Luke 1:26-33 - The Greatest Announcement Ever Given!

Today we are looking at the greatest announcement ever given or heard by the human race! Can you imagine the excitement that was experienced by everyone in America, and the world for that matter, on May 8, 1945, when the radios and newspapers announced the news that Germany had surrender, and a few months later on September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered bringing World War II to an end. Over 400,000 Americans gave their lives to secure our nation’s freedom. What a great announcement that brought great rejoicing and excitement to millions of people of that day.   But my friend, I’m convinced that the greatest announcement that the world has ever heard was two-thousand years ago in the little town of Nazareth given by the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl by the name of Mary. The angel first showed up six months earlier to give a message to Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son that they would name John, who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. That was a wonderful announcement for them, but the announcement to Mary was one that would change the world forever.   In verses 30-31 we read: “Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.” The Apostle Paul would later write in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”   That the “Mighty God”, stripped of His glory, and still be glorious in His weakness, by becoming Jesus the “Lowly Child”, in a mystery beyond comprehension God in measuring the depth of man's sin and his need could only meet that need by the gift of His only Son. “You shall call His name JESUS.” Jesus means Savior. As a Savior He saves from our sin, our self and from “this present evil world”.   Jesus came to save us from sin. Joseph was told by the angel Matthew 1:20-21,20, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."  Yes, Jesus came to save us from the defiling and condemning power of sin. Only Jesus can save us from the guilt and bitterness of sin. Only Jesus can save us from the love of sin. And only Jesus can save us from penalty of sin which is the “second death” in the lake of fire for eternity (1 Thess. 1:10; Revelation 20:11-15). Jesus saves from sin by putting Himself between the sinner and his guilt (Isaiah 53).   Jesus came to save us from self. Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  The I is to be crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed (Romans 6:6). Self-wisdom, self-effort, and self-righteousness are all enemies from which we need to be delivered, and from which we are saved when Jesus reigns within.   And Jesus came to save us from this present evil world. By being crucified with Christ we are crucified to the world and the world to us (Galatians 6:14). The Cross of Christ comes between us and our sins, between us and the flesh, and between us and the world. Did not our Lord pray that we should be kept from the evil? (John 17:15). Galatians 1:3-5, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”   Yes, my friend, Jesus is mighty to save! The angel begins this announcement with the word, “Rejoice”! Are you rejoicing today in Jesus and His salvation?   God bless!