THE MISSION OF CHRISTMAS IS IN A NAME -- JESUS
“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21
The name of Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “Jehovah saves.” his very name, Jesus tells us of the mission upon which he came from heaven to earth—to “save His people from their sins.”
Jesus is our Lord's intensely personal name. Have you noticed how difficult it is for some people to say this name, Jesus? They find it much easier to refer to Him as God or Lord or Christ or “the man upstairs.” But there is something about speaking the name of Jesus. Say it now. Out loud. Jesus is His most personal name, and only those who truly know Him in the free pardoning of their sin find it easy to speak His name.
He came to save you from your sins. Open your heart to Him. He said, “I came to seek and to save those who were lost” (Luke 19:10, author’s paraphrase).
CODE WORD: LOST
See that word: lost. Say it again out loud. Without Christ that is what we are-- lost beyond hope, lost beyond time, lost beyond eternity, lost, forever lost. But when we open our hearts to Him, we begin to know Him by His up close and personal name Jesus!
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Jesus, thank you for coming on a mission for the express purpose of saving me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.