Sermon Info
Summary
Mary’s song is a hymn of worship. Her words paint the picture of what God has done and what He will do. They tell the story of the Gospel. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son so that we would have eternal life. Eternal life does not start at death. It starts with our new birth. Mary’s song points us to the truth that we are born to a new way of life. A new life together in community.
Content
When Love Came Down
What’s one thing that’s happened in your life that changed everything for you? Do you have something that immediately comes to mind? We all have an event or a situation that has impacted our life in a lot of ways, or impacts many people in our life. There are even events that happen around the world that impact every single person on earth.
Even with all of the life-altering events that have happened in your life or that have happened in our country or in our world, there is not one that come close to the impact that one event has on earth, on each person, and on eternities – and that’s Jesus’ Advent, or arrival, here on earth. Jesus came as a baby boy, the Son of God, to save us from the depravity of our sin. This is why we celebrate Christmas each and every year; we want to remember what this arrival meant to our world.
Mary knew what Jesus’ arrival meant, and that is why she praised God for His coming. We read in Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song of Praise to God, and she glorifies God for what He was going to do through her. Through her song of adoration and gratitude towards God, we see her humility and lack of pride, despite the position that God had given to her. Jesus’ coming was the ultimate act of humility, leaving heaven to come down to earth in order to be the substitution for our sin.
It was also the ultimate act of love. Jesus came down – the only true Love that this world has ever seen – and He changed the course of history. He changed lives. He came down born of a woman, so that we could, in turn, be born again of the Spirit. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16). Eternal life does not start at death. No, it starts with our new birth. Mary’s song points us to this truth that we have new life thanks to Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection.
What the Bible Says about Love
In Luke 1, we read the story of Jesus’ coming. We read that the angel Gabriel came to visit Mary to tell her that she would be conceived by the Holy Spirit and would bear the Son of God. Mary’s response (Luke 1:38) shows just how obedient and trusting she was that God would use her and that He would be faithful to His promises to her and to His people. Just a few verses later, Mary shares a Song of Praise to God. She thanks God for all that He’s done for her and praises Him for His faithfulness throughout all generations.
What Mary’s song points us to is her full trust in the Lord to do as He said He would. She didn’t know all that the future held for her, for her people, or for her baby, but she fully trusted and believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her (Luke 1:45). It’s because of her trust that we could have access to the Son of God.
The Bible continuously prophecies about Jesus’ coming, including that He would be the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, and the Promised Messiah. What love that it took for Jesus to come down to earth. What love it took for God to send His one and only Son into a world of hurt, of loss, and of sin. What love it took for God to save the very people who sent His Son to die. This is the love that we read throughout Scripture and that we celebrate each Christmas season.
How can we share the news of Jesus’ love with others this Christmas?
Whether you’ve heard the Christmas story each year or whether this is your first year ever reading this incredible story, this truth remains: Jesus came to earth as a baby, born of a virgin, knowing He would be crucified, buried, and resurrected, because of His love for you. Earth had never seen such Love in humanity before Jesus’ Advent.
Jesus came down – Love came down – for you. If there’s nothing else that you hear this Christmas season, our prayer is that you will know and believe this truth this year. Jesus came to give us the free gift of eternal life. What Good News this is, indeed! God’s overwhelming, unconditional love is for you, and it’s for me. God fulfilled His promises and showed His ultimate act of love in sending Jesus.
Because of His love, God seeks to use us as humble vessels to show the world that we live in, a world that has been forever changed by Jesus, the love that we have found in Christ. Let’s tell the world of this Good News this Christmas season, church.
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