Amid the rising uncertainly and fear that has swept across the world in recent years is the steady and growing sense that the world’s problems have almost become too large and complex to solve.

Deepening financial chaos, seismic shifts in the geo-political landscape, the escalating violence and corruption—they all seem to cry out for someone who can swiftly step into the global fray and bring a lasting solution.

It’s almost as if the world is looking for, shall we say, a savior.

Of course, we know that the Bible says that events like these will set the stage for the appearance of the antichrist, which in turn only serves to prepare for the triumphant return of the one true Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I love the word Savior. It’s one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever known, because it so aptly describes the glorious person and work of Jesus.

When the angel appeared to startled shepherds on a chilly night in the hills outside Bethlehem, he heralded this long-awaited announcement: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

The Babe that Mary cradled was the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, the Lord and Master of Heaven and earth, the one true Savior who had stepped out of eternity and into time to save His people from their sins.

The Apostle John said this: “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). The Apostle Paul described the incarnation of the Son as “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4). The Samaritans who came to believe in Christ following His encounter with the woman at the well exclaimed, “We know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

The world in Christ’s day was a dark and dangerous place. Like many today, the Jews believed the promised Messiah would rescue them from political oppression and injustice. But the Savior came to deliver from the greatest tyranny of all—the deadly rule and reign of sin that holds every man captive.

The deliverance came through the violent, sacrificial death of our Lord on a Roman cross. There the Savior bore the full wrath and fury of God the Father against sin—our sin—and made it possible for God and man to be reconciled. At the cross, the Savior conquered sin and Satan, bringing salvation to all who now put their trust in Him for forgiveness of sin.

Near the end of his life, at age 82, John Newton the former slave-trader who came to know and experience God’s amazing grace, was asked what he recalled about his life. He replied, “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior.”

The Gospel is the Good News of the Savior who has already come to set His people free from their sins. It is the Good News that He will come again—I pray it will be soon—to establish His Kingdom through the “appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

May the love and comfort of the one, eternal Savior comfort and strengthen you this Christmas as you celebrate His birth, experience His resurrection life and eagerly await His return.

Come, Lord Jesus. D

All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version.