Christmas Series 2022: "Prophecy and Promises" - Luke 2:21-40

The entire physical universe was created for God’s glory. When we rebelled, the universe fell under the weight of our sin. Yet God did not give up on us. God is not some hapless inventor whose creation failed. He has a masterful plan. In fact, from before the creation of the world, before the beginning of time, God had a plan to redeem the world through the atoning work of his Son, Jesus. All who are in Christ would be conformed to His image, and adopted as children of God. The message throughout the Old and New Testaments is the promise of a Savior, that Savior is Jesus. Salvation is not the work of humanity, it is the work of God through Christ. As we continue our study in Luke's gospel, we know that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, had been born. The long- awaited promised good news had been announced (1:26–38), affirmed (1:39–56), and arrived (2:1–20). We are looking at Luke chapter 2 and verses 21 through 40, in which Luke produces testimony to the identity of the child, testimony from His parents, Joseph and Mary, testimony from an old man named Simeon, and an old woman named Anna. This is important for this testimony to be given because the Old Testament law required that all truth be confirmed by two or three witnesses, credible, trustworthy witnesses. Her we have righteous Joseph and Mary, righteous Simeon, and righteous Anna, to give testimony to the fact that the child born in Bethlehem is indeed the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and so we're looking at this testimony. These faithful believers had, for a long time, anticipated the arrival of God’s promised Messiah. They now experienced what they had been so longingly expecting. Therefore, they celebrated. But this led them to anticipate again. For with the arrival of Messiah, greater things were still to come, not only in the city of Jerusalem, but throughout the nation of Israel and in all the nations.