“When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.’” [1]
“My times are in Your hands!” Thus wrote the Psalmist in the 31st PSALM. This declaration acknowledges that not only does God give life, but the direction a life may take; and even the concluding events of that life are guided by the unseen hand of the True and Living God. Those living for the world are incapable of making a confession such as this, but such an admission is readily and joyfully voiced by the child of God. And that is especially evident as we witness the joy expressed by an old man when he was permitted to see the Lord’s Anointed One.
God reveals His plans to those who are righteous and devout. He does this through His Word and through His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord, speaking through Amos, makes a startling admission:
“The Lord GOD does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.”
[AMOS 3:7]
And that was what had happened for an old man named Simeon. Doctor Luke informs us, “There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” [LUKE 2:25-26]. Simeon knew what was about to happen, because the Spirit of God had revealed this to him! And he was patiently waiting for God to act.
Nor was Simeon alone that day in recognising Who this child was. We read, “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” [LUKE 2:36-38].
God’s salvation, the coming of the Holy One, the Messiah, was not some secret, hidden affair to be suddenly sprung on an unsuspecting world. The Son of God was sent to Israel, just as God had promised for long centuries. And though His unveiling was delayed, His presence was openly announced by angels, heralded by magi from a distant land who saw the divine announcement displayed in the heavens, believed by a wicked king who moved decisively to kill the Messiah Whom God sent, and recognised by prophets whom God prepared before the child was dedicated in the Temple.
The Messiah, the Son of God, did not walk the dusty trails of Judea in secret. Religious savants knew of His presence even as He taught in their synagogues and in the Temple itself! Even emperors knew of His presence from earliest days. After He had presented Himself to His people, only to be rejected by them, and after He had presented His life as a sacrifice for sinful mankind, and after He had conquered death by rising from the dead, a man whom this Risen Saviour had appointed to tell of His power to forgive sin, was accused by a Roman sycophant of being out of his mind. Dead men don’t come back to life! The man accused of being insane was recognised as an Apostle of the Messiah Who had conquered death.
That Apostle justified his message that the Messiah had broken the bonds of death by appealing to the man then serving as king over the lands in which this Messiah had been born and in which he was judicially murdered. This Apostle boldly defended his message of a Messiah Who defied death by boldly stating, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner” [ACTS 26:25-26]. In effect, this Apostle attested, “You know the truth, because you saw it for yourself!”
God worked throughout the centuries telling all who were willing to hear Him that He was sending His Anointed One Who would offer Himself as a sacrifice for sinful people. Then, when the Anointed One had come, God trumpeted His presence to all who were willing to receive that knowledge. And again, when the promised Messiah was revealed, many people were told of His presence, if only they were willing to receive that revelation. However, the sad truth is revealed in the words recorded by the Apostle of Love, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” [JOHN 1:9-11].
What is more tragic still is that though two millennia have passed since the unveiling of God’s Messiah, those willing to receive Him, those who recognise His presence are no more numerous than ever before. The Christ of Christmas is well nigh forgotten in all the tinsel and festivities of the season. Not much has changed, though centuries have rolled past. And yet, the Son of God still extends His peace to all people who will receive Him.
IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD — “When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Joseph and Mary] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons’” [LUKE 2:22-24].
The text is speaking about the purification ritual that was required for Mary and the child she had recently borne that was required of them to enter the Temple for worship, and to participate in the rituals required of Israelites. Under the Old Covenant, God commanded the people of Israel, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine” [EXODUS 13:2]. Joseph was obedient to the Law; and we are assured that Mary was divinely chosen to bear God’s Son because of her devotion to honour the Lord through obedience to His will. Of course, this young couple would obey not only the letter of the Law, but they would obey the intent of all that God commanded.
