Vol. 7, No. 48 – December 4, 2022 – Advent 2022
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath that He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
In the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
Whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace. –Luke 1:68-79
Years ago, there used to be a TV show called Name that Tune. Contestants would margin their position on the basis of naming the tune in “x” number of notes. Sometimes getting down to one note. It was a fun show. It was black and white.
How many believers can name this song in three words; indicating who sang it and the content of the song?
This is a song by Zechariah. His wife was unable to conceive. Before the angel Gabriel visited upon Mary, he had visited with Zechariah to let him know that Elizabeth would carry a child. It was a unique event, to announce the miracle of John’s birth. Zechariah could not help but sing. Could you have named his song in three notes? Two? One?
Does the song measure anything about the theme of our blog? Yes, it does. It is found at the beginning of the song. The God who has created us loves us. Now we knew that. However, it has been a while since we have sung Jesus Loves Me, This I Know. The keywords are visited (came) and redeemed.
The angel came with a purpose. Not pausing for his assignment. He has an announcement. It is God’s announcement. It is an announcement of love.
God’s Son is coming to be a part of humanity. To move in. To redeem. His love is such that it results in the provision of redemption; salvation for those who will believe in God. For what people? For the Jews, of course, but also for the Greeks (Gentiles). No one is excluded from the opportunity to come. All were either Jew or Greek. That was the makeup of the world.
Redemption pays the price to free a person. Thus, Zechariah’s song portrays what God is going to do for lost people: provide salvation for sinful people, that they could not provide for themselves.
Life Application
The tragedy for people of the world is that they would reject God’s provision. I do not want your God. I will not obey your God’s commands; no way! Do not utter those Bible words, I will not listen. I am my own person, leave me alone.
Tragic responses. Do we quit? Does God quit? What if that person crosses our path again? What do we do with the opportunity? This is a life and death issue. We cannot respond with annoyance. We can only respond in love—God’s love. That is why they crossed our path. How do you know their present understanding unless you befriend them, value them, ask, and respond to them with God’s love?
God says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. A professor told me one time that all means all, and that is all, all means. So, who is the all that Jesus died for? The all is everyone. Even if you do not like them. God loves them.
What are you going to do with your everyone?
The free gift of love must be accepted to be effective—tell them how.
They are right there, waiting in your path!
