Most parents have great ambitions and expectations for their children. The farmer wants at least one of his sons to farm the home place which has been in the family for three generations. The business man wants his children to run the business when he is gone. The professional wants his children to go into the same field and accomplish notable feats to the credit of the family name. Who of us does not want to see his children prosper?
When the virgin, Mary, received the promise of the angel that she would conceive a child supernaturally and bear a son, she was told that His name would be Jesus. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32, 33). What a future! What a blessing; a son to be king and to rule forever! How could one hope for so much for a son?
But that same angel also spoke of more immediate prospects for that son. In speaking to Joseph, Mary's fiancé, as we would identify him, the angel announced ". . . fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20, 21). The future king is to first be a Savior. That is not such happy news, though they may not have understood the full impact of the statement.
God tells us that ". . . the wages of sin is death . . ." (Romans 6:23). Again He tells us that "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20). Every sinner is under that death sentence. He must personally pay that penalty or have someone willing to pay it for him. For Jesus to save His people from their sins he had to die. In God's redemptive plan, Jesus was literally born to die.
And die He did. The apostle Paul wrote, ". . . Christ died for our sins according to the scrip- tures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3, 4). He died to save His people from their sins. He rose again to someday rule as king over the house of Jacob forever.
Dear reader, Jesus wants to save you from your sins today. He has died that you might be saved. He died for your sins, paying your penalty, that God could forgive you on the basis of the paid penalty. Won't you trust Him today as your own personal Savior? That Babe born in Bethlehem's manger will mean more to you than He ever has before. And you will never be the same for you will be a new creation in Christ, JESUS.