Salvation: He will Save His People from Their Sin

Good morning. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

We have finally reached that day when almost everyone can agree that Christmas Music is allowed, Christmas movies can be watched and the decorations can go up. For those of you who have had your tree up for months, thanks for your patience with the rest of us…

But before we go full Christmas, can we go back to Thanksgiving for a moment? Now I know Thanksgiving is not a biblical day of remembrance. But as Christians, it is certainly a great day to follow God’s call for us to have a heart of thanksgiving.

I think it is OK to highjack the holiday from Turkey and football for the purpose of giving thanks

to the Lord for all he has done and to feast together to celebrate his provisions knowing that he will continue to provide.

And this year has been an amazing example of the Lord’s provision. After the stewardship celebration, I have not been able to stop giving thanks because through God’s abundant grace.

I told you last week I did not know what we would hear that night and I hope you were blown away in the same way I was…I would have not imagined that we could build the school building, pay off all external debt, and put in a roadway to the athletic fields by 2025. That is incredible.

It is honestly hard to believe just how much God has blessed us. He has taken another portion of the world he owns and entrusted it to this church family. Amazing! I pray that all of our hearts are filled with Thanksgiving today…and in truth, that has been our prayer throughout the year…

Today we are beginning our final series on the annual theme of Growing in Gospel Gratitude.

It has been our hope that every person in our church would exercise more daily thanksgiving than they did in any other year.

With this final series, this year, for Christmas, we are going to consider 5 Fulfillments of Christ’s Birth that bring Joy. The series will lay out as follows:

1. Salvation: He will save his people from their sin – Matthew 1:21 says you will call his name Jesus (Yahweh saves) because he will save his people from their sins.

Next week we will celebrate with a special presentation with music, then back to the series to study the fulfillment of his…

1. Presence: Immanuel, which means God with us - Matthew 1:23 tells us that Jesus was not his only name. The Bible also calls him Immanuel reminding us that he is with us.
2. Rule: The King of the Jews - Matthew 2:6 reminds us that a ruler would come from Bethlehem. There is only one king of kings and Lord of Lords.
3. Deliverance: Out of Egypt I have called my son - Matthew 2:15 describes a deliverance and it remind us of the amazing protection for Messiah so that he could provide the once-for-all deliverance we need.
4. Relationship: Humble birth in Bethlehem - Matthew 2:18 and 23 remind us of his humble birth. People would ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” These passages remind us that the suffering servant did not come with the expected fanfare but in humility to fulfill his role.

With that in mind, please turn in your Bible to Matthew 1:18 that is on page 1 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you.

But before we read, I want you to imagine a scene with me…think back to a time about 2000 years ago…

You live just outside Jerusalem in a neighboring town…your parents and your grandparents have taught you about your history and the once prosperous nation of Israel under Kings David and Solomon. They teach you to trust in the Lord and that we will all once day be saved by the coming of the Messiah…

• But life is hard, after God brought Israel out of exile, out of Babylon, the nation did not return to glory, but was a shadow of its past, still under the dominion of others, first Persia, then the Greeks, and then Rome…

• - They promised peace, but brutality is what we received.

• - We hoped for prosperity, but now we realize that they were talking about their own prosperity – we do not share in it.

• - Where is my hope? Despair, discouragement, and disillusionment seem to be all around.

But then – an event happens that will change everything…The Birth of Jesus…

Please follow along as I read Matthew 1:18-21…

Let’s consider three truths that help us rejoice in Jesus’ fulfillment of saving his people.

I. The name “Jesus” reminds us of God’s salvation ministry

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Have you ever had that strange moment when you ask “Hi, what is your name?” and then what if I answered… “My name is Chuck Norris,” and you look at me and think – “You sir are clearly no Chuck Norris.”

Or conversely, maybe you have heard someone say about a little baby, “His name is Charlie; that makes sense because he looks a Charlie” as if there is some universal standard for what Charlie’s look like.

Our text for today says, “you shall call his name Jesus.” The NIV says, “you are to give him the name Jesus.”

Think about it…God did not give Mary and Joseph the option to name their child…God already decided His name.

It is not just a statement of fact; the angel is not saying “you will call him Jesus because I know that you think Jesus is a really awesome name.”

The angel commands them to name him Jesus…and not because he looks like a Jesus.

“You shall call his name Jesus.”

Joseph and Mary were not even free to give him one of their family names. as was a frequent practice in Bible times like it is today.

• - Remember John the Baptist? His mother names him John and people react. How can you name him John? No one else has that name in your family. What a silly name.

• - Zacharias? He was mute until he wrote down, “His name is John.”

