A Joyful Message

Each word of this text has a wonderful, rich meaning. Let us begin with the word Savior, a word which is the marrow of the Christ - mas message. There is a Savior. There is One who is able to deliver from the greatest evil and bring unto the highest good. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Sinners are people who are dead in trespasses and sins. They cannot do anything else and do not want to do anything else than what is evil in the sight of a holy and just God. Deep in their hearts they are enemies of God and of God's salvation.

What an unspeakable wonder that for such sinners there was an eternal covenant, and Jesus in the covenant bound Himself to leave His heavenly throne to come upon this sin-cursed earth, that He might obtain salvation. More than that, He might also apply it so that such sinners might be saved. Perhaps you are asking, "But how will that take place?" The Savior will then arrest the sinner. There the sinner will be stopped; his eyes will be opened, and through those opened eyes he will see how great his sins are and how polluted he is. Now that Savior will awaken in his heart a crying, a sorrowing for something from heaven. The cry wells up in this sinner's heart, "O God, be merciful unto me, a sinner." But the Savior will also reveal Himself unto him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Is this then not a rich gospel that there is a Savior who can save such lost, hell-worthy sinners? Oh, how precious He becomes when the eye of the sinner may now see Him as the only Savior. There is only one, and if we are never saved by this only Savior, we will never be saved, because outside this Savior there is not another. But, oh, how that proud, high-minded man fights against this only way.

Can I then bring nothing? Can nothing of me be added? Oh, a helping Jesus we do not mind, but a Jesus who does everything and cannot receive anything from me is an offense to me. Such a Jesus receives value for those who have come to know themselves as lost sinners, for those who have learned that their righteousnesses are nothing but filthy rags. Do we then say too much when we say that for such people He becomes precious?

What a joyful message when in the preaching they may hear that this Savior is born! That one word, "born," says so much. Born means that He became like unto His brethren, taking unto Himself a human nature. This was necessary so that He could save sinners. To be able to pay for sinners, He had to become one of the human race. How tenderly the Lord makes known His birth in His Word! We read of the Holy Ghost and of a virgin whose name was Mary. Oh, there the Lord makes known how the Savior was born. He was the holy One who came to save sinners. He came without sin, sent unto sinners. Oh, in looking upon Him, salvation became possible for the greatest of sinners.

Perhaps you know what it is when sin is like a mountain which becomes higher as the days go by. Perhaps you know what it is to cry, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Perhaps you know what it is to long for a small token of His favor or to long to know more about Him. The Bible says that He is the great, wonderful Physician, and that with Him there is balm for the most grievous wounds. But when you may see the greatness of the words "unto you is born," think also of the words "this day," because the angel announced, "Unto you is born this day." Have these words, "this day," still meaning for us? This happened so many years ago that Christ was born. Certainly, the actual birth of Christ lies far back in history, but also today there is a born Savior, a living Christ. It is true, He was born only once, but the blessing of that coming and the grace because of that coming are, and will always be, the same. Therefore today you may hear the same gospel preached as it was unto the shepherds the night of His birth, namely, that for guilty, hell-worthy sinners a Savior was born. That is why we may say today, "When you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. This is the acceptable time, this is the day of salvation."

No, then we have not a Jesus who was once born long ago, but a Jesus who yesterday, today, and unto all eternity is the same. This means that today He is the same as He was so many years ago. Also today He is willing to walk among us, clothed upon with His Word; also today He can stretch forth His hands and say, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Today He also comes and awakens sinners dead in trespasses and sins, so that sinners may come to a new spiritual life.

Oh, that we may examine our hearts to see whether He has ever come to us. In this examination we must remember that we can have so much and yet miss everything. May we then also stand still a moment with the thought that for us this day will soon be past. Does the Lord not admonish us that the days of our life will soon come to an end? Are we not rapidly going towards the great and all-decisive eternity? Oh, that we would hear His voice today when He comes clothed with His blessed Word, saying, "Today, when you hear My voice, harden not your heart." May we experience and understand His knocking upon the door of our hearts, saying, "Turn ye unto Me, for why would ye be lost?"

The angel said, "Unto you." How wonderfully personal that becomes. No, then He did not come for everyone, nor for all those who are baptized or are faithful church attendees. Many who attend church would not know what to do with Jesus. They do not understand the depth of this wonderful gospel message pertaining to the coming of Christ. But who are they then who are happy with the great Physician? They are the ones who go bowed down over the world because of the deadly disease that they carry within their hearts. Who are the ones that are happy with the message of the angel? They are those who may know themselves as wretched, guilty sinners. They are people who have no God for their soul, and in their heart there is a living experience that they cannot miss this God anymore. They are people who do not know the way back unto communion with this God

Are you one of those people? There is a message for you. "Unto you is born a Savior." No, He did not come for righteous people. He Himself promised, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Oh, upon hearing this announcement, that we would leave everything behind and come to Bethlehem to find Him, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. That this Christmas may be for those who walk with that burden of guilt, having no God for their soul, and unable to die. "Lord, take me by heart and hand, and lead me upon that way where the Child of Bethlehem is placed by the Father to be for such a people the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

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