Luke 1:68

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

We had a big windstorm in our area last Wednesday and Friday. As a result, there were thousands without power. The electric company shut off power to different areas so any fallen power lines wouldn’t spark a wildfire. The problem now is that the power company has to go through and inspect all those deenergized lines to make sure they aren’t damaged. Many people are waiting for one thing, a person from the power company to rescue them and restore their power. It was a welcome sight to see workers coming out to help restore power.

In a much bigger and much-needed way, we are going to be reminded of how God came to rescue us, not from a lack of power, but from our lostness.

Humanity was locked up in sin and unbelief. Humanity had fallen from grace and was separated from God. That all changed when God came in the person of Jesus Christ, the baby born in Bethlehem.

When John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, it signaled the arrival of the Savior soon after. John would be a prophet to announce the arrival of the Christ and call people to repentance. Zechariah saw in his son’s birth, the birth of the forerunner of the Christ, the sign God was coming to redeem his people.

And he has. Jesus came long ago to live the life we haven’t and to pay for the sin we’ve committed. He came to redeem us from unbelief and bring us to saving faith. He came to bring us to God. He came to carry us and give us hope in life, hope that lasts through eternal life.

Find your way to a church this Christmas. If you’re in the Arvada area, join me for Christmas Eve for worship at Ralston’s Crossing Event Center for our 4 p.m. service. Let’s praise our God for he has come to redeem his people.

Pastor Jeremy Belter