The Encourager
“When God Came Near - Jeff Curtis”
When God Came Near
Jeff Curtis
At the most basic level, the Gospel accounts are written presentations of the good news that God intervened in the world to rescue from sin and its consequences anyone who would accept His offer. He did this through His Son, the Messiah, a descendent of David. The commonly used word for this deliverance is “salvation.” Luke’s account emphasizes this theme from the beginning. We see some of its most important aspects in the account of Mary in chapter one.
Salvation: Because God Reigns. Like Matthew and Mark, Luke emphasizes that the events bringing salvation occurred because God was beginning His long-promised reign in the world. Both the verb “reign” and the noun form “kingdom” are used in Luke 1:33; “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Luke’s account also expresses the idea in other terms. In 1:28, Gabriel told Mary, “The Lord is with you.” In 1:35, he told her the she would conceive, then explained “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Mary also learned that the aged Elizabeth had conceived because “nothing will be impossible with God” (1:36,37). In 1:46-56, Mary exalted the Lord in words emphasizing His mercy, mighty deeds, and control over events. These points of emphasis remind us that we shouldn’t minimize God’s reign as we think about and declare the good news of salvation.
Salvation: About God’s Glory. Throughout Mary’s hymn of praise, chapter one makes it clear that only God should receive the glory for salvation. Three verses show this. In 1:46, Mary began her praise to God for what He was doing through he by declaring, “My soul magnifies the Lord” (ESV). The word rendered “exalts” in the NASB, refers to greatness. In 1:49, Mary used another form of the word, to reaffirm the “great things” the “Mighty One” was doing for her. She also praised His holiness (Psalm 99:3; 103:1; 111:9; Isaiah 57:15). In 1:50, citing Psalm 103:7, she added praise for God’s “mercy.” Mary’s praise reminds us that we must guard against the tendency to over-emphasize our own ideas and accomplishments. Without God, we are nothing.
Salvation: Because God Acts in History. Mary conceived while still a virgin because God took the initiative to enter the world to do what needed to be done for humanity’s salvation (Luke 1:27,34,35,37). He was completing what He had promised and begun in the Old Testament. From conception through death, Jesus experienced the lot of every person (Heb. 2:9-18). In His resurrection, He led the way to what is possible for every person (1Cor. 15:20-23). Paul emphasized that Jesus, God’s Son, was the first of a new creation (Romans 8:16,17; 2Cor. 5:17).
God’s power is available to us today (Eph. 1:19-23), both for our sanctification (1Cor. 1:30; 1Thess.4:1-8; Heb. 12:14) and our work of evangelism (Acts 1:8). To benefit fully from His power, we must remember three things: God’s rule, God’s glory, and God’s aim to change the world by getting involved in the lives of mankind.
