Rejoicing In Redemption

When the elderly lady named Anna, who had faithfully served God all of her life, held the baby Jesus in the temple when He was brought for His dedication, she immediately broke out into thanksgiving and rejoicing—because she knew that Jesus was the hope of all those who were looking and praying for redemption. The same is true today. He remains the only hope of a world in desperate need of salvation. And those of us who have received that salvation can be filled with rejoicing.

When Jesus was born, the angels of Heaven could not contain their joy. Multitudes of angels filled the sky near Bethlehem to glorify God and praise Him for providing the hope of peace to a world in need. And yet, salvation is not for the angels but for us! How much more then should we be singing and rejoicing over the goodness of God toward us! His praises should fill our mouths and our hearts without end, and even more at Christmas as we celebrate and remember all that He has done for us. The wonderful carol Silent Night puts it this way:

Silent night, holy night,
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Saviour is born,
Christ the Saviour is born!

Today’s Discipleship Principle: Christmas gives us reason to rejoice because Christmas gives us the hope of redemption.