Simeon...took the child [Jesus] in his arms and praised God, saying, “Sovereign Lord...I have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and He is the glory of your people Israel!” (Luke 2:28-32 NLT).
Sovereign God, in Your own goodness and perfection, You created a world that was very good—God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31). But humans rejected Your goodness and through their disobedience, introduced sin, and death, and destruction into Your perfect creation.
But even in the midst of their terrible fall from Your grace, You set in place a plan to bring rescue, and restoration, and reconciliation. You spoke Your grace-filled plan for redemption from the first terrible moment when humans became estranged from God—when You said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel” (Genesis 3:15)
And all through history You have continued to unfold Your wise and perfect plan even in the midst of human imperfections and human failings. You, Ancient of Days, are not constrained by time and space. Your Sovereign hand has guided the course of events to give to humanity the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
Because the world had become warped by sin, and because the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22), You prepared a pure and holy sacrifice for cleansing humanity. He would be revealed when the set time had fully come (Galatians 4:4).
And as You continued to guide events towards the revelation of Your salvation to all the world, You spoke Your promise to Abraham and later sealed it in covenant, "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (Genesis 18:18).
O God of promise, You are a covenant keeping God! We see in the gospel of Matthew the lineage of Your Messiah from Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17). Through all the ups and downs, the drama, the chaos, and even the sordid details of human events and human relationships, You delivered the Redeemer You had promised.
And we see Simeon, holding the young child Jesus, praising You for the Promised One—the One from the line of Abraham through whom all nations would be blessed—the salvation which You have prepared for all people—the light to reveal God to the nations—the glory of Your people Israel.
Thank You, Father for sending us Your light and Your glory!
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