ACross2Carry

Four Pieces of Good News

1. Jesus was born.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Jesus was born to a very humble beginning in a stall of a stable in an obscure little town in Judea. He did not come to a castle, or to a rich family, or with a great army, but His coming was the culmination of centuries of prophecy and expectation. He was not just another man. He was God in the flesh, Emmanuel. Angels in great joy came to announce his birth, not to the king, not to the politicians, or to the rich, but to a band of shepherds on a hill outside of town. He came to save all people, no matter what their social status was. The Angels spoke true when they said it was “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” No one is excluded; any and all who come can come to know Him and the joy He brings. Not only are all welcome, all are invited. Come to Him and understand that in Him alone is safety, security, hope, and peace. Wise men sought Him then, wise men still seek Him today.

2. He lived a sinless life, yet knows about temptation.

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin

Imagine standing before a judge who not only had never done anything wrong, but had never even felt the temptation to do something wrong. How unmerciful that judge would be! A judge like that could not understand how we failed, and would punish us without mercy. Our Lord Jesus is not like that. He never sinned, it is true, but He knows the feeling of temptations. He knows how it feels to want something that is not rightfully ours. He faced every type of temptation that we deal with: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, and yet never sinned. He did not give in and He gives us strength to stand firm as well. 1 Cor. 10:13 says He will provide a way of escape. We have to realize that and look for it, but it is there. There is never, ever, a situation where we are left with no choice but to sin. I notice in the passage that He is TOUCHED with the feeling of our infirmities. I see that two ways. One, He has felt the temptation that we are feeling and knows how we feel. Two, our situation touches Him in His heart and inspires compassion and mercy. He has walked that “mile in our shoes” and has felt our temptations, and “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” Good knews; He knows where we are coming from.


3. He died for our sins, all of them.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Above we talked about temptation. Jesus was tempted, but never sinned. We unfortunately, cannot say that. We fail; sometimes so bad we can’t understand how we ever came to that point. Our failures are not just mistakes we can shrug off and go on. Our failures are sin. Sin is transgression of God’s law. God’s law demands perfect obedience. Failure is short of the mark of God’s perfect righteousness, and demands punishment. God’s word says “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” We are facing the death penalty for breaking God’s law. We have another problem: we cannot pay the debt we owe and can’t pay to cleanse our record. Nothing we can do will wipe the record clean, because all of our actions are tainted with sin. God says “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Good works would not clean up our past, take care of our present, or blind God to our future sins. We need help. God knew that and planned from all eternity past to provide for our need. The first verse under number one tells us that a “Saviour” is born, who is Christ the Lord. Jesus was born to save us from our sin, but how? The law said that the punishment for sin is death. We were supposed to die for our sins, but Gods plan was to provide a substitute. That substitute was Jesus Christ. He was taken, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross to die in our place. His horrible death shows the seriousness of sin. It’s real and it’s deadly and God is dead serious about it. The good news is that “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” He suffered, we benefit, he died, we live, violence was done to him to bring peace to us, we were critically ill, he died so we could be healed. A few verses later Isaiah tells us that God saw the travail of His soul and was satisfied. Justice had been fulfilled.


4. He arose and holds the keys to death, hell and the grave.

4And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

They came early on the first day of the week to the grave expecting to anoint the body of Jesus. Glorious surprise! The grave was open, the stone was rolled away. They entered and found not Jesus, but a “young man” who gave them the great news: “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here.” Jesus was not there. Death could not maintain its grip on Him. His sacrifice was accepted and He was alive again. He is risen! We serve a risen saviour, and he ever liveth to make intercession for us. He was born, he lived a sinless life, He died for our sins, and He arose on the third day to show the world that His sacrifice is the all-sufficient, complete, full payment for sin. In Him alone lies salvation. He is the resurrection and the life. We also know that the same power that raised Christ will one day raise all those who are in Christ Jesus.

We live in an insecure world. Jesus is a Solid Rock that never changes. Take hold of Him and He will give you strength to weather any storm and withstand every onslaught of our enemy, the devil. If you have never accepted Him, he waits for you, knocking at the door. Open today and let Him enter your life. Your eternity hangs in the balance.