As with John, so with Jesus. There was no choice. Jesus’ name carried meaning – in truth, it carried his mission – salvation.

The angel commands them to name him Jesus because even his name screams his message. What did his name mean? Yahweh saves …

This is not because someone made something up in the first century name book.

I can’t remember exactly what “Rodney” (my given name) means, probably something like dashingly handsome and incredibly intelligent. I am sure that is what my parents were thinking…Rather, I asked them once, why they named me Rodney – the answer I got…all the other names were taken…there were a lot of Hutton men in Grand Forks…so I guess my name really means – one who gets the leftovers…Good news at Thanksgiving don’t you think?

Alright – let’s get back to reality…

The name we are studying today is a real name with the real meaning much like many OT names. Jacob means deceiver. Joseph means the Lord adds. Jesus means Yahweh Saves.

When people said the name Jesus, in affection or in spite, they were pronouncing to everyone within earshot, “Yahweh saves.” Consider what that was like as Jesus was growing up…

• - Yahweh saves, dinner…

• - Yahweh saves it is time to go to temple…

Or when he was older

• - Did you see Yahweh Saves heal the leper?

• - Did you see Yahweh Saves feed the 5000?

• - All the way to his trial … would you like me to release to you Barabbas or Yahweh saves?

Every time we hear his name, we hear his mission.

I think we need to dive into this concept of “Yahweh Saves” for a few minutes.

What does it mean that Yahweh saves? How does his name impact how I think?

Whether I am a Christian or not…his name is telling me something…

Jesus’ ministry is Yahweh’s ministry (Mark 1:1-3)

It is quite remarkable what the Bible teaches and the connections that exist between individual passages and bigger ideas.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’”

Mark says that he is talking about Jesus, but he quotes from both Malachi and Isaiah. In doing so, he points to “my messenger,” referring to John the Baptist. But then we should ask…

• - Who is the “You”…the “your,”… “the LORD” and “his.”

• - In the Isaiah passage, which we will consider more closely in a moment, it is Yahweh. The covenant-keeping name for God. The name that God revealed to Moses on the mountain.

In Isaiah…Yahweh is coming, the way is being prepared for Yahweh, and John is responsible to make his path straight… that is like saying that he is responsible to clear the way and carve the path because Yahweh is coming. And in Mark all these references are to Jesus.

Matthew teaches something similar in 3:3

Matthew 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’”

where John the Baptist is again the voice, the one making ready and clearing the path.

But who is coming? In Isaiah, it is Yahweh and in Matthew, it is Jesus.

Matthew 1:21 points to the larger story line of the Bible. Yahweh is coming…to crush and destroy? No…to save and deliver them.

The gospels tell us that Jesus’ ministry is Yahweh’s ministry. As soon as we come to that conclusion, we find that a sizable portion of …

Yahweh’s ministry is salvation (Isaiah 40:1-11)

Isaiah 40:1-2, 10-11 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed…10 Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Isaiah speaks about a future time in this text. But it is not surprising. It is the continued pattern of God’s work…

Yahweh has been saving his people from all sorts of things since Genesis.

• - God gave Adam and Eve coverings.

• - Noah and his family escape the flood.

• - Abraham and Sarah face threats of various kinds.

• - Yahweh delivers his people from starvation by sending Joseph to Egypt.

• - He delivers the nation from Egypt.

• - Yahweh sends judge after judge to save his people from destruction.

• - He sent prophets to call them to repentance that they experience his blessings.

• - The Lord provides protection against the enemies of his people.

• - He rescued them from Babylon.

Yahweh does many things in the Bible. One of the most dominant is to save. In some ways, whenever you hear the name Jesus your mind should run to the entire story line of the Bible.

Jesus is Yahweh…doing Yahweh’s ministry…Yahweh Saves!.

That is a name that communicates! His name reveals his mission. You could not talk about one without the other.

My name is Rod, but it could have been Daniel, Eric, Tom, or Joe and it would not have made much difference.

Jesus on the other hand had to be named “Jesus”. Why?

The apostle Peter answers that question in Acts 4:8-12. It says,

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Friends, why can we rejoice that Jesus is his name? Because even his name reminds us of God’s salvation ministry.

It is to the salvation part of Matthew 1:21 that we now turn…from what do we need to be saved?

II. Jesus saves people from their sins

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

I mentioned that Yahweh has a long history of saving. But not every kind of salvation is the same.

• - God saved people from death by their enemies.

• - God saved people from living outside the land.

• - God saved people from starvation.

• - God saved people from those who oppressed them.

These are part of the Bible’s storyline. They are part of the reason that God receives glory for all he has done.

• - If all we had in the text is that Jesus will save his people,

• - … we might still make the connection to Yahweh.

