Jesus was born to be our Savior. Before His birth an angel said to Joseph, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus was “manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). He gave His life for us (Eph. 5:25); He suffered for us (1 Pet. 3:18); He redeemed us, bought us back, with His blood (Eph. 1:7); He bore our sins in His body (1 Pet. 2:24); He was made to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21); He “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). He did what we could not. When we sinned we died, and had no power to restore life. But God, by His grace, provided for us the prefect sacrifice by which we are reconciled and brought near to our Father (Eph. 2:13; 16). Paul said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). When wrath was owed, goodness was bestowed! “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6) and He became our wrath appeaser (1 John 2:2)!
Imagine being in a place of absolute darkness, a place of sorrowful torment in a burning flame that cannot be quenched. Imagine being there for all eternity. Without Christ, that is the destiny that awaits us all. But, “thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). Peter said we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet. 1:19-20). Before God ever said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3) He knew that we would sin and need to be saved from its consequences. Because of His great love (Eph. 2:4) He provided that solution in the person of His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. Even though He did not embody the human ideal of what a King or Savior should be, He accomplished more than any man could ever dream of. Therefore, we may say with confidence, we “know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).