What is so important about the birth of Jesus? The Bible tells us that ‘Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners’ (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus was born to save sinners. Indeed, shortly before his birth, he was given the name ‘Jesus’ because he would ‘save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). Part of the meaning of Jesus is ‘one who saves’.
News for us all
This is truly wonderful news! But many people treat this news as irrelevant to them, saying they are not sinners and that they don’t need to be saved.
Many believe this news is really for those who do especially bad things; perhaps for those who find themselves in the news for the wrong reasons or those whose behaviour destroys communities and causes so much hurt.
But as shocking as it may seem to people today, the Bible tells us that we are all sinners and we all need saving.
We are all sinners
The Bible tells us that ‘there is none righteous, no, not one’ (Romans 3:10). How true that is! When we compare ourselves with God’s law we have to admit that we have broken it.
When we look at the Ten Commandments (a summary of what God requires of each one of us), we have to admit that we all fall short of his standards. We have to admit that we have all sinned.
We have sinned in the things we have thought, in the things we have said, in the things we have done. And there are consequences to our sin: we have not only harmed others but we have sinned primarily against God. Ultimately we have sinned against God, and God only (Psalm 51:4).
We need to be saved from judgment
The Bible is clear that each of us will be judged by God. Some people find it unpalatable to think that God will judge us all. How can a loving God judge us all? But if we ask this question then we have failed to understand who God is.
God is loving, but he is also righteous. God must judge sin because he is holy. Indeed, the Bible tells us that God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).
On that day, everyone will give an account of their life, and they will be judged by God’s law. Many will be found wanting. This is a sobering truth indeed. But there is a remedy!
Christ Jesus saves sinners
The good news is that Jesus saves sinners. How does Jesus save sinners? To answer this question we need to focus not on his birth but primarily on his death.
In the lead up to his death, Jesus was betrayed, unjustly tried in court, and severely beaten. He was then murdered on a cross of wood. To onlookers it appeared that Jesus’s life had a tragic ending. Yet all this was part of God’s plan (Acts 2:23).
Jesus deliberately and willingly offered himself on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. He was their substitute, dying in their place, to satisfy divine justice. He took the punishment sinners deserved for their sins. He bore his people’s sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
But Jesus did not remain dead! Jesus was ‘delivered up because of our offences, and was raised because of our justification’ (Romans 4:25). How is this possible?
The Saviour Jesus is no mere man. Jesus is fully God and fully man. As a man he offered himself on the cross in man’s place. But as God he was able to bear the wrath and punishment of God. Can you imagine if the wrath of God fell upon us? We would not be able to stand it.
But Jesus took the place of sinners on the cross and was able to bear God’s wrath. He was able to atone for our sins because he offered himself as ‘a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19). Indeed, he is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).
Are you saved?
Have you been saved from your sins? If not, then ask Jesus today to save you from your sins. Perhaps you think you are too sinful to be saved. But Jesus came to save even the chief of sinners. Jesus is able and willing to save sinners.
In the words of a well-known hymn, ‘Come, you sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love and power: he is able, he is able, he is willing, doubt no more.’
