3 truths that help us rejoice in Jesus’ fulfillment of saving his people
I. The Name “Jesus” Reminds Us of God’s Salvation Ministry
Matthew 1:21 - She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
A. Jesus’ ministry is Yahweh’s ministry (Mark 1:1-3)
Mark 1:1 - The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”
Matthew 3:3 - For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!’”
B. Yahweh’s ministry is salvation (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Isaiah 40:1-2, 10-11 - “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed…Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Acts 4:8 - Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead – by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
II. Jesus Saves People from Their Sins
Matthew 1:21 - She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
Psalm 130:1-8 - Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
A. Everyone is or was a sinner
Romans 3:23 - …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
B. Sin’s consequence is eternity in hell away from Jesus, but salvation is freedom to serve and live
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
C. No one can save themselves from sin
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
III. Jesus Creates a People in the Saving Process
Matthew 1:21 - She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
A. His people means that they belong to Messiah
John 1:12 - But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
B. Salvation belonged first to the Jews
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
C. Salvation extended to the Gentiles (that is us)
Matthew 3:9 - …and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
Matthew 8:11 - I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Titus 2:13-14 - …looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of bour great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.