Verse of the Day (December 17, 2019)

Verse of the Day (December 17, 2019) #BMSeminary – The angel’s message to Joseph is good news. Jesus, as the meaning of his Hebrew name “Joshua” indicates, brings the salvation of the Lord. He will save people not merely in the physical sense (8:25; 10:22) but in the most fundamental sense because he will bring salvation from sins. Everyone has sinned against God, failing to give him the thanks he deserves and creating chaos within human society (Rom. 1:18–32; 3:9–20, 23), but in Jesus God has displayed with great clarity the merciful and forgiving character that he also exhibited in the Old Testament (Ps. 130:3–4, 7–8). When Jesus came, he could be described as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 because he was God, and so when he was among his people, God was with them (Matt. 8:23–27). God dwelling with his people was the climactic and greatest blessing in the Old Testament (Ex. 29:46; Lev. 26:11–12), but a blessing hindered by their rebellion against him. In Jesus, God has provided for salvation from sin and has healed the broken relationship between himself and his people, making it possible for God, in Jesus, to be “with” his disciples “always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). (Gospel Transformation Study Bible)