• - However, we might wonder what type of salvation he is bringing.

• o Are you thankful that Jesus saves how we need to be saved and not just how we think we need to be saved

• o Isn’t that part of Jesus’ story?

• o Everyone was on board if Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, cast our demons, and raised the dead. Who wouldn’t be on board with that? But we still wanted something else…

The average person struggling with despair and discouragement was looking for a Messiah who would save them from the Romans and that Jesus would bring back self-rule and prosperity to the nation.

• - Surely he can do that…If Jesus can do miracles, then maybe we can follow him into battle and get rid of these foreign rulers once for all. That was the promise to King David…right?

However, that is not the salvation that Jesus came to give this time. He did not come to rescue the nation from outsiders. He came to save people from their sins. He came to save all peoples and tongues and nations from their sins.

This is at the core of Yahweh’s ministry.

Psalm 130:1-8 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

When we read those words, we move our focus from restoring the nation of Israel to the saving of souls of Israel. Our need is not national sovereignty, it is the salvation of souls…That thought should remind us of a few other truths.

Everyone is or was a sinner

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Thankfully those who know Christ as their Lord and savior do not fit in the category of a positional sinner anymore. We all, of course, still sin. But committing sin and being in positional sinner are different.

All of us either were or are in that state. It is hard to comprehend just how bad that is.

Sin owned us and directed our paths.

Jesus came to rescue us from that condition. Hearing the name of Jesus reminds us that …

Sin’s consequence is eternity in hell away from Jesus, but salvation is freedom to serve and live

Those words are very sobering.

Eternity is hard to picture and understand. Hell is not a place where people celebrate, party, or enjoy continued sinful behaviors together.

When I hear someone say – I choose hell – because that’s where all my friends are…that’s where all the fun will be – my heart sinks because they do not understand hell – they want to believe a far side cartoon more than God’s word…they do not want to acknowledge eternal suffering.

Unlike other types of suffering on this earth that end in physical death, there is no end to suffering in hell, the death described in Romans 6.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And Yahweh Saves…thank the Lord for the contrasts here… Eternal death is earned through the wages of our behavior. Eternal life is a gift based on the finished work of Jesus.

If you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior. That is if you acknowledge that you need a savior and that Jesus is the only one capable of saving you, then you have one enormous reason to give thanks.

• - You not only escape the eternal death awaiting all who do not know Christ, but your gift is eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

• - Hearing the name “Jesus” reminds us that he must have that name because of his mission and his mission includes saving people from their sins.

That is an amazing trade. I do not want to ever get over that.

I don’t have time to chase this other thread, but there are a few passages in the Bible that warn us not to forget the wonderful salvation of the Lord. The Bible calls those who forget spiritually blind and unproductive.

• - I think it is sad when we talk about a person who made a profession of faith but never lived a fruitful life.

• - While we may not be able to affect change in others, we can ensure no one says that of us.

Let’s instead see our salvation – our free gift – as a stewardship opportunity. Jesus saves from sin … from its penalty and its power so that I can boldly live for him because I was dead in my sin and now I am dead TO my sin and he made me alive in Christ.

Friends, your pastors realize that during Christmas we do not slow down. In fact, we ramp up, but always with an eye on Yahweh’s mission.

• - We provide for those with financial needs in our community through Christmas for everyone because we want to communicate the love of Jesus in the hopes of future actual presentations of the gospel.

• - We serve in Living Nativity during weekends when I might rather be home wrapped in a blanket, but it is part of proclaiming “Jesus saves" to everyone in our community.

• - We do Christmas eve services because some families in America still have the tradition of going to church that evening and we will do it again on Christmas morning because we want to reach them with the gospel.

• - We have Winter Break ministries, and we share Jesus with the children and invite their parents to be part of our church.

• - We have a New Year’s Eve event designed to give people a place to go for good clean fun if that is what they desire.

Why do we do all this? Because Jesus (Yahweh saves) came to save me from my sins. I now live for the one who gave himself up for me. My life belongs to him.

Jesus saving me also changed my relationship to sin itself. When Jesus saved me, I went from being a slave to sin to being dead to sin. That change means that sin no longer has control over me.

When I sin, I do so willingly, which means I also have a choice in how I respond.

Think of all the ways that people excuse their sin.

• - They cannot help it.

• - Someone else made me do it.

• - That is just the way I am.

Dear friends, when Jesus came to save you from your sins, he saved you from its penalty, and also its power. You have the freedom to choose.

May the Lord help us to choose righteousness, to pursue what he loves and values, and to steward these wonderful opportunities.

