Jesus: The Deliverer Of Hope - Part 1 of 3

Jesus: The Deliverer Of Hope - Part 1 of 3

Thanksgiving is over and our hearts and minds now turn to Christmas. It’s time to talk about what that means. This is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of a baby in a small town in the tiny Mediterranean nation of Judea.

Shepherds were in the fields that night, completely unaware of what was happening nearby in a dirty, unremarkable manger. A pregnant woman and her husband had been forced to find shelter there and as the young lady rested among the animals, sharing their hay, she would begin to experience the pains of labor and childbirth.

In the middle of the night, quietly and unspectacularly, a baby boy was born and the world was given another life. This new life would last just 33 years before He would die at the hands of those who controlled the power and wealth. His birth and death would teach others that hope is not found in those things. Power and wealth are found in castles, but this baby was a child of hope, not power.

Why a manger of all places? Why such a humble beginning in such a remote place? His name - Jesus - gives us a clue. His name comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to save.” You see, He was a Deliverer.

If the greatest need of humanity had been for more information, God would have sent us an educator. If we had needed a legal expert, He would have sent us a politician. If our greatest need was for technology we would have been given a scientist. If it was wealth or power He would have sent us a banker or a soldier.

But our greatest need was none of those things. What we needed was forgiveness and that required a Deliverer. We call that kind of a Deliverer “Our Savior”.

Continued tomorrow morning.