God’s Christmas Gift to the World.نموونە

The Lord’s promises fulfilled bring blessings!

by Rev. Patrick Feldhus

“I’m a virgin! I swear!”

“Yeah, right! We all know how biology works, and you are pregnant. There is no way you can be a virgin.”

I wonder how many times Mary had this type of discussion with others. Even Joseph did not believe her right away, and the Lord set him straight. Perhaps this is the reason why Mary took the journey for an extended visit with her relatives Zachariah and Elizabeth.

Zachariah and Elizabeth were blessed with their own miraculous conception with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth saw Mary, she said, “Blessed is she who believed, because the promises spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled!” Mary believed in the Lord’s promise that through this miraculous birth, the world would be saved from sin. She was going to give birth to the Son of God, her Savior!

Each December, we anticipate celebrating this miraculous birth. And what a celebration! Sometimes a celebration lasts for only a short time. How long before the reality of life and its struggles cloud our celebration? Mary had the blessing of witnessing the promise of a virgin birth, but she was also blessed to see the promise of forgiveness being fulfilled at the cross.

The Father fulfilled his promises, which lead to blessings. This is the new and better reality we live in.

Yes, Christmas is a time of celebration, but so is the rest of our lives. We are blessed to see the fulfillment of God’s promise that the virgin’s Son carried all our sins to the cross. He did not leave any sin unpaid. We live in the reality of forgiveness, and we each have a home in paradise. This is what we are celebrating at Christmas and throughout the years to some until Jesus comes and takes us home. This is the hope we take with us amid the dark reality of this world. The Lord’s fulfilled promises bring blessings!

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for fulfilling your promise to send your Son to be born of a virgin and to save us from sin and death. Help us to see these fulfilled promises as our greatest blessings as we navigate our lives in this world and look forward to the world to come! In Jesus’s name we pray, amen!