Walk with me, if you will, through an imaginary world that thankfully never existed. Imagine that, after your death, the devil rose up and claimed your soul with evil glee. “But,” you insisted, “I tried. I learned from my mistakes. I tried each day to do better. I served God with all of my heart and intent. I wasn’t perfect, but I was the best person I could be.”
And the devil said to you, “It does not matter. The first time you sinned, you became mine.” And he dragged you down into a pit of despair and endless misery.
Thankfully, such an existence remains unlikely. When Christ provided his atoning sacrifice and took upon himself the sins of all mankind, he thwarted the devil’s plans and hopes. When we repent, when we strive earnestly to change, when we give ourselves to Christ, then the devil has no claim upon us. Were it not for his loving and merciful gift, we would all be lost (see Alma 42:7-12).
But a Savior was sent, and such was the delight that all of Heaven cried out with joy. Christ’s birth brought joy and peace to all mankind, not only those alive at the time, but all those who had lived and all those who would live. Somehow, although I had studied Luke 2 many times in the past, I was struck by the clause in Luke 2:10, which notes that the joy shall come “to all people”. Though the Jews looked for a king to save their people, and even those who followed Christ had to be rebuked and told that no man can be called unclean, from the beginning of his mortal ministry, Christ came to save all of the world, not just a portion of it.
As we start this week’s lesson, “Unto You is Born a Savior”, we will be studying the second chapter of Luke and Matthew. We will be learning about the events surrounding the birth and youth of Christ. Reading the first 14 verses told us the well-known Christmas story – how Christ was born in a stable in Bethlehem, how he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manager, and how the angels announced his birth to nearby shepherds. Christ again fulfilled when he was born in the City of David (Micah 5:2), and he will fulfill even more prophecies through his life. But the greatest gift he gave us was the gift of his atoning sacrifice. And so the moment when he began his mortal ministry was truly a moment of eternal and worldwide joy.
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