A grand design

As Mary and Joseph were finalizing their guest list and choosing their wedding cake, she gave him the totally disconcerting news that she, a virgin, was pregnant.

Assuming that she had been unfaithful to him, as any logical person would have done, Joseph was about to break off their engagement. But as he pondered how to proceed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him not to fear taking Mary as his wife, and that the child she was carrying was from the Holy Spirit.

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:21

This miracle was the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies, God-inspired predictions about the Messiah, the Savior or "chosen one, anointed one" mentioned many times in the Old Testament.

From the moment of his conception, Jesus' purpose was clear: to save his people from their sins, because even before creating the world, God wanted to save it.

Isn't it interesting that you don't choose the time, place, maternal body or family of your birth? Yet God wanted you here for a very specific purpose.

Indeed, you have been grafted into a history that has been written since the beginning of time. And so you are offered the timeless grace of being freed from the chains of sin and from a debt that cannot be repaid.

What is sin?

It's choosing to do our will rather than God's. Sin is rebellion against God's plans and purposes. We've all done it. We've all failed by the standards of divine justice. That's why he sent Jesus, because he loved us so much.

Like a soldier who sacrifices his life for his family, friends or country, Jesus gave his to save the world.

If you haven't yet accepted the free gift of salvation, today may be your day and this moment may be yours. You can't do anything to earn it, but you can come to Christ, simply as you are.

Pasteur Clémentine