Did you take note of the clause, “as it is written in the Law of the Lord?” Joseph and Mary were observant Jews, taking care to fulfil the commands of the LORD as given in the written Word of God. Whenever we see the young couple working to raise the family which the Lord God entrusted to their care, we see them striving to honour the Lord through obedience to His commands. It is essential to acknowledge that obedience to the will of the Lord leads to His blessing, and Joseph and Mary were obedient to the will of the Lord. Have you ever taken note of the times God promises blessing for those who obey Him? Here’s an example given as God is speaking with Abraham after the old patriarch did not attempt to find a way around what must have appeared to be an impossible command. God had commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was prepared to obey the LORD, though God’s command must have seemed way beyond the mark.
When Abraham was prepared to offer up his child, the LORD intervened, and the Angel of the LORD, spoke to Abraham, saying, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” [GENESIS 22:16-18].
Focus on the impact of one man’s obedience—when Abraham obeyed the voice of the LORD all mankind was blessed! What blessings lie before your children and your grandchildren because you are obedient to the command of the Lord? If the obedience of one man could ensure the blessing of an entire world, surely your obedience to the Lord can ensure rich blessings for even those who are yet to be born through your lineage.
I don’t wish to belabour the issue, but as Israel was poised on the cusp of the land the LORD had promised, God spoke through His servant Moses, promising, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known” [DEUTERONOMY 11:26-28].
Obedience to the revealed will of the Lord results in His blessing, and the blessing of God ensures the obedient individual will experience joy, real joy. Among the Proverbs is one which expresses this truth, though the English struggles to capture the power of the underlying Hebrew. The Proverb in question reads as follows,
“When there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but the one who keeps the law, blessed is he!”
[PROVERB 29:18 NET BIBLE 2nd]
The reference to keeping the law could be misleading since we are likely to think that the Wise Man is referring to the Law of Moses. We think this way because we are reading a Proverb that is recorded in the Old Covenant writings. Naturally, we would think that the reference is to the Mosaic Law. However, “the law” in this instance is referring to the Scripture as a concrete form of God’s revelation. Therefore, the Proverb is informing readers that those who keep the revelation of Scripture find God’s blessing. God blesses those who keep the revelation of Scripture. The promise conveyed by this Proverb is that those who know God’s Word, and who keep His Word, are blessed.
That shouldn’t be overly surprising when we recall the promise of God early in the Word and iterated even late in the Word. In DEUTERONOMY 30:16 we read, “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” God is pledged on His Holy Name to bless those who keep His commandments, His statutes, and His rules.
On one occasion when a woman shouted out a blessing on Mary for bearing the Christ into the world, Jesus responded by saying, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” [LUKE 11:28]! Jesus’ response was a somewhat forceful reminder that blessing is given to those deserving of such; and those who hear the Word of God, keeping that Word, are those who are deserving of God’s blessing. You understand, of course, that each of us can be blessed beyond even the blessing showered upon Mary, if we hear the Word of God and keep the Word that He has given.
I believe this matter is sufficiently important to look toward the conclusion of the written Word to see the promised blessings recorded there. The Apocalypse opens with a promise that is germane to this issue. The Revelator writes, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” [REVELATION 1:3]. It seems important that John opened this book with such a blessing and that he closed the book with essentially the same blessing. Listen as the Risen Saviour speaks through His servant to encourage us who believe. “Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” [REVELATION 22:7]. Dear people, we are being encouraged to know the mind of the Lord and to do what He has commanded.
Joseph and Mary are examples to us in this business of obedience to the will of the Lord. There are no small commands given by the Living God. He is a great God, and because He is a great God, His commands are not superfluous. When the Lord speaks, He speaks for our good and for His glory. Therefore, we must hear Him and obey Him so that He may bless us as He has promised to do for obedient souls.
Do you recall the Proverb I cited a short while ago? Let me refresh your memories by citing that Proverb once again.
