KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES || Lesson 9 

KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES – Lesson Nine

KNOWING THE GOD OF MIRACLES AS SAVIOR:

Luke 1:46-47 – ⁴⁶And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) was sung by Mary on her visit to Elizabeth at “a town in the hill country of Judea.”  Prior to that, at “Nazareth, in the town of Galilee,” she had been told the following by the angel Gabriel.

Luke 1:30-31 – ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

The name Jesus – Matthew 1:20-21 – ²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

[NIV note: Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD saves.]

This was confirmed by an angel at Jesus’ birth:  Luke 2:8-11 – ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

As Savior, Jesus is the giver of the “new birth.”  In the previous lesson we focused on Nicodemus as a recipient of the “new birth.” In this lesson we will be referring to the Samaritan Woman and the other Samaritans who were also recipients.  See John 4:1-30, 39-42. Note V.22 – You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Re “for salvation is from the Jews” – Compare V.39-42 – ³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”  ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

… and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world – Fulfillment of Isaiah 25:9 (NRSV) – It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.   Compare John 4:25-26 – ²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

The Savior of the world – Note:  Acts 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 10:43 – All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 13:26, 38-39 – ²⁶“Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

³⁸“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  ³⁹Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Romans 5:18 – Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.    

Romans 10:12-13 – ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6 – ⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.

Titus 2:11-14 – ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Application:  Let us thank the GOD OF MIRACLES in accordance with 2 Corinthians 9:15 – Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!