A God Who Saves

"The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God... The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 2:23, 3:7-8

            This is the season when we celebrate the birth of Christ, and one might wonder what the Exodus story has to do with Christmas.  But in celebrating the birth of Christ, we're not just remembering some isolated historical event where God decided to save.  No, we're celebrating a God who saves.  It is in God's nature to save.  He has been saving, rescuing and redeeming since the beginning of time - or at least since man decided to walk away from him.  God could have let us go, but he didn't.  He pursued us - and he continues to pursue us today. 

            Consider the comprehensive nature of God's salvation.  "I have seen; and have heard; I know; I have come down to deliver." You see the connection to Christmas? God saw our pitiful state. "You were dead in your sins."  He knew our hopeless situation, and He responded by coming down in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, to deliver us from the bondage of sin. "I will deliver him; I will protect him.  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” But notice something.  God doesn't just save us from sin.  He saves us for a life of blessedness and joy.  Hence, when he intervened for the Israelites, he not only delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians, but then he carried them "to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey."

            The prophet Zephaniah wrote that God is "a mighty one who will save!"  I don't know what you're facing this Christmas, but be assured that God sees your pain.  No one on earth may know the depths of your past sin or your current shame, but God knows - and he loves you anyway.  Cry out to him.  He will hear you.  He has promised to respond, to come down and deliver you.  In fact, he already has.  The Christmas story is proof that God is a God who saves. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light!" Respond to the light of God's Son today, and trust that he will lift you out of your bondage and bring you into a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.