Today we are looking at the greatest announcement ever
given or heard by the human race! Can you imagine the excitement that was experienced
by everyone in America, and the world for that matter, on May 8, 1945, when the
radios and newspapers announced the news that Germany had surrender, and a few
months later on September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered bringing World War II
to an end. Over 400,000 Americans gave their lives to secure our nation’s
freedom. What a great announcement that brought great rejoicing and excitement to
millions of people of that day.
But my friend, I’m convinced that the greatest announcement
that the world has ever heard was two-thousand years ago in the little town of
Nazareth given by the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl by the name of Mary. The angel
first showed up six months earlier to give a message to Zacharias that he and
his wife Elizabeth would have a son that they would name John, who would be the
forerunner of the Messiah. That was a wonderful announcement for them, but the
announcement to Mary was one that would change the world forever.
In verses 30-31 we read: “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.” The Apostle Paul would later write in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in
the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the
Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”
That the “Mighty God”, stripped of His glory, and still be
glorious in His weakness, by becoming Jesus the “Lowly Child”, in a mystery beyond
comprehension God in measuring the depth of man's sin and his need could only
meet that need by the gift of His only Son. “You shall call His name JESUS.” Jesus
means Savior. As a Savior He saves from our sin, our self and from “this
present evil world”.
Jesus came to save us from sin. Joseph was told by the
angel Matthew 1:20-21,20, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to
you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And
she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save
His people from their sins." Yes,
Jesus came to save us from the defiling and condemning power of sin. Only Jesus
can save us from the guilt and bitterness of sin. Only Jesus can save us from
the love of sin. And only Jesus can save us from penalty of sin which is the
“second death” in the lake of fire for eternity (1 Thess. 1:10; Revelation
20:11-15). Jesus saves from sin by putting Himself between the sinner and his
guilt (Isaiah 53).
Jesus came to save us from self. Galatians 2:20, “I have
been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The
I is to be crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed (Romans
6:6). Self-wisdom, self-effort, and self-righteousness are all enemies from
which we need to be delivered, and from which we are saved when Jesus reigns
within.
And Jesus came to save us from this present evil world. By
being crucified with Christ we are crucified to the world and the world to us
(Galatians 6:14). The Cross of Christ comes between us and our sins, between us
and the flesh, and between us and the world. Did not our Lord pray that we
should be kept from the evil? (John 17:15). Galatians
1:3-5, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.”
Yes, my friend, Jesus is mighty to save! The angel begins
this announcement with the word, “Rejoice”! Are you rejoicing today in
Jesus and His salvation?
God bless!
