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Session 5
Devotional
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14).
Merry Christmas! Is there something that reminds you of your hope in Christ? For me, it’s jacaranda trees. I was teaching in inner-city Los Angeles in 1992, when riots broke out. Much of the area near my school was looted and burned. Windows were shattered. Destruction was everywhere. But on the day I returned to work, I turned the corner to my school, and there in the midst of boarded windows and charred store fronts, was a line of jacaranda trees covered in the most gorgeous purple blooms I had ever seen. It took my breath away. The juxtaposition of devastation and profound beauty made no sense. But looking at those trees, I knew there was something beyond the darkness we had just been through. There was hope. Jesus came into a world that had suffered devastation for thousands of years. But on that Christmas day, when the angel announced to the shepherds that a Savior had been born, God was providing something beautiful beyond the devastation. And unlike a jacaranda tree, Jesus wasn’t just a symbol of hope. He was the Savior of the world! The Messiah’s coming had been prophesied in the Old Testament ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. At that time, God could have been done with us, but he wasn’t willing to let us remain in our sin. He loved us too much. And so, on that Christmas morning, he gave us Jesus to be our salvation. Thirdmill’s lesson on The Gospel According to Luke, defines the term “salvation” as:Deliverance from the tyranny of evil and from God’s judgment against sin.
As Christians, we like to say that we’ve been saved, but we sometimes miss the reality of what we’ve been saved from. Jesus didn’t die on a cross just to make us a little nicer and a little more comfortable. He died to rescue us from the tyranny of evil and from God’s judgment. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And Isaiah 59:2 tells us, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you.” When we sin, we become slaves to the tyranny of evil—to the oppressive cruelty of a power we cannot defeat. It owns us. We deserve God’s righteous judgment, and there is nothing we can do on our own to avoid it. In our sin, we are those burnt out store fronts. We are those broken and boarded up windows. We are completely incapable of rescuing ourselves. But God can. The apostle John tells us, “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). God’s incalculable, profound love for us led him to send his own Son to be born into a world devastated by sin. His Son lived a perfect life—resisting temptation, healing brokenness, proclaiming liberty, enduring betrayal and cruelty from people he loved, and dying in our place so that we could have our relationship with God restored. He defeated the tyranny of evil and took God’s judgment on himself. This is what we are saved from. This is why we celebrate Christmas. So, today remember what the angel announced to the shepherds: You do not need to be afraid. The good news of great joy is for all of us. Just as God planned, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! Today we celebrate the One who saved us from the darkness and gave us beauty in its place.Watch
Personal Application
- Read the Christmas story in Luke 2:1-40.
- Consider what you have been saved from. Where or who do you think you might be if Jesus hadn’t saved you?
- Spend some time with God today, thanking him not just for Jesus’ birth but also for the extraordinary salvation he brought you in Christ’s life, death and resurrection.