He will Save His People from Their Sins (Matthew 1:21)

“She will bear a son and you shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins.”
– Matthew 1:21

This one verse in so many ways summarizes the meaning on this day, Christmas day. Jesus has come to save people from sin. That’s what His name means. On this Christmas day, I ask you, first and foremost, have you trusted Jesus to save you from your sin? Have you called out in repentance? That means you turn from your sin and yourself and you’re saying, “I need Jesus to save me from my sins. Oh God, please forgive me of my sins through Jesus. His life, his death, his resurrection, what makes forgiveness of sins possible. That’s why he came.” Have you received his salvation in that way? Are you saved before God from your sin in such a way that Jesus is the Lord of your life today?

Praise God for saving us through Jesus Christ. On this Christmas, let us pray for the spread of this good news to the ends of the earth.

This Verse Focuses on the Unreached Nations

Then if not, I urge you. What a perfect way to celebrate Christmas, by trusting Jesus to do what his name means, to save you from your sins. For all who have, I want to encourage you today, his salvation is not just for us. It is for the nations. It’s for people all around us. His salvation is not intended to stop with us. It is intended to spread through us. He’s come to save all people, all kinds of people, all over the world from their sins.

Would you pray today that more people around you would be saved from their sins, that Christmas would not just be a holiday celebration filled with all kinds of miscellaneous stuff, but that it would be a celebration of salvation in Jesus for more, and more, and more people? Then I want to encourage you to pray like you’ve never probably prayed before on Christmas day. Maybe you have prayed for Eritrea on Christmas day, but I’m guessing most people have not prayed for Eritrea on Christmas day.

Matthew 1:21 Calls Us to Break Down Barriers that Block the Gospel

But I want to tell you about the Tigre people in Eritrea, over a million of them. In Eritrea, there are all kinds of barriers to the spread of the gospel and there are many challenges to getting the good news of Jesus to the Tigre in Eritrea. But there are opportunities that are there for other believers in Eritrea, believers in neighboring countries. I was in Ethiopia not long ago and the opportunity’s there for the spread of the gospel from Ethiopia into Eritrea are growing.

Would you join me in praying for the Tigre people of Eritrea on this Christmas day that more, and more, and more of them would come to know Jesus as the one who saves people from sin? God, we praise you for salvation in Jesus. As we celebrate this Christmas day, we praise you for sending Jesus to save us from our sins. Jesus, we praise you for that is what your name means. We praise you as our Savior and our Lord and our King.

Matthew 1:21 Praises God for His Gift of Salvation

We worship you on this day, every day for all of eternity we will worship you. God, we pray for the spread of this salvation. There are more and more people around us, right where we live. I pray for this more and more in metro Washington D.C., where I live, and I pray for this in the places where people live who are listening to this right now. God, for more, and more, and more people to know your salvation. Then God, together we pray for the Tigre people in Eritrea. We pray for the spread of your salvation in that country and specifically among that people. Today, oh God. Today, would you open eyes to salvation? We pray. Jesus, we praise you as the One who came to save your people from our sin. It’s in your name we pray. Amen.