The Purpose Of Christmas, Part Two: "The Promise to Abraham Fulfilled" Luke 1:46-55

- Last time, in answer to the question, "What is the purpose of Christmas?" we talked about the promise of a son to establish God's eternal kingdom. We learned that God fulfills his promises in ways that defy human imagination. This week, as we continue to explore the purpose of Christmas, we're going to zero in on the significance of Mary's recitation, known as the Magnificat.

- Her song expresses her joy at the actions of God in her life not merely for her but for her people because of his promises.

- Why does Luke include Mary's Magnificat in his gospel, i.e., what is its significance to his readers? Let me suggest an answer: Mary's words point to Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.

- Now you might be wondering, "How do Mary's words point to Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham?" Well let's look at the last thing Mary said.

^{- 54} "He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
   to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

- So according to Luke, Mary believed that Gabriel's announcements to her and the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus' conception is God's help for Israel. She believed that God remembered his mercy. The promise of his mercy down through the centuries was a promise God first gave to Abraham to extend his mercy from generation to generation & through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.

- In these two verses, Mary is referring to the promises of God to Israel specifically to the historic promises of God to Abraham and to Abraham's offspring.

- Let's look at God's first promise to Abraham:

- ¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
²  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
³  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Gen 12:1-3 (ESV)

- Notice the last thing God said to Abraham, "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." God's intention in calling out a nation for himself and setting them aside to be his people was for them to be the light of the world through whom all the families of the earth would receive the blessing of God.

- A little later on in Abraham's story, before God changes his name from Abram to Abraham, we read that Abram still has no children. Following the rescue of Lot and after receiving the blessing of the priest Melchizedek, Abram receives a vision from God and we find a frustrated Abram interacting with God.

- ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
⁶ And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Gen 15:1-6 (ESV)

- Later on in the story, God makes a covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham. Abram means exalted father, but Abraham means father of a multitude. And God says to Abraham,

- ⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
Gen 17:7(ESV)

- sometime after the birth of Isaac, God commanded Abraham to take his only son into the land of Moriah and sacrifice him on the mountain that the Lord would show him. But God doesn't allow the sacrifice to be completed.

- ¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸ and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

- Now, the average reader will assume that God was referring to Abraham's physical/biological descendents and that is how these verses would normally be understood. But as we read in the apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians, we see that that is not how we are to understand God's promise to Abraham.

- ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, “And to seeds,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your seed,” who is Christ. Gal 3:16

- Since Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and since Christ is the seed/offspring of Abraham then all those who believe God will be counted as righteous and as Abraham's offspring through Jesus Christ. God's promises to Abraham are fulfilled through Christ.  Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son by faith is a picture of God's own willingness to give us Jesus, except that God went the whole way and allowed Jesus to die on a cross.

- Just as Abraham accepted God's word to him by faith, Mary also accepted God's word to her from Gabriel by faith. Not only is Jesus the offspring of Mary, but he is also Mary's offspring by faith. In the same way that God blessed Abraham with his son because of his faith, Mary also received the blessing of God and gave birth to a son through faith.

- What is the significance of Mary's Maginificat to Luke's readers?

- The significance of Mary's Magnificat to Luke's readers is that Mary's words point to Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. And not just God's promises to Abraham, but all of the promises of God.

- Remember what Mary said,

⁵⁴ "He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
   to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

- In remembrance of his mercy, God fulfills his promises to help Israel, promises which he gave to Abraham, his descendents and his offspring forever.

- Mary's words expressed her joy at the fulfillment of the promises of God as well as the fulfillment of those promises in her life, that she would be God's chosen instrument, the mother of the Messiah.

- Mary's words show us that she knew what we need to know, that the child in her womb is the fulfillment of all of God's promises.  Mary was looking forward to his arrival. Her son, who would soon be born, was the foremost thought in her mind. She was looking forward to his arrival with great joy.

- Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He is the fulfillment of God's promise to Eve that her offspring would crush the serpent's head. He is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that God would bless him and make him a blessing to all the families of the earth. He is the fulfillment of the promise of a prophet like Moses.

- Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to bear the sins of his people. He is the fulfillment of God's promise to restore Israel and his promise of light to the Gentiles.

- To Abraham, God promised to bless all the families and all the nations of the earth. 

- God has placed only one condition on the promise of his blessing, you must believe.

- All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.

- As Mary thought about the promises of God, as she considered the word of the angel Gabriel, and as she visited with her cousin Elizabeth she was moved to respond to God in worship.

- As we consider the promise of Jesus to return, as we consider the words God preserved for us in Scripture, and as we experience the work of God in our lives and the lives of others we also must be moved to respond to our God in worship as we contemplate his promises to us.

- All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.