The primary task of Jesus coming to the earth was to deliver his people from their sin.   ~~~   Matthew 1:20-21 “As he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, don to fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus…” Wouldn’t you have loved to been a fly on the wall when Joseph and Mary sat down for the first time after Joseph’s dream? “Mary, you’re not going to believe what happened to me last night!” And as they listen to each other’s story, because Mary had received an angelic visitor as well, their eyes grow big and fill with tears as they realize what is unfolding in their very lives. “Mary, we have to name him Jesus, because he is going to be a savior.” Would he command thousands of soldiers in order to rescue the Jews from the Romans? Would he be a political revolutionary? Just how would he be a savior? Now don’t miss the significance of the words that come next. He will save his people from their sins. Those last three words “from their sins,” would send shockwaves through that original audience. They had longed for hundreds of years for a Savior. They were anxiously awaiting someone to rise up and deliver them from the clutches and oppression of the Romans. You see, in their minds, what they needed to be saved from was something always outside of themselves. Other people’s evil; other people’s oppression upon them. But this Jesus would save them from themselves. He would save them from their sins. And knowing that purpose of Jesus gave them pause, and should give us pause as well. It should give us pause because we are much like the Jews in thinking that the problem with our lives exists outside of us. If this house was better, if they would stop that, or fix that, if I had these friends, if she would just do this, if I could just purchase that, then I would be happy and rescued and all of life would be great. But you know that’s not true because you have been chasing those things all of your life. You have tried the change of the exterior, but it does not quiet the soul. The primary task of Jesus coming to the earth was to deliver his people from the bondage of their sin. He will save his people from their sin. We need a Savior who can cure us from the curse of sin, who can deliver us from the wages of sin, who can deliver us from the power of sin, who can save us from sin, and that someone is not you. Jesus saves His people from their sins because Jesus takes the consequences of His people’s sins upon Himself. He is sacrificed on their behalf; He receives the punishment that they deserve. And it is an acceptable sacrifice because Jesus was pure and perfect, and had no sin of his own. And this is the transaction that takes place—when a person confesses their sinfulness, admits their guilt, and receives by faith the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection, then they are saved from their sins. Jesus’ death for sin becomes effectual for them. They will not face the eternal consequences of their sins. Those sins were judged and punished in Jesus Christ. They are saved, pulled from the prison of sin, and released to walk and live with God in the new life granted to them by God.