HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE?

Tuesday 5 August

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)

When we read the Biblical account of who God’s people are, most would say the Jews. Historically that would be the correct answer. Over the last year or so we have been talking about looking at the Bible in the light of Christ. From this perspective we can rightly divide the word of truth. Are you ready to find out more? As always, let the word interpret the word and keep an open mind as we go deeper.

We see a distinct phrase spoken by the angel ‘He shall save His people from their sins’. When we look at it from the outset it appears that the angel is talking about the Jews. Now it pays to mention that only the tribe of Judah and Benjamin comprised the Jewish nation. The other ten tribes called Israel were exiled to Assyria and were allegedly assimilated into that nation.

So when the angel made this announcement was this who he was specifically referring to as ‘His people’ in reference to Jesus? To Jesus yes. To Christ, no. Selah.

John 1:11 speaking of Jesus says ‘He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.’ The question we need to ask is who are His own?

Again, most would jump to the conclusion of the Jews. Before we settle on this point of view we need to ask one more thing. Who did Jesus die for? Everyone who belongs to Him. Who are THEY?

‘But as many as received Him.’ As many of who? His own. How do we know this to be true?

Psalm 24:1 says ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness of it, the world and THEY that dwell in it.’ David was telling us by the Spirit of prophecy that the inhabitants of the whole world belong to God. Every man, woman and child.

John 1:2 tells us ‘all THINGS were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. Things here include beings. If the Word who was with, i.e. in the Father, created and made all things then that would make Him the Creator. If this is true then all His creations would belong to Him wouldn’t THEY?

An unlikely ally in confirming who Jesus came to die for was Caiaphas the high priest. He was the one who was instrumental in condemning Jesus to death. John 11:49-52 says,

‘Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.’

Did you see it? Christ died not only for the Jews but also for the scattered children of God the Gentile nations… to bring them together and make them one. We are observing the gospels in view of the epistles here.

Look what Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:14

‘For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into ONE people when, in his own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.’

It only stands to reason that if everyone belongs to God then He came to His own to save His people. So to reiterate, who are His own? The whole world of human souls!

‘For God so loved the world (of people) that He gave His only begotten son’

Just because everyone legally belongs to God through the payment for their salvation by Jesus Christ, does not mean that they will acknowledge His ownership and be saved from destruction. God doesn’t always get what He desires.

Are you starting to understand why we must examine every part of the Bible in the light of Christ? To fail to do so is to miss out on too much. The Word of God is a spiritual book that must be interpreted spiritually first and foremost.

Otherwise it just becomes an historical record of the life and times of those it was written about.

Remember that ‘the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword’. It is ‘able to divide between the soul and spirit, between the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’

The scriptures will come alive when you look back at them through the revelation of the scriptures in the epistles. We all belong to God. Believer or not. We are all His people. One question remains. Is He your God?

APPLICATION

Have the consciousness that Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead for everyone.