‘Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been
fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who
from the first were eye witnesses and servants of the word.’
Luke 1:1-2
I love Luke’s introduction to his gospel. He gets right to the point of
saying what he’s doing: he's writing about how God has fulfilled his
promises to Israel through Jesus Christ.
A short word on God’s promises to Israel. Long before Luke wrote his
gospel, God told Abraham to leave his country and go to the place God
would show him. God promised that he would bless Abraham and his
descendants, protecting them against their enemies, and that through
Abraham’s lineage all peoples on earth would be blessed.
It is this promise, Luke writes in his gospel, that has been fulfilled
in Jesus, who is a descendent of Abraham. Through Jesus, God has blessed
Israel, delivering Israel from its enemies. Through Jesus, God has
blessed all peoples.
But this fulfilment of God’s promises did not stop in Luke’s time. We
believe that God’s promises are still being fulfilled today through all
who live in Jesus Christ. Through the church, which is Christ’s body,
God desires to continue blessing all peoples.
As we study God’s work this Advent, especially in the lives of
Zechariah, Elizabeth and Mary, I pray that we notice God’s work in our
own lives – the ways God has blessed us through Jesus, and is calling us
to bless the people and world we know.
What promises is God fulfilling among us, even today?
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