“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law”
[PROVERB 29:18]
A translator’s note included with PROVERB 29:18 as given in the NET BIBLE informs us, “There is a tendency among commentators and English versions to translate ?????????? (’ashrehu) as “happy is he!” … But ‘happy’ can be a misleading translation. The Hebrew word refers to a heavenly bliss, an inner joy, that comes from knowing one is right with God and experiencing his blessing. ‘Happiness,’ on the other hand, depends on what happens.” God’s divine blessing is in view for those who hold to Scripture. Alternatively, to ignore what Scripture says is to invite chaos, misery, ruin.
SERENDIPITY? OR DIVINE GUIDANCE? Let’s turn from looking at the little family who had brought the child Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord, and focus attention on the old man who seemingly just happens to come into the Temple at precisely the right time to encounter Joseph and Mary with their firstborn child, Jesus. Doctor Luke describes the encounter thusly: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple” [LUKE 2:25-27a].
I suppose it is possible that some might think Simeon’s entrance at that precise moment to be serendipity. It would be easy to ascribe the encounter as happenstance, one of those accidents of time and chance that allowed Simeon to seize the moment. That is the temptation we face in explaining so many events in our daily lives. However, Doctor Luke, no doubt following interviews with Mary, appears to have no doubt as to the reason Simeon happened to be present at that particular moment. Doctor Luke’s language is careful to inform us that “the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Luke continues by noting that Simeon was acting on knowledge that was communicated by the Spirit of God concerning what would take place before he ever saw death. The language is precise, the tenor definite. Moreover, Simeon was noted to be “in the Spirit” at that precise moment as he came into the Temple. Luke is giving readers certainty that what we are reading is not an accidental encounter. Rather, God is directing the events to ensure the outcome.
Have you ever noticed how frequently the Word of God speaks of God directing the path of His servant. For instance, the Psalmist confesses,
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.”
[PSALM 37:23-24]
God is watching where His servant walks, guiding His child and ensuring that the path is clear and the steps of His servant are sure. And as if that were somehow insufficient, God says He is holding the hand of that servant to ensure that he cannot be cast down!
What is witnessed there is but anticipation of the words of the Wise Man when he testifies,
“The righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.”
[PROVERBS 24:16]
What you are witnessing through the Psalmist’s words is a poetic representation of the truth that there are no accidents in the life of the child of God. Serendipity does not figure in the life of the one who follows the Christ. We may ask God to bring things together, but if we belong to Christ, He is always directing our steps so that He is glorified and so that we experience His blessing. This is just as we saw earlier.
When I read the words of that Proverb, just as when I read the words of that Psalm, I cannot help but reflect on the life of the Apostle to the Gentiles. You may recall how Paul spoke of our frailty and what God is accomplishing even with our weakness. Writing the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle testified, “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” [2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-11].
How descriptive of the situation for all the saints who follow the Saviour! Experiencing trouble on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Badly hurt, but not destroyed. What the missionaries experienced is descriptive of life for far too many of the saints of the Most High in our world today. The people of God suffer, sometimes suffering greatly! And yet the Faith continues to expand, and more and more people come to faith in the Risen Lord of Glory. This is because though we are assaulted and assailed in the world, it is evident that the power demonstrated in the lives of God’s people has nothing to do with mortal resilience or mere physical strength. The power witnessed in the life of God’s people, the power witnessed in your own life when you are wounded so deeply you wonder if you will ever heal, is the power infused into your life by the Living God as He holds your hand and ensures that you will not stumble.
Isn’t that the promise we received when the Master was about to ascend into the heavens? The Risen Saviour spoke to His disciples—and that includes all of us who follow Him in this day, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” [MATTHEW 28:18-19]. Then, He appended this comforting promise, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:20]. Our Master is with us always. We who are known by Him are never alone, for He is with us.