Jesus saving us from our sin evokes important truth we must remember…

No one can save themselves from sin

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

On Monday nights, I have the opportunity to meet with and counsel couples or men from our community and each time, no matter why they have come to counseling, I know that I need to start here. Whether sin has brought suffering into our lives or we are seeing the direct consequences of our own sin, no comfort and no counsel that I can provide can help in any way until we believe that only Jesus saves.

Whether in Monday counseling or any other time of the week, I have to ask myself…If they do not hear it from me, how many more opportunities will they have to hear the gospel? How many more opportunities will they have to hear that they cannot earn salvation?

• - God saves by grace, so he alone receives the glory.

Our final stewardship principle, God can call me into account at any time, and it might be today, reminds us to take advantage of the opportunities while we have them.

Friends, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, then I am encouraging you to accept that free gift today.

• - I am asking you to acknowledge your sin, to acknowledge that your sin is worthy of an eternity in hell … not where people party and have a good time … but where people suffer alone and for all eternity.

• - In the quietness and soberness of this moment I am asking you to confess your sin to God and trust with all your heart that God raised him from the dead and that you need him to pay for your sins.

The name of Jesus is a fulfillment worthy of rejoicing because Jesus’ name reminds us of the story line of the Bible and Yahweh’s salvation ministry. It also reminds us that Jesus’ salvation ministry is salvation from sin which allows us to serve Christ and live for him. The final truth I want us to consider is …

III. Jesus creates a people in the saving process

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Each of our truths this morning come from a specific part of Matthew 1:21.

• - Calling his name Jesus was a big deal because it reminded us of Yahweh’s salvation ministry through the storyline of the Bible.

• - That salvation is from our sins is a big deal in part because it focuses the discussion on our eternal salvation, not political or financial, but focused on the eternal nature of heaven and hell. There truly is a heaven to be gained and hell to be shunned.

This third truth is no different. It adds beautifully to the meaning found in this Christ’s coming birth.

Who will he save? His people – we are His.

His people means that they belong to Messiah

When Jesus saves, he makes you his. You are one of his children.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name

To the people of Israel – they believed they were God’s chosen…because they were the descendants of Abraham, and so they were waiting for Yahweh to save them again as He did out of Egypt, as He did out of Babylon…and yet with the Messiah in their midst – they rejected him – did this stop God’s mission, the saving of His people?

The identity of God’s people or Messiah’s people has been a matter of enormous debate.

In the gospels being God’s meant being from Moses or Abraham. In the epistles, it is almost exclusively Abraham. All too often, the focus was on genealogy and not on spiritual reality.

When Christ saves us, we become his children – one of his people. A true child of Abraham.

So how does this impact the promise? This does not eliminate the role of national Israel. We, the Gentiles, must remember …

Salvation belonged first to the Jews

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

God has held and still holds a special place for the nation of Israel. Some of the long-awaited promises to national Israel have yet to be completed. But God’s plan also involved a time of the gentile. At Jesus’ second coming we will see the remaining promises completed.

At his first coming, we too give thanks because …

Salvation extended to the Gentiles (that is us)

John the Baptist makes this point in …

Matthew 3:9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Jesus illustrates it in …

Matthew 8:11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven

Paul reiterates it near the end of his ministry in …

Titus 2:13-14 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of ^bour great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

When Jesus came to save, it was not to restore national Israel. It was to save people from their sins. Jews and gentiles alike shared that need.

So if we are going to closeout a year looking at Growing in gospel Gratitude – let these be the truths that cause your heart to overflow with Thanksgiving…

Matthew 1:21 seems like such a simple verse.

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

As we approach Christmas, I would encourage you to memorize this verse because, from the depths of God’s word and his faithfulness in his promises, the fulfillment of this promise brings great joy.

• - Yahweh Saves… When you hear the name Jesus – remember “Yahweh Saves” and rejoice that He is still carrying out his mission today to save you…to save me…to save all who will believe in his name.

• - And give thanks that Jesus did not think small…He did not come to save a people from the oppression of Rome…he knows our greatest need… doing something we could never do for ourselves…Yahweh saves us from sin…the greatest Christmas gift…eternal life with Him…

• - Knowing that we are his… as he works for our salvation…While Jesus does that, he creates a people for his own possession – an inheritance if you will.

Is there any greater gift? Who will you share it with? I hope that through today’s truths that your hearts overflow with joy…overflowing to the point that you cannot keep “Yahweh saves” to yourself. Please share this by…

• - Inviting your friends to join you for next week’s Christmas Cantata.

• - Inviting your neighbor to go see the Living Nativity with you or

• - Inviting your co-worker to come for Christmas Eve or Christmas morning and then be here with them to celebrate the name of Jesus

Pray with me.