HOPE OF ALL THE EARTH
He Will Save His People
December 16, 2025
SCRIPTURE
MATTHEW 1:21
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
MATTHEW 1:21
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
By this point in Advent, expectations are reaching an explosive point in many homes. Excitement is building as certain family members watch the calendar with feverish intensity. We just can't wait for Christmas to finally arrive! The waiting seems to have gone on for an eternity—we've had to exert superhuman patience as one day crawls into another.
The people of God in Scripture could relate. As year merged into decade merged into century, Messiah still hadn't arrived. This hero who would change everything, who would set everything straight and make everything right, this figure prophesied and expected literally from moments after the fall in Eden, still hadn't arrived.
Expectations were varied. Some expected a warlord in the mould of David—a conqueror who would drive out the Romans and restore Israel to its place of glory. Others imagined a priest-king or a custodian of the Mosaic law—someone who would perfectly fulfil all the legal requirements of righteousness. Still others envisaged some mysterious figure emerging out of nowhere, or a herald of the end of all things.
In truth, when Messiah came, he was unlike anything most people expected, but hr was everything that everyone needed. H e didn't come to do anything as trivial as secure a military conquest; he didn't come with fire and brimstone; he didn't take the throne in Jerusalem and usher in religious reform—a truth worth remembering in an age when Christians are tempted to rely on legislation and legislators to usher in the kingdom.
No, when Messiah finally came, he came to accomplish that which was most desperately and urgently needed. He came to do the work that no one else could do but that everyone, everywhere, painfully needed. He came to win the only victory that mattered and to defeat the only Enemy that counts.
Jesus came to save his people from their sins.
Note, he didn't just come to save us in our sins; he didn't save us to go back to our sins or to go on in our sins. No, he came to do a work so complete, so perfect, so once-and-for-all that those who trust in him and walk with him along the way can be saved, utterly and completely, from their sins. So that we can be saved from the power and dominion of sin right here and right now, no longer living as enslaved, as Christ warns in John 8:34, but can instead be truly, fully free.
The name "Jesus" is from the same Hebrew root as "Joshua," which can help us understand just how complete is the victory he has won for us. Like Joshua, Christ came to lead his people into the inheritance promised to us so long ago. He came to triumph fully over enemies far too big and far too strong for us to handle. He came to tear down walls and drive out that which would destroy us, and he asks us to choose for ourselves, even this very day, whom we will serve.
Christ brings us the joy of a victory we could never achieve for our-selves; the joy of a freedom we could never win for ourselves; the joy of being once and for all saved from our sins.
The people of God in Scripture could relate. As year merged into decade merged into century, Messiah still hadn't arrived. This hero who would change everything, who would set everything straight and make everything right, this figure prophesied and expected literally from moments after the fall in Eden, still hadn't arrived.
Expectations were varied. Some expected a warlord in the mould of David—a conqueror who would drive out the Romans and restore Israel to its place of glory. Others imagined a priest-king or a custodian of the Mosaic law—someone who would perfectly fulfil all the legal requirements of righteousness. Still others envisaged some mysterious figure emerging out of nowhere, or a herald of the end of all things.
In truth, when Messiah came, he was unlike anything most people expected, but hr was everything that everyone needed. H e didn't come to do anything as trivial as secure a military conquest; he didn't come with fire and brimstone; he didn't take the throne in Jerusalem and usher in religious reform—a truth worth remembering in an age when Christians are tempted to rely on legislation and legislators to usher in the kingdom.
No, when Messiah finally came, he came to accomplish that which was most desperately and urgently needed. He came to do the work that no one else could do but that everyone, everywhere, painfully needed. He came to win the only victory that mattered and to defeat the only Enemy that counts.
Jesus came to save his people from their sins.
Note, he didn't just come to save us in our sins; he didn't save us to go back to our sins or to go on in our sins. No, he came to do a work so complete, so perfect, so once-and-for-all that those who trust in him and walk with him along the way can be saved, utterly and completely, from their sins. So that we can be saved from the power and dominion of sin right here and right now, no longer living as enslaved, as Christ warns in John 8:34, but can instead be truly, fully free.
The name "Jesus" is from the same Hebrew root as "Joshua," which can help us understand just how complete is the victory he has won for us. Like Joshua, Christ came to lead his people into the inheritance promised to us so long ago. He came to triumph fully over enemies far too big and far too strong for us to handle. He came to tear down walls and drive out that which would destroy us, and he asks us to choose for ourselves, even this very day, whom we will serve.
Christ brings us the joy of a victory we could never achieve for our-selves; the joy of a freedom we could never win for ourselves; the joy of being once and for all saved from our sins.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
How has Jesus acted in opposition to your expectations of him in your life?
What should be our response when Jesus acts in ways we don't expect?
How has Jesus acted in opposition to your expectations of him in your life?
What should be our response when Jesus acts in ways we don't expect?
PRAYER
Write a prayer expressing your trust in Jesus to confound expectations for the sake of the gospel.
Write a prayer expressing your trust in Jesus to confound expectations for the sake of the gospel.