“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
For Christmas, I wanted to honor Jesus by sharing the work of my favorite artist. This is my Dad's latest painting. My Dad is a believer in Jesus who also loves to draw, paint, and create for His glory. I am thankful that my Dad is such a talented artist and a great Dad, but I am even more thankful that He's a believer in Jesus. My Dad was the first one to tell me about Jesus and heaven.
The Name Jesus
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Joshua or Jehoshua, which means “Jehovah will save.” The name of Jesus tells of God’s salvation of His people. In this verse, the angel tells Joseph that Mary’s baby is to be the very incarnation of Jehovah’s salvation. The tiny baby lying in a manger is named Jesus, and He is the One who will save His people from their sins. What a reason to celebrate!
After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter stresses the importance of the name of Jesus. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). In Jesus and only in Jesus is there salvation. Tragically, many people think there are many paths that lead to God, but that's a lie. (I once thought the same thing before Jesus found me and showed me the way through Him, by His grace). As Christians who follow Jesus, we know the Truth. There is only One Way, and that’s through Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth and Savior to all who believe in Him. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The fact that God provided even one way for us to live forever shows just how gracious, merciful, and loving He is.
Dear Heavenly Father,
It's the Eve of the birth of our Savior! We praise You for the greatest gift we could ever receive: Your Son, Jesus. Father, we praise You for sending Your Son to live with us, die for us, and save us from our sins, all by the gift of Your grace. Even our repentance and faith in Jesus is a gift from You (Eph 2:8-9).
Lord, I know it’s not faith that saves us but it’s the object of our faith that saves us, and that’s Jesus. It's Your grace that saves us. It's Your grace that enables us to believe in You. Even if we have a weak faith; even if we have only a mustard seed of faith, we know that we are saved by a Strong Jesus who will never let us perish. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28). When Jesus finds His lost sheep and saves them, He saves them completely, securely, and eternally in Him. He will never let us go. We know this because Your Word tells us so.
The believer’s continued faith in Jesus is evidence of God’s keeping power (1 Pet 1:5), not our own (Not saying we don't have human responsibility. Rather, we rely on God's grace, not our own human willpower or strength) From the first moment we believe in Jesus, God energizes our faith and continues to preserve it. True saving faith in Jesus may waver, stumble, and fail at times, but it’s permanent in that it never dies. A true believer could never stop believing nor could he/she ever completely turn away from the Lord because it's God who keeps us, not us. We can never lose our salvation because it’s God’s grace that saves us, and it's His grace that keeps us. What a reason to celebrate, not just around Christmas but every single day! And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at His birth, (Luke 1:14).
I pray to be a blessing to others this Christmas season and point everyone to the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. And that's Jesus, the tiny baby lying in the manger who created heaven and earth and the reason for life itself. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is our Redeemer, our Savior. He is the Light of the world and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness but have the light of life (John 8:12).
Merry Christmas, everyone! May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this Christmas season and always.
All glory belongs to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In His name, I pray amen!
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6
"It's not your hold of Christ that saves you but His hold of you." Charles Spurgeon
It is not great faith, but true faith that saves; and the salvation lies not in the faith, but in the Christ in whom faith trusts. Charles Spurgeon
"We contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary." Jonathan Edwards
If you'd like to visit my Dad's website and see his work: https://www.herbeckart.com/