A Very Merry COVID ChristmasSample

Praise God—You Are Saved

I almost got crushed by a monster truck.

As a distance runner, I love lacing up my shoes, popping in my headphones, and rocking out to my “Run Fast” playlist as I put in a few miles before work. About a half mile from my house, however, is a busy intersection that I have to cross twice in order to get to my favorite running trail. One particular day, I thought I had timed the stoplight perfectly, catching it just in time to scurry across without stopping. 

But I didn’t see the truck.

Right when I was in the middle of the street, I glanced to my left and noticed that the light was bright green, not the red that I had assumed. Snapping my head to the right, I found my face just a few feet from the mammoth grill of an oversized truck (the kind with tires as big as the stone that closed Jesus’ tomb).

Thankfully, I didn’t die (in case you were wondering). Thankfully, I didn’t even get scratched. Thankfully, the driver saw me and stopped before it was too late. In that moment, when I realized what had just happened, realized what was this close to happening, I felt the absolute relief of being . . . saved.

As Christians, it’s easy to get used to the word saved. We rightfully repeat, “Jesus saves!” and, “By grace we are saved!” and, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” But the word, at its very root, requires emotion. After all, if you were saved, that meant you were in danger of something unthinkable.

I shudder to think about what might have happened the morning of my run. I could have been paralyzed. My wife could have gotten a call from the police without the chance to say goodbye to her husband. My daughters could have gone through their teenage years without their biological father. Even now, from the warmth of my church office, I get choked up thinking of what might have been.

The same is true with Jesus. Think of what would have happened without him. If the Savior hadn’t been born, he couldn’t have died. And if he didn’t die, we would have had to deal with our own sin. And since we can’t undo the sins that we have done, we would have had to stand before the Judge who sees and knows all, the God who hates every sin more than we have ever hated anything.

What would have happened to us? No God to go through life with. No God to enjoy in the life to come. No Immanuel—God with us—ever. I’m trying to imagine going through corona or cancer or Christmas without God. I’m trying to imagine eternity without his presence and his blessing.

But—praise be to God!—we are saved! We’re rescued from the danger of being distant from God. “You heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). The true message that God revealed, the good news of the Bible, is about “your salvation.” Your deliverance from danger. The God who had the right to the green light put on the brakes of grace so that you would be safe. 

This Christmas, as you see pictures of your Savior in a manger, please remember what his title means. Savior means, “He saves.” 

And nothing in all eternity is more important than that.