He Will Save - Matthew 1:19-21

Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. When he had contemplated 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 as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:19-21

Who am I in Christ? I am a saved man. Saved. Not dead anymore. Saved. Not just a little bit. 100% saved.

It’s like when Harvey, our cat, brought a live rabbit into our house one Sunday evening. We took the rabbit out of Harvey’s mouth and set him free behind our house.

The rabbit was saved. 

There are differences though, right?

It was good for the bunny, but it wasn’t a miracle.

See, I was dead in my sin. Now, I am alive unto Christ. That IS a miracle. Now, I am able to live a righteous live, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I need to slow down a minute and think about that. When I say it's a miracle. I'm not using hyperbole. 

The other difference is this: I am forever saved. When Jesus saves, it’s a done deal. The scripture says He has done a good work in me, and He will perfect it (Phil 1:6). Will. 

I am saved. I am His. I matter to Him. He has filled me with the Holy Spirit. He beckons me to talk to Him.

He tells me to let Him know every single thing that I’m dealing with. The good and the difficult. See I can have those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. And I can tell him. Even when it's my own dumb fault. From doing things He told me not to do. 

I miss that sometimes. I forget. I try to do it all myself. I try to climb back into His good graces. I don’t reach out to Him.

Sometimes, I think, He doesn’t want to help me. I’m a pain in the neck. He’s got kings, queens, and presidents to attend to. This is just me having a bad day.

But He wants to hear about it. He makes it clear. In fact, there are few things that are so clear in the bible. 

No matter what's going on. No matter how big a hole I've dug for myself. He is ready. 

It's me that might not be ready. I might be trying to hold something back. Keeping my fingers crossed behind my back. 

I must come hands open. Lord, here I am. All of me. 

He also wants to hear my gratitude. So that means I need to slow down for a minute and think about how good He has been to me.

And He wants me to praise Him. That means to tell Him who He is. I think that's more about me really remembering who I'm talking to. 

So, He’s the creator of every beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. He is responsible for every good thing that’s ever happened to me. He is big, grand, and glorious.

And he wants me to talk to Him. He beckons me. Get over here and talk to Me. 

Joseph, Mary's husband, didn’t know all of this. He knew the woman he was ready to spend his life with was pregnant, and he knew he had not slept with her. 

He laid down to think on it, fell asleep and an angel of the Lord spoke to him and told him the gospel message in a nutshell.

This baby, was God’s son. He was going to save His people from their sins.

Joseph got that one little sliver of the story in that dream. And he trusted God with it. He obeyed. 

Now, Jesus will go on to live, die, rise again, and ascend to be with God the Father.

And save us from our sin. Save me from my sin. So now, I can live with Him, empowered by Him for the rest of my life. And be with Him for eternity.

That's the message of Christmas. 

Lord, I don’t deserve to be one of yours. But you chose me to be yours. Thank you. Thank you for coming to us as a baby, living, dying, and rising again in glory and power. Lord, help me live for you, remembering that I am empowered by you. May I learn to keep that with me all day long. Each and every day. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.