“For unto you is born this day, a Savior Who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.” Luke 2:11. The second phrase, “A Savior, Who is Christ the Lord” is out of order in the English but in the proper order in the Greek. The first word is, ‘Savior’ (sotayr) not one who shall be a Savior, but One Who was born a Savior, a Deliverer, a Preserver. (Like, Matt. 2:2, “Where is He Who has been born, ‘King of the Jews?”) No one is born a king, you may be born into a kingly line, you may be born a prince, or born into a royal line, but you are not born a king, unless You were a king before your birth! First – He is a Savior because He saves us from the penalty of sin past; the power of sin present; and the presence of sin future. He is a mighty Savior! That little neonatal baby was the Savior of All-Mankind! He is not a temporal Savior, and He is not a Savior from mere temporal calamity in your life or mine either. He is also not a Savior such as the saviors among the Jewish people who saved them from their civil foes, liked the judges, but He is a Savior from spiritual evils. He saves us from spiritual darkness by His Word; and from the pollutions and power of sin by His merit and grace. He saves us from Satan’s bondage by His blood and from the from the powers of hell by becoming a curse for us and hanging on our ‘Christmas Tree’ namely, ‘The Cross of Calvary’ that we may obtain eternal life. His salvation my friend, extends to the body, soul and spirit for time and eternity! “Hallelujah, What A Savior!”

Second – He delivers us from the Evil one, Matt. 6:13; From the fear of death, which is the core of man’s existence, Heb. 2:15; From temptations, 2 Peter 2:9; And from the wrath of God to come, Rom. 5:9. II Cor. 1:10 says, “Who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver, in whom we trust that He will yet deliver.” He is our ‘Deliverer’ past, present and future!  Third – He preserves us blameless, I Thess. 5:23; He preserves us in Himself, Jude v.1; He preserves us by the power of God, I Peter 1:5; And He preserves us for His kingdom, II Tim. 4:18. A Savior; A Deliverer; A Preserver, for the whole world the (holos kosmos) “Which shall be to all people.” (You and Me) ‘Merry Christmas!’ Oh, how they needed One and Oh, how we need One, especially today, Amen? Jesus is this world’s only hope, only help, only Savior, only Deliverer, only Preserver! In John 14:6 Jesus Himself said, “I am the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life,  and no man can come unto the Father but through Me.” He is exclusively ‘THE’ only way there is, and the only ‘Christmas Present’ that really matters, and I trust you have that ‘Christmas Present!’ In fact in Acts 4:12, the writer, which most scholars agree is Luke says, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” No other name under heaven, that’s pretty exclusive. Listen carefully, if you are not a sinner, you don’t need Jesus, you can stop reading, but if you are, He is the only answer to your dilemma and mine, the only answer! Day Spring’s first Christmas card by Roy Lessing said, “When you get right down to it the only thing that really matters is, Jesus.” I have that in my home to remind me of the real reason for the season.

Who is this Savior, this (sotayr) that this angel announced from heaven? The verb in this verse is (estin) it is in the present tense and shows a state of being; A Savior Who ‘IS’ and always will ‘BE’ there for us! Amen! Who is what? Christ (the) Lord; the word ‘the’ is in italics which means it is not in the Greek and is added for clarification. So in the Greek, we just have (Christos Kurios) Christ Lord, Anointed Lord, Messiah Lord, or Lord Messiah. The Greek expositors and commentators are not really clear what it really means. (Did you get that? Read it again!) This construction is found no where else in the Bible. It occurs only one other time in the Older Testament in the Septuagint in Lam. 4:20. Nobody really knows what to do with this construction. The modern scholars go nuts with it. Now don’t make this difficult, the angel didn’t intend to for the ignorant shepherds in the fields. They didn’t have doctorates in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic and linguistics.

Christ or (Xristos) is Greek for, ‘Anointed One’ the Mashiach or the Messiah. As our anointed High Priest He intercedes for us Heb. 7:25 and as our Advocate, our Attorney General, He pleads our case before God’s throne, I John 1:2; Rev. 12:10. He is the Kinsman-Redeemer, The Deliverer, The Sin-Bearer. The way this is written without the definite article, Dr. Luke is stressing His character and His relationship with His disciples and followers. His character is one of Power and Authority – Lord, Master, Owner. His relationship to us is to be our Lord, Master, Owner in every area of our lives. Every Area! But is He your Lord and Master or just your Savior, Servant and Friend? Good question? “Why do you call Him, Lord, Lord but do not do the things that He says?” Is He really your Savior, your Deliverer, your Preserver? Then act like it; Live like it; Pray like it; Give like it! You know, in light of the cross, isn’t it a stinking shame you and I live the way we do?

Listen, He is either, ‘Lord of all or not Lord at all!’ The Greek word (Kurios) is the same as the Hebrew word for Jehovah or Adonai showing His deity, in Matt. 22:44 we see both words, LORD and Lord. Henry Alford said, “There is no other way of understanding this word (kurios – Lord) but as corresponding to the Hebrew word Jehovah.” Jesus used the word (Kurios) when speaking to His Heavenly Father in Matt. 4:7 and 10. What Luke is declaring is that (Christos) the Messiah is (Kurios) God which is plainly laid out for us in Isa. 7:14 and 9:6-7. Remember all the apostles had seen the resurrected Christ except Thomas and when Jesus appeared to him in John 20:28, he cried out, “My Lord (Kurios) and my God (Theos).” Salvation is absolutely, ‘FREE’ my friend, ‘FREE!’ Nothing is free in this world, you’re wrong, salvation is! It costs you nothing, but it cost God everything, every drop of blood in His Son’s veins. That ‘Christmas Gift’ was the costliest gift there ever was, but it’s free to anyone and everyone who will just reach up to His ‘Christmas Tree’ and receive it. You see, Christmas doesn’t come just one day a year, Christmas comes every time a sinner bows their heart in prayer; and prays these three simple words from their heart to the heart of God with sincerity, “Lord, Save, Me!” Peter prayed, ‘Lord save me’ and He did; The thief on the cross prayed, ‘Lord remember me’ and He did; The syrophenician woman prayed, ‘Lord help me’ and He did. If you pray, “Lord, Save Me” with all your heart and mean it, He will, and you will receive the greatest Christmas present of all time, and He comes with a full, no return guarantee.

So, the “Twelve Words Of Christmas” break down into three stanzas; Born Unto You Today; Savior Being Messiah Lord; But where? The City of David; (A poor casket to contain so great a Jewel) next time, for now…   “Between The Lines…”

“The Twelve Words Of Christmas”  ‘Part Two’