The promise we received from the Master as He prepared to ascend is but an iteration of the Shepherd’s Psalm. Listen to the familiar and comforting words given by David so many millennia before this present day.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”
[PSALM 23:1-4]
We witness an emphasis on our Great Shepherd’s leading throughout this Psalm. Our Great Shepherd leads us to lush pastures where we can nourish our souls. He leads us to refreshing waters where we can restore our souls. He leads us in right paths so that we will not besmirch His reputation. God is always watching over us, guiding our steps. Even when we are compelled to walk through the darkest valleys—valleys so deep that little sunlight ever reaches the floor, we traverse these valleys without fear because we know that our Great Shepherd is leading us. The rod and the staff He carries will be wielded in our defense should any beast or situation threaten our security. In life threatening situations, our Great Shepherd is still leading, and we are secure in Him.
God’s Spirit was superintending all that was taking place at that time. The Lord was guiding Simeon, as He had throughout the days leading up to this momentous day. In the same way, the Spirit of our Lord superintends events that seem to swirl about you day-by-day. However much you may feel that life consists of a series of unplanned acts or unrelated happenings, your life is not a series of unconnected events that just happen. Rather, if you have been born from above and into the Family of God, the Living God is now your Father and He has placed His Spirit in you. He is guiding you, ensuring that the events that seem to pop up are orchestrated in such a way that He is glorified and you are being equipped for the tasks that He has assigned.
Drawing the Letter to Hebrew Christians to a conclusion, the writer is giving final admonitions of how these dear souls were to live. He wrote, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” [HEBREWS 13:1-4].
Then, almost as if anticipating life as it is in the western world in 2025, he wrote, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” [HEBREWS 13:5].
It seems well-nigh impossible to keep our lives free from the love of money. Despite the multiple warnings given in the Word, our culture incessantly hammers home the message that the summon bonum of life is the acquisition of things, the accumulation of wealth. One mark of maturity that is to characterise elders is that they are to be men who are free from the love of money [see 1 TIMOTHY 3:3]. Later in that First Letter to Timothy, Paul will focus on contentment, writing, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” [1 TIMOTHY 6:6-10].
The love of wealth can be a deadly snare. Many fine Christians have been lured away from the Faith through an unhealthy desire to acquire just a little more. The Hebrew missive gives us insight into a major means to avoid the trap of pursuing wealth to the point of losing spiritual perspective. The writer admonishes us to use replacement therapy—focus on the presence of the Saviour as a source of rich provision. The presence of the Saviour is of greater worth than all the wealth the world can provide. We would do well to take to heart the words of the Wise Man when he writes,
“A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
[PROVERBS 18:24]
Of course, we who are redeemed know that friend is Christ our Lord.
WHAT SIMEON SAW — “[Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple, and when [Joseph and Mary] brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, [Simeon] took [the child] up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.’”
[LUKE 2:27-32]
Simeon saw the Messiah, God’s Anointed One. The Spirit of God urged Simeon along, driving the old man, as it were, to go into the temple at the precise moment that Joseph and Mary brought the child Jesus into the precincts to fulfil the demands of the Law. Seeing the child, the old saint reached out his arms to take the child from His mother. Then, blessing the Lord, Simeon spoke boldly. I have no doubt that he was prompted by the Spirit of the Lord as he spoke, for he prophesied as he held the child in his arms. What he said revealed that he wasn’t just asking a blessing on the child, for he spoke of what God was doing in giving this child His Being.
Simeon acknowledge that his days on earth were nearing an end; and now, Simeon was confessing that God had done what He had promised. Simeon had been permitted not merely to see God’s Anointed One, but he had been permitted to know Whom he had seen. Simeon had not witnessed the fulfilment of all that God would accomplish in sending His Messiah into this broken world, but the old man realised that God was setting in motion the events that would eventuate in providing redemption for mankind. In short, the old man saw that the child God had sent was not going to be reigning immediately. The child would give His life as a sacrifice for all peoples.
It was as though Simeon was reciting the puzzling words Isaiah had penned long centuries before the Christ was born. Isaiah had written,
“All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.”
