In His Name Devotionals
SEEING JESUS
In His Name Devotionals
SEEING JESUS
“For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;” (Luke 2:30, 31)
Simeon saw in Jesus the means of deliverance which God now gives to the world, through Christ. The word ‘prepared’ is connected with this sense of salvation, denoting an apparatus fitted to save, i.e., we make ready an apparatus. This is an utterance of very remarkable faith. Simeon held in his arms a little child only a few weeks old, weak and helpless, to all appearance, as any other little child, and yet he discerned in this child the salvation of God.
Jesus, our salvation:
(1) He brings from God the news and promise of salvation.
(2) He lives a perfect life, showing us what salvation is.
(3) He instructs us as to salvation and the means to attain it.
(4) He urges upon us every possible motive for seeking salvation.
(5) He sends the Holy Spirit, who changes our nature, and thus works out the salvation in us.
(6) He speaks to us from personal knowledge of God, of His love, His care, His readiness to forgive, His nearness to men, His fatherhood.
He tells us about Heaven and immortal life from His own experience. Only the Son of God could possibly make atonement for sin. Only He has power to save us at all times and in all places, to be our ever-present example, our infallible guide.
Verse 32 says, “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Only a salvation that was for all peoples, classes, races, and nations, could be a divine salvation. The success of the Gospel in all lands, its meeting the wants of all classes and nations, is one of the strongest proofs of its divine origin. This ‘proof’ of the Gospel, given us by modern day mission work, is alone worth to the churches of Christ thousands of times more than all mission work might cost.
Simeon saw the little baby Jesus as God’s salvation. Jesus is truly the light of the world! Light is mysterious in nature, ineffably bright and glorious, everywhere present, swift-winged, undefiled, and undefilable. Light is the source of life, beauty, manifested reality, warmth, comfort, and joy; of health and power. It destroys all darkness; unites in itself purity and cleanness. Without it the world would be but a mess of coldness and death. What light does for the natural world, Jesus Christ does for the world of man, for mind, soul and spirit. Wherever Jesus is received there come the blessings of light on all forms of moral darkness; exposing the deeds of darkness, making their removal possible. The revelations of the light, where all seemed quiet and serene, make some think the world is growing worse; but on the contrary they are a sign that it is growing better, as the mud of spring is a sign that the winter is over and summer draws nigh. It was when Jesus had described the awful days of evil and calamity coming upon the world that He said to His disciples, THEN LOOK UP, AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH. How do you see Jesus?
