Sunday, December 18, 2005

I am Salvation: the Promise of Christmas

I am Salvation. Not me. Yeshua. The name Yeshua, Hebrew for "Jesus," is a derivative of Joshua, which derives from Hoshua. Hoshua means "salvation." Moses changed Hoshua's name to "Joshua" (Numbers 13:16) which mean "God is salvation." And God -- who identified himself to Moses as "I am who I am" -- named his son Yeshua, which means, "I am salvation." Matthew 1:19-25 tells the story. Mary's fiance Joseph is dismayed by her pregnancy. An angel appears to assure him that the baby is God's doing. He then instructs Joseph to name the baby Jesus, "because he will save his people from their sins" (v. 21). He will save the people from their sins. From. We don't have stay stuck in sin! And when we are, we repent by turning from sin and back to Jesus. Pastor Roger preached on the birth names of God's son this morning. Jesus actually had two names. While God named Yeshua "I am salvation," the people of Israel recognized him as Immanuel, which means, "God with us" (v. 23, quoting Isaiah 7:14). I preached on Isaiah 7 last year at UYWI. Check it here, "A Place of Hope."

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