A SAVIOR IS BORN - THE REST OF THE STORY

The Jews expected a coming DELIVERER known as the Christ. They expected a coming political Savior. They expected a coming military Deliverer. They even expected a coming spiritual Savior. On the night of Christ's birth the angel announced "good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." This great news was that a Savior was born (Lk. 2:10-11).

But the HOW He would save remained a mystery. The angel informed Joseph that he was to call "His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Mt. 1:21). But exactly HOW He would do this was an enigma. The removal of sin by the Messiah was expected but HOW Jesus would do it was UNEXPECTED. How exactly would the Savior save?

The truth of a coming Savior in the OT was abundantly prophesied. Isaiah 53 has been called “the heart of all gospel vocabulary”. The details in this prophecy are so minute and so complex that only God could have known about them centuries in advance and then unfolded them in history. Isaiah 53 contains the most complete description of the substitutionary, vicarious, sacrificial death of the Messiah in all of the Bible. Note these descriptions...

*Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows - v. 4
*He was wounded for our transgressions - v. 5
*He was bruised for our iniquities - v. 5
*The chastisement for our peace was upon Him - v. 5
*By His stripes we are healed - v. 6
*The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all - v. 6
*He was oppressed and He was afflicted - v. 7
*He was led as a lamb to the slaughter - v. 7
*He was cut off from the land of the living - v. 8
*For the transgressions of My people He was stricken - v. 8
*You make His soul an offering for sin - v. 10
*He shall bear their iniquities - v. 11
*He poured out His soul unto death - v. 12
*He bore the sin of many - v. 12
*Made intercession for the transgressors - v. 12

That is an amazing detailed description, but of WHAT exactly? Well, of course - of the CROSS! Yes, we know this because we have hindsight and we see the truth of the CROSS fulfilled perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. But if you didn't have the advantage of New Testament revelation you might look at Isaiah 53 and see the magnitude of the suffering and death involved, but exactly HOW it would come about on a Roman CROSS would not have been readily known. The truth of the CROSS is the rest of the story! It is revealed in the GOSPELS of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and in the rest of the NT Scriptures.

Jesus was born to be the Savior and to deliver His people from their sins but the EXACT manner in which He would do this was somewhat veiled in the Old Testament. It was there but as Paul says Christ "has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel". The gospel of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection was in the Old Testament Scriptures (see 1 Cor. 15:3-4), but it comes "to light" in New Testament Revelation in a way never seen before. It is New Testament Revelation that puts all the pieces of the prophetic puzzle together and matches them ALL up perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. As Peter said of Christ, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24).

Yes, Christ was born to be the Savior! But the rest of the story is that this was accomplished in Him dying for our sins on a cross, being buried, and then rising again the third day from the dead. The WHOLE story fits together PERFECTLY in the historical person of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled ALL the prophetic details of the Messiah's death given in Isaiah 700 years in advance! The Bible is a book of two parts: We have the prophetic part, and we have the fulfilled part. In the person of Christ we have the WHOLE story! It's all about Him! Good tidings of GREAT JOY for all people! A Savior was born who is Christ the Lord!

One more important thing: Yes, Jesus is the Savior, but only of those who BELIEVE on His name (who He is as Lord and Savior).

John 1:11–13 (NKJV)
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Merry Christmas!

A SAVIOR IS BORN - THE REST OF THE STORY

The Jews expected a coming DELIVERER known as the Christ. They expected a coming political Savior. They expected a coming military Deliverer. They even expected a coming spiritual Savior. On the night of Christ's birth the angel announced "good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." This great news was that a Savior was born (Lk. 2:10-11). But the HOW He would save remained a mystery. The angel informed Joseph that he was to call "His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Mt. 1:21). But exactly HOW He would do this was an enigma. The removal of sin by the Messiah was expected but HOW Jesus would do it was UNEXPECTED. How exactly would the Savior save?

The truth of a coming Savior in the OT was abundantly prophesied. Isaiah 53 has been called “the heart of all gospel vocabulary”. The details in this prophecy are so minute and so complex that only God could have known about them centuries in advance and then unfolded them in history. Isaiah 53 contains the most complete description of the substitutionary, vicarious, sacrificial death of the Messiah in all of the Bible. Note these descriptions...

*Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows - v. 4
*He was wounded for our transgressions - v. 5
*He was bruised for our iniquities - v. 5
*The chastisement for our peace was upon Him - v. 5
*By His stripes we are healed - v. 6
*The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all - v. 6
*He was oppressed and He was afflicted - v. 7
*He was led as a lamb to the slaughter - v. 7
*He was cut off from the land of the living - v. 8
*For the transgressions of My people He was stricken - v. 8
*You make His soul an offering for sin - v. 10
*He shall bear their iniquities - v. 11
*He poured out His soul unto death - v. 12
*He bore the sin of many - v. 12
*Made intercession for the transgressors - v. 12

That is an amazing description, but of WHAT exactly? Well, of course the CROSS! Yes, we know this because we have hindsight and we see the truth of the CROSS fulfilled perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. But if you didn't have the advantage of New Testament revelation you might look at Isaiah 53 and see the magnitude of the suffering and death involved, but exactly HOW it would come about on a Roman CROSS would not have been known. The truth of the CROSS is the rest of the story!

Jesus was born to be the Savior and to deliver His people from their sins but the EXACT manner in which He would do this was veiled in the Old Testament. It was there but as Paul says Christ "has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel". The gospel of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection was in the Old Testament Scriptures (see 1 Cor. 15:3-4), but it comes "to light" in New Testament Revelation in a way never seen before. It is New Testament Revelation that puts all the pieces of the puzzle together and matches them ALL up perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. As Peter said of Christ, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24).

Yes, Christ was born to be the Savior! But the rest of the story is that this was accomplished in Him dying for our sins on the cross, being buried, and then rising again the third day from the dead. The WHOLE story fits together PERFECTLY in the historical person of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled ALL the prophetic details of the Messiah's death given in Isaiah 700 years in advance! The Bible is a book of two parts: We have the prophetic part, and we have the fulfilled part. In the person of Christ we have the WHOLE story! It's all about Him! Good tidings of GREAT JOY for all people! A Savior was born who is Christ the Lord!

Merry Christmas!