God So Loved the World...He Promised a Savior

Have you ever made a promise to someone?
How well did you keep your promise?

Has anyone ever promised something to you?
How well did they keep their promise?

We have all made promises that we didn't keep; just as we have all had people make promises to us that were broken.  Fortunately, God is faithful and He keeps EVERY promise that He has ever made.

When Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden God cursed the serpent, then Eve, and then Adam; but in that process He also gave the first promise of a Savior:

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel." -Genesis 3:15

God didn't fulfill that promise right away.  This initial promise was made around 4000 B.C.  Through those 4000 years God continually renewed His covenant (promise) with His people.

From Noah to Abraham to Jacob to Moses to David, and many in between and after.  Even in the final centuries of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah God continued to be faithful to that promise.  The prophet Isaiah foretold of the virgin birth around 700 B.C:

Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign:  "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." -Isaiah 7:14

Then around 4 or 5 B.C., an angel appeared to a lowly maiden.  She was just an ordinary girl.  She would still be among the multitudes of unknown people who have walked the earth before us had God not chosen her to fulfill His promise:

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you."

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." -Luke 1:28-33

So here in the first chapter of Luke we see God finally giving a set time when He would fulfill this promise.  Notice how when he first made the promise He never told anyone when it would be fulfilled.  He just said that it would happen.  For thousands of years, people were saved by their faith in this promise.  They believed  God would send a Savior who would redeem all people from their sins.

For us, we are saved by the faith that Jesus is the Savior; that He has redeemed us from the power of sin, death, and hell.  We no longer have to trust a promise of a future Savior.  That promise has been fulfilled, we just need to believe it.  We just need to believe that Jesus fulfilled that promise exactly as the Bible tells us:

• He was born of a virgin.
• He lived a perfect, sinless life as a real human being.
• He died on the cross to pay the penalty for all sin:  for every sin, of every person, of all time (past, present, and future).
• Jesus conquered death for us on Easter morning when He raised from the dead, in the flesh, and ascended into heaven where He lives and reigns for all eternity.

We no longer await the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Savior, but He has given us a promise that we do look forward to being fulfilled:  Jesus Christ is coming back again to judge the world and to take us to heaven to live and reign with Him for all eternity.  And to that we say, "Come, Lord Jesus!  Amen!"

God bless 

Jason Fredrick