Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “You belong in God’s family.”
In their introduction to the Gospel of Matthew, the editors of “The Mission of God” study Bible wrote this about the birth of Jesus, “The mission of God now bursts onto the world scene with greater clarity and authority than ever before.”
That’s an important statement. The claim is that with the birth of Jesus the mission of God on earth proceeded in a new and more dynamic way. First of all we have to ask, “What is this mission of God?” Well, the angel revealed the answer to that question to Joseph in his dream when he said in Matthew 1:21 that Jesus would save His people from their sins. That has been God’s intent from the moment the first sin was committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. From that moment on, God was on a mission to save His people and the entire Old Testament was leading up to the birth of the Savior.
It has always been God’s mission to save His people from their sins so that they could then join Him in heaven as part of the family of God forever. In various ways God has always made provision for that salvation, even throughout the Old Testament. But the birth of Jesus ushered in the fulfillment of God’s plan – God’s plan not just for the entire human race, but God’s plan for you personally.
John 3:16 tells us, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” That was the primary reason Jesus was sent. Then in Luke 19:10 we read that Jesus went on a hunting expedition to locate those who needed to be saved, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” (He was talking about you.)
And then in 2 Peter 3:9 the Apostle tells us, “The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” This is huge! It means that God refuses to draw His mission to a close because there are still others who need to be saved and He isn’t ready to give up on them.
At Christmastime, as we consider the very reason for Christmas, don’t lose sight of the fact that ultimately the birth of the Christ child was all about God wanting you to be in His family. The birth of Jesus made that possible.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 