December 9, 2024

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1:31–33, nasb)

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Gabriel, a super-soldier in the warfare against Satan, made an announcement that turned the world upside down. This archangel, a “prince of God,” was chosen to be the courier of a three-part announcement. First, Mary would have a son in fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, “a virgin will be with child and bear a son.” Second, Gabriel announced Jesus’s greatness. And third, Gabriel announced Jesus’s eternal reign described in Isaiah 9:6–7: “For a Child will be born to us . . . the government will rest on His shoulders. . . . There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace . . . justice and righteousness . . . forevermore.”

What does Gabriel’s announcement mean to us this Christmas? First, God does the impossible. Nothing we are experiencing or facing is out of the realm of possibility for the Lord. His announcements are supernatural. Embrace them. They are divine, not dependent on natural processes. Second, for our Savior, Jesus, to redeem us, the unthinkable took place . . . God became man. Satan turned every part of his degraded mind and kingdom toward destruction of this child (Revelation 12:1–7). He failed! Soon, Christ will administer the ultimate blow to the evil one (Revelation 19–20). Jesus wins! Third, as surely as Jesus was born, He will return to establish His perfect government with justice and righteousness. His kingdom, unlike human kingdoms, “will have no end.” This, too, is the message of Christmas.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
John Newton, “Amazing Grace”

 

Dr. Larry J. Waters
(1946–2018)