Christmas - Matthew 1:21

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

It seems to me that one of the barriers to people following Jesus is that He came into our world to save us from our sins and our response that “I do not need saving”.

No one likes to admit their faults. We all mess up. But aren’t we all good people, trying to to live a good life, doing good things and being good, generally speaking? Yes, but…..

Occasionally, we lose our temper. Occasionally, we suffer from jealously. Occasionally, we struggle with addictions. Occasionally, we speak harshly. Occasionally, we forget to really care.

You get the picture. You see, we all have sinned…

But most of the time, we are good. Right?

The problem is that it doesn’t matter how much good we do, we cannot fix or solve or forget or erase those other occasional times when we fall short, or miss the mark, or sin.

Its impossible.

Jesus came that we might be saved from our sins and other such occasional lapses of judgment.

Saved from the need to be perfect. Saved from the need to be right. Saved from the need to be everyone to anyone. Saved from the need to be our own God.

And that is Jesus - the King of kings and Lord of lords - He saves us from our sin. Freely forgiven through the grace and mercy of the Lord.

Perhaps the biggest free gift of all eternity - the biggest Christmas gift ever. That is that Jesus came to save us.

Jesus is the gift of Christmas.