The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23How can we know that Jesus is the true Savior?
First, the trademark - virgin birth
In one of the Sunday school classes, a teacher said to the class, "God made everything." Then one student raised his hand, and said, "No. Everything is made in China."
Then the teacher said, "Son, God made even China."
Then the student understood that God is the maker of all.
The same is true with the Savior. God so loved the world, that He sent us a Savior." Question is, How do we know that Jesus is the only true Savior? In the passage, Matthew presents one evidence, a trademark if you will, that is, virgin birth. About 700 years before his birth, God promised to send the Savior Jesus, by granting a virgin to be with child and give birth to a son. 700 years is a long time. Yet, even after this long period of time, God did not forget his promise. He kept his promise by sending Jesus to be born of virgin Mary, as we read in Matthew 1:18-25 this morning. No savior has ever and will ever be born of virgin. It is only Jesus who was born of virgin. Mary the Mother of Jesus can testify about this, and Joseph the legal father of Jesus can verify this as true. Jesus is indeed the Savior made in heaven. He alone is the true Savior.
Second, the work - saving people from their sins
What does the Savior do for men? Matthew says Jesus is the Savior because he saves his people from their sins. All wrongdoing is sin. So God sent Jesus to save men from all wrongdoings. He keeps you and I from doing what is wrong. A lot of people want to do what is right, but is unable, so they despair. God knows this, so He sent Jesus to save us from all wrongdoings and empower us, not just not to do what is wrong but also to do what is right.
Third, the fruit - God with us
Sin causes man to be separated from God. But God sent Jesus to save his people from their sins, so that He would have fellowship with his people, and his people with Him.
Matthew knew the goodness of the life in Jesus whose name is God with us. Before he met Jesus he was a loner. No one wanted to play with him. But God sent Jesus called him saying, "Follow me." Then he experienced joy of salvation from his sins, and the fellowship with God coming with heavenly joys. Later he discovered that this is what the Lord God had promised to do through the Prophet Isaiah of long time ago. So quoting Isaiah Matthew says, "They will call him Immanuel - which means God with us."
Knowing this we too say "Our God! You are good all the time; all the time you are good."
In conclusion, we learn that Jesus is true Savior for he was born of virgin as the Lord had long ago promised. We also learn that Jesus is the true Savior for He not only saves his people from doing what is wrong, but also empowers his children to do what is right. Lastly we learned that Jesus is the true Savior for in Jesus we can have fellowship with God the Father all the time, so we live as God's children with each of us becoming a source of blessing for others.
One word: Immanuel
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