JESUS by Joy Margetts

 

Happy Christmas!

It has been an absolute joy to have my blog date fall on Christmas Day. This is the 4th time I have blogged on this date, and it is the last. In fact this is the last regular More Than Writers blog that I am going to share. You may see my name from time to time, as an occasional guest blogger, but the time has come for me to step back and make room for some new voices.

I have loved being a part of this blog and I want to thank every one of you who has read, liked and commented on my blogs. It has been a huge encouragement to me! 

I was wondering what to write as a farewell blog. I wonder if you will indulge me, as I think I would like to write about the One whose birthday it is. None of us would be here without Him, and it is all about Him and for Him.

The following is an extract from Christ Illuminated, my Advent Devotional based on the names of Jesus in the Bible.

JESUS

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus,

for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21

Why was Jesus given the name Jesus? Well because that was the name God chose for Him! We know this because He told both Mary and Joseph, independently, through the words of their Angel messengers, that Jesus was to be his name (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31). And Jesus is what they named Him, on the occasion of His circumcision. ‘His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.’ Luke 2:21

God didn’t leave His Son’s name to chance or to the will of men. It is interesting that the God who allowed Adam to name the animals, made sure that He, and He alone, named His Son. In fact ‘Jesus’ might have been a popular choice. It would not have been an uncommon name; we know of at least two other Jesus’ mentioned in the New Testament.

Names in the Jewish tradition are important and it would have been so in Jesus’ time. The name a child was given was believed to endue them with character traits, or to reflect what they were to become. It was much more than a title and was believed to capture a person’s true essence. The name God chose, Jesus,  is the Greek version of the Hebrew ‘Joshua’, or in full ‘Jehoshua’. And it means ‘Yahweh is Salvation’.

When you look up the word ‘salvation’, or ‘Yeshuah’ in the Hebrew Old Testament, it speaks of deliverance from harm, protection, help, victory, security. It is even translated in some places as ‘welfare’ or ‘prosperity’.

The Angel told Joseph that Jesus would ‘save His people from their sins’. That is indeed what Jesus came to do. Through His death and resurrection He would provide a way for people to be saved from the consequences of sin – eternal separation from God the Father. But the idea of salvation in the Scriptures is not of a once and for all occurrence.  We could say ‘Jesus saved me’ and look back to a specific moment when we submitted our lives to Him. But the Psalmist talks of God being His salvation (Psalm 62:7) and also asks Him to be his salvation (Psalm 79:9). Salvation is a past, present and future thing.

Jesus has the power to save us, by offering us forgiveness through His once and forever sacrifice. We come to Him in faith, believing He died and rose again. We ask Him to forgive us and become the Lord of our lives, and we are ‘saved’ (Romans 10:9-10). But we also continue to live in that salvation, in the sense that He still provides deliverance, protection, security, help and victory for us. And one day, in the future, our salvation will be complete. Sin and death will be no more, and all the things that cause us pain in this life will no longer have any power over us (1 Corinthians 15 : 54-55, Revelation 7:16-17). Jesus is our eternal salvation and we will know complete victory in Him.

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Ask Yourself : Have I ever asked Jesus to be my Saviour? If I have, have I made Him Lord of my life? Am I living in the reality of His salvation.

 Ask God :  Help me, Jesus, to make this Christmas all about You, to make you Lord of all that I do in celebrating Your birth.

 Pray : Thank You Jesus, that You fully embodied the name that God chose for You. Thank you for being my salvation, past, present and future. Thank You that I can look to You for protection, deliverance, help and victory in every area of my life on earth. Thank You that my salvation will be fully perfected in heaven.

Thank You for Christmas and that every year we have the opportunity to remember Your coming to earth. Thank You that You came to bring salvation, not just to me, but to any who will believe on Your name. Help me to keep You at the centre of all things as we celebrate Your birth. Help me to tell others about just how amazing a Saviour You are. Thank You Jesus.

Amen.

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God's redemptive power. Her debut novel 'The Healing' was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.

'The Pilgrim', her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, 'The Bride', published on 20th October 2023. Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, 'Christ Illuminated' was published in September 2023.

'The Stranger', her fourth full length novel was published 22 November 2024 by Broad Place Publishing.