Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit as he delivered prophesies concerning the coming Messiah and his own newly arrived son. Even today, his words bring hope and reassurance in Jesus and God’s plan of salvation. Luke 1:68-75
“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
I love that he begins with the fact that Jesus was coming to redeem his people. Anyone who believes in Jesus belongs to Him and are His family, His people! Ephesians 1:5 “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Zechariah reminds us that Jesus, Messiah, was prophesied to be from the line of David and would be our Savior. John 7:24 “For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” In verses 71 and 74 Zechariah states that by sending this messiah God will save the people and rescue them from their enemies. He took this to be literally enemies, like Rome, but since he said the rescue enables us to serve God without fear, we can take this to mean all kinds of rescuing. This rescuing is from sin, oppression, and bondage both physically through eternal salvation and spiritually with freedom from the bondage of sin into which we were born. Lastly he reminds us that any freedom we receive from the Savior will be eternal in nature and allow us to serve God, filled by His righteousness and holiness.
What an encouraging message for us today. We can claim the hope and eternal salvation that Jesus offers and know that though Him we can serve God covered in His righteousness. Philippians 1:11 “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” and 1 Peter 1:13 “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.”
Jesus brings hope to the world!
Linda
Fearless Living 