[ISAIAH 53:6-9]
We must never lose sight of the truth that the Christ was born to provide a sacrifice for sinful mankind. This is a truth that is too often forgotten, or perhaps deliberately ignored. In the festivities of the season, amidst the frivolity, the levity, the self-indulgence, we are prone to forget that a shadow hung over Mary after Simeon took her babe up in his arms and presented the prophetic words that are recorded in our text.
In my estimate, it is a shame that our observance of the Advent of Christ is separated by several months from our celebration of the Resurrection from the tomb. The birth of the Messiah most probably occurred near the time of the Jewish observance of Passover. The shepherds to whom the angels announced the birth of the Son of God were watching flocks destined for sacrifice during the Passover. And we know from Scripture that the Son of God would present His life as a sacrifice at the time of the Passover. It was not Jewish custom at that time to celebrate birthdays. Had that been the case, Jesus of Nazareth quite possibly was crucified near the date His birth would have been celebrated. Here is what must not be forgotten—the purpose of Christmas, the reason for the first advent of the Christ, is so He could provide a sacrifice for all mankind!
Simeon, prompted by God’s Spirit, exulted that in looking upon the Messiah he was given opportunity to see God’s salvation. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the event is of greater importance than the Person. Salvation is in the Person of Christ. We don’t look to a figure on a cross to deliver us from eternal condemnation. Yes, Christ the Lord offered His life as a sacrifice, but we must not forget that salvation is in a living Saviour. Jesus, the Son of God, gave His life as atonement, but He conquered death, rising from the dead.
We may have thought that Simeon would speak of having seen the Anointed One, God’s Messiah. Instead, he spoke of having seen God’s salvation. And being Jewish, we might have thought the old man would speak of the restoration of Israel. However, Simeon spoke of God’s salvation prepared in the sight of all peoples. He specifically spoke of a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and how that light would be for glory to Israel, the people whom God had chosen for His own. Simeon, prompted by the Spirit of the Lord, looked beyond what any mere mortal could see to tell how this child would ensure life and liberty for all who would receive it.
Simeon lifted his voice praising God for permitting him to see the Anointed One Whom God had sent. The Anointed One was to reign over David’s throne, delivering mankind from the curse of sin. Having praised God for permitting him to see the long-promised Messiah, the old man was by no means finished. The Spirit of the Lord was energising Simeon to speak, and thus energised he blessed Joseph and Mary, no doubt for their faith to believe what God had said. Then, fixing his attention on Mary, Simeon no doubt surprised her as he continued to prophesy, saying, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” [LUKE 2:34-35].
When Simeon spoke, my ancestors were roaming the dark forests of Germany and hills awash in the brilliant hues of heather adorning Scotland. My ancestors were drinking the blood of their enemies out of their skulls, warring with neighbouring tribes, and savagely attacking those who offended them. Paul accurately describes the condition of my ancestors when he writes, “We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” [TITUS 3:3].
I am so grateful that God did not leave my ancestors in that state. The Apostle quickly transitioned from the dark description to point to the light that was shed on us Gentiles when he wrote, “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” [TITUS 3:4-7].
The transition from darkness to light is seen again when the Apostle writes, “Remember that [as Gentiles] you were … separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace” [EPHESIANS 2:11-14a]. What a dismal, though accurate, description of what the world is without the provision made when God sent His Son into the world.
Christmas is the reason for Good Friday. Without the Advent of the Son of God, there would be no sacrifice for sin. And without the sacrifice of God’s own Son, there would be no atonement for sin. There would be no Easter if there was no Christmas. But God did send His Son. And old Simeon was permitted to see what God was doing. And before ever the Christ would surrender His life for sinful mankind, we are enabled to witness a prophetic word telling of what the Lord was doing.
The message we bring to all who will receive it is that Christ did die for our sin. He did not stay buried in the tomb. The Son of God broke the bonds of death, coming forth from the tomb to offer life to all who will receive it. Therefore, God offers to all people, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. Amen.
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