Savior Archives - Marissa Henley

Unto You a Savior is Born! {No Matter What Monday}

December 24, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Every December, I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with my kids. We sit by the Christmas tree and read about how everything went wrong, starting with Mrs. Armstrong’s broken leg and ending with the Herdmans bringing their ham to the baby Jesus. (That part always makes me cry!)

When we get to the line that the feisty Gladys Herdman screams at the trembling shepherds, my kids and I love to yell it together: “Hey! Unto you a child is born!”

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

Many of us have heard these words so many times that we fail to recognize how bizarre, how profound, how amazing they truly are.

When the angel says to the shepherds that unto them a child is born, that had to be shocking news. (And not just because it was delivered by an angel in the middle of the night.) Shepherds weren’t celebrities or powerful rulers or the religious elite. And yet, this Savior was born to them. Christ’s arrival was turning all the social norms upside down.

Next, the angel says the child is born this day in Bethlehem. The birth of the Son of God was an actual event in history, on a specific day, in a specific place. It unfolded according to centuries-old prophecy so there would be no doubt Who this baby truly was.

Then the angel delivers the really good news: this baby is a Savior, Christ the Lord, the promised and long-awaited Messiah. But He’s not only divine. He’s human, born of a woman, a baby lying in the animals’ feeding trough.

The shepherds knew the only appropriate response to this bizarre news was to run to the baby Messiah. I pray that no matter what you face this week, you will run to your Savior and Lord in worship and praise.

Merry Christmas, friends. Unto you a child is born!

God Sent His Son to Adopt You {No Matter What Monday}

December 17, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Smiling family members sitting by a lighted tree, a fire roaring in the fireplace, hands wrapped around mugs of hot cocoa as you sing “Joy to the World” together? Kids dashing downstairs at dawn to find everything they ever wanted under the tree? Or maybe you think of the family members you’ll be missing this Christmas because you’re separated by distance, disagreement, or death. Perhaps your Christmas memories are painful, your current holiday situation is stressful, or your joy is clouded by the sadness of friends and family who are walking through the holidays without a loved one.

No matter where your family falls on the spectrum from delightful to dysfunctional, Christ was born to redeem you and bring you into God’s family.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

This is why Jesus came. Not just to heal the blind and change water into wine. Not only to tell us how to love others. Not to start a new religion. He was God’s Son, born of a woman to redeem those who were under the law. We were living under the curse of our inability to keep God’s law, so Jesus came to redeem us with His perfect life and to die in our place.

And as He redeemed us, we were adopted into God’s family. As God’s children, we are loved fully and perfectly. Not because we are good children, but because we have a good Father. No matter how messy our earthly family interactions get, we can rest in our Father’s love demonstrated to us in our redemption and adoption through Christ.

No matter what you face this week, you have been redeemed and adopted because God sent forth His Son.

God Has Proven That He Will Provide {No Matter What Monday}

September 17, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

When I was waaaay too young, I went on a date to a theme park with a boy who was also waaaay too young. The boy had saved his money for months to pay for my ticket and my meals that day. But I didn’t show up empty-handed. I had a couple of twenties stuffed in the pocket of my shorts, just in case. I didn’t trust a 12-year-old kid to provide for my needs for several hours.

Sometimes my confidence in God’s ability to provide falters, too. My needs are many. My needs are significant. My needs seem unending . . . And those are just the needs that I’m aware of! Surely no one can provide all that I need.

But right after Paul tells us in Romans 8:31 that God is for us, he writes that God has proven that He will provide:

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

God didn’t make an empty promise to provide for us. He proved it. Paul makes an argument here from the greater to the lesser. If God has sacrificed that which was most costly to Him—His own Son—we can have confidence that He will give us all the lesser things we need.

Do you wonder if God will give you strength to face your suffering? Look at Jesus and know that He will.

Do you wonder if God will give you wisdom in your pressing dilemma? Look at Jesus and know that He will.

Do you wonder if God will give you forgiveness and mercy when you can’t pull it together? Look at Jesus and know that He will.

Because God is all-powerful and in control, He is able to provide for you. Because God is faithful and loves you, He can be trusted to keep His promise to provide. God did not spare His own Son. He gave Him up for you. You can count on Him to not only have everything you need but also graciously give you all things.

No matter what you face this week, God has proven He will provide.

The Risen Christ Conquered Death {No Matter What Monday}

April 2, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I’ll never forget the look of joy on his little 3-year-old face when he heard the news. My first-born, Christopher, was eating breakfast at the kitchen table when he started asking questions about Jesus. He had heard repeatedly that Jesus had died on the cross for his sins. But apparently we had failed to mention one crucial piece of information – Jesus didn’t stay dead. When I mentioned that Jesus rose from the dead, his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed, “Jesus is ALIVE?!?” He clapped his hands exuberantly and shouted, “Yaaaaaay!”

It was such a joy to witness the moment my son first learned the good news of the resurrection. He realized for the first time that death didn’t win. Jesus isn’t still in the grave. He is risen!

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep . . . “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:20 and 55, NIV)

Friend, this is good news: Jesus is alive! He isn’t just a suffering Savior who died in your place but a reigning King who conquered the power of death. Yes, He took the punishment for your sin and freed you from its guilt. But He also rose victorious over the ultimate enemy. We read in Revelation 1:18 that Jesus holds the keys to death and hades. Death has no power over Him.

Our risen Savior is the firstfruits of the resurrection. “Firstfruits” implies that there are more resurrection fruits to come! When He stepped out of the grave, He made a way for us to have new life in Him now and eternal life with Him forever. Death has no power over Him, and it also has no power over those of us who are in Christ.

And so even though we feel the pain and sting of death here temporarily, we can look at the empty grave and say with Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Jesus Christ took the sting of death for us, so we wait eagerly for the day when we feel it no more.

No matter what you face this week, the risen Christ conquered death for us.