October 27, 2025 - Luke 2:11 - "Jesus the Savior"

Luke 2:11

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD."

Here we have the divine birth announcement—God’s own declaration of the coming of His Son into the world. The angel’s words to the shepherds echo through all of redemptive history: "a Savior, which is Christ the LORD." Simple, yet infinitely profound. Short, yet containing the sum of the Gospel. Jesus—Whose very name means “Savior”—is called "Savior, Christ, and LORD". These titles reveal His Person, His purpose, and His power. The Gospel in one verse: Who He is, why He came, and what He accomplished.

The Reality of the Savior’s Birth

“Unto you is born this day.” This is not myth, legend, or allegory—it is history. God entered time and space. Peter said, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables,” (2 Peter 1:16). The Eternal Word Who was “with God” and “was God” (John 1:1) was “born this day.” The One Who is “from everlasting to everlasting” took on human flesh. "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16).

This is the Good News of God’s sovereign grace embodied in a Person—Jesus Christ the LORD. Promised from the beginning, He is that Seed of the woman Who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). Through all the types, shadows, and prophecies of the Old Testament, the promise pointed to this moment—"born in Bethlehem, the city of David." How fitting that He should be born in Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” for He is the Living Bread come down from heaven (John 6:51). God moved kings and empires to bring Joseph and Mary to that appointed place. Caesar Augustus issued his decree, but it was God’s decree that ruled it all. He Who rules the universe brought His Son to be born in a lowly stable, laid in a manger—God manifest in the flesh.

And who first heard the announcement? Not kings, not rulers, but shepherds—lowly men watching their flocks by night. The message was personal: “Unto you is born this day.” Grace is always personal, never general. It is sovereign grace that calls by name. Not “unto Caesar,” not “unto the mighty of this world,” but “unto you.” What mercy, that God would reveal His Son to poor sinners!

The Identity of the Savior

“A Savior, which is Christ the LORD.” He did not come to offer salvation, but to accomplish it. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Not might save, not try to save—but shall save. Salvation is not a mere possibility; it is a certainty, founded in His finished work.

He did not come to be a teacher, a reformer, or a revolutionary. He came to save. From what? From sin—its guilt, its power, its penalty, and one day, its presence. “He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Christ is the Anointed One—the Messiah. As the Prophet, He reveals God to His people; as the Priest, He represents His people before God; as the King, He rules and defends them. In Him alone are the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King perfectly united. Salvation is not man’s achievement; it is God’s accomplishment. Don’t ask, “When did you get saved?” Ask, “When did God save you?”—and the answer is, when Christ died for His people.

The Supremacy of the Savior

He is Christ the LORD -- LORD in Bethlehem, LORD in the manger, LORD on the cross, LORD in the tomb, LORD in resurrection, and LORD in glory. The Child Who lay in the feeding trough was upholding the universe by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). The Creator nursed at His mother’s breast—sustaining her even as she sustained Him. To call Him LORD is to bow to His sovereignty. “No man can say that Jesus is LORD but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Many may say “Jesus is LORD,” but only those taught by the Spirit truly know what that means—that Salvation is of the LORD, from beginning to end.

He is not waiting to reign; He reigns now. All whom the Father gave Him shall come to Him, and none shall be lost (John 6:37). The One born in Bethlehem, crucified on Calvary, risen from the dead, and ascended on high is ruling all things according to His eternal purpose (Philippians 2:11).

So we bow before Him—Jesus the Savior, Christ the LORD—and confess with joy that salvation is His work alone. He shall save His people from their sins was forward-looking to the cross, but now we can say, He HAS saved His people from their sins by His finished work at the cross. He is LORD and to Him belongs all glory, now and forever.