God’s Gift of a Savior

KEY VERSE: “The angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” —Luke 2:10,11

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Luke 2:4-20

THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING Jesus’ birth are, in a way, paradoxical. While he was born in a stable, an angel announced his birth. It would be supposed that the birth of one important enough to have it announced by an angel from on high, would first of all have been made known to the religious rulers of Israel; but God chose humble shepherds instead as the ones to whom the angel would proclaim that happy message.

The song in the night sung to the shepherds of Bethlehem’s fields, tells of our Father and the gift of his Son. These are thrilling words for they speak of eventual peace on earth—peace which will be established by God through a great divine king who, though invisible, will be recognized by all as the one born in Bethlehem; who throughout the thirty-three and one-half years of his short life was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; who healed the sick, caused the lame to leap, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear; who wept over the impoverishment of men and their rejection of him; who poured out his life unto death; who voluntarily offered his perfect human life on the cross to ransom us from the power of the grave; who said while he lived on earth, that like as the Father had power to give life, so also he had given the Son power to give life, and because of this, the hour would come “in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth.”—John 5:28,29

Surely a ruler with such power and proven love for man can restore peace to the earth; and so says this prophecy from Isaiah: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God [ruler], the Everlasting Father [lifegiver], the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.”—Isa. 9:6,7

This promise of God to bring peace to the world is yet to come. But it will surely come, because the great gift which he gave nearly two thousand years ago was an expression of his goodwill to have it accomplished! “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13,14) Notice this says goodwill ‘toward’ men, not ‘among’ men. The thought is that through the birth of Jesus, God’s goodwill was being expressed toward men. First, Jesus died to redeem men; and during his second presence he will reign over men to give them peace and life.

The name, Jesus, signifies ‘Savior’. It is the Greek form of Jehoshua, or Joshua. How appropriate is this name when we realize that Jesus came to be the Savior of all mankind—a savior from sin and from its penalty, death. The title “Christ,” as in Jesus Christ, signifies ‘anointed’. Applied to Jesus, it denotes that he is the one sent and authorized by Jehovah to fulfill all the wonderful promises recorded by the Old Testament prophets pertaining to the redemption and restoration of the world from sin and death. “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.” See Acts 3:19-24

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