation of our sins to live for Him and serve Him evermore!

John the Baptist, the son born to Zecharias in his old age, would be the prophet of the Highest, going before the Lord Jesus Christ — Jehovah (Yahweh) God Himself in human flesh — to prepare His ways.

And how was John to prepare the people for the coming of their Lord? He was to give them knowledge of salvation through the remission of their sins. He was to teach them of God’s mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death of God’s Son, the Dayspring (or sunrise) from on high who would visit them. He was to call upon all to repent of their evil ways and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world to obtain mercy and forgiveness. In this way, he would give light to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace with the Lord their God.

People today are still sitting in spiritual darkness and the shadow of death. They do not know the LORD God and His mercy in Christ Jesus and are headed for an eternity of suffering and punishment apart from Him and His lovingkindness. Thus, the ministry of God’s church today, as it prepares for the second coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven, is to give to people in this world knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. The church is to call people to repentance and faith in the Messiah and Savior, for Jesus, God’s own dear Son, came into this world, redeemed all of mankind by suffering and dying on the cross for sin, and rose again on the third day.

Servants of Christ proclaim the law of God so that people might see their sinfulness and the error of their ways, and they make known the good news of God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus so that people might trust in Him alone for eternal salvation. In this way, followers of Jesus continue to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide their feet into the way of peace.

O gracious and merciful God, bring us all to repent of our sinful and erring ways and grant us mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, that Dayspring from on High who has come to visit and redeem us. And, dear Lord Jesus, move us to share with others sitting in darkness and the shadow of death the knowledge of salvation by means of the forgiveness of their sins through faith in You and Your innocent sufferings and death on the cross in their stead. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be since I do not know a man?’” Luke 1:30-34 (Read Luke 1:26-38)

How can this be? Upon hearing the angel Gabriel’s announcement, Mary wondered how she, a virgin, could conceive in her womb and bring forth this Son who would be called “the Son of the Highest” and reign on the throne of His father David forever.

The answer of God’s angel is recorded for us as well: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). By the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit, Mary would both conceive in her womb and give birth to this promised Son while yet being a virgin, “for with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37; cf. Isa. 7:14).

There is another — possibly even greater — “How can this be?” for us to consider. How can it be that God would send His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners like you and me? How can it be that God the Son would come into this world and take on human flesh and blood and then suffer and die on the cross to atone for our sins?

The Bible tells us that “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4,5). Christ Jesus “died for our sins according to the Scriptures … was buried, and … rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3,4).

How can this be? Jesus tells us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

God’s desire for you and me is not to condemn us for our sins and shortcomings but to pardon and forgive us and give us eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all! May God grant you such faith in Christ Jesus!

Dear Father in heaven, we thank You for Your great love for us sinners in sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, a true man, born of the Virgin Mary, that He might redeem us from sin and everlasting punishment and grant us a place with Him in His eternal kingdom. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.]