HE SHALL BE GREAT

Luke 1:32

Morning Meditation 4/2/2013

"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"

I can't imagine the trauma of an encounter with the Lord such as are described in these verses. When the angel spoke to Mary, he said, "Fear not." And with these words, no doubt, Mary suddenly became calm. Then with the authority of the Lord Himself, the angel said, "He shall be great." Let's notice some of the things about His greatness:

HE IS THE GREAT GOD IN HIS BEING

Titus 2:13, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"

John Gill comments: not two divine persons, only one, are here intended; for the word: rendered "appearing", is never used of God the Father, only of the second person; and the definite article is not set before the word "Saviour", as it would, if two distinct persons were designed; and the copulative "and" is exegetical, and may he rendered thus, "and the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ";

The emphasis Paul is making in this declaration is on the magnitude of the Lord Jesus. Every measurement that one puts on the magnitude of God is like trying to get all the oceans of the earth in a 4 oz glass. He is the Great God even our Saviour. Next,

HE IS THE GREAT GOD IN HIS LOVE TO US

Ephesians 2:4 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us." To measure the greatness of His love in its immensity one has to go to the cross. His love for us is without measure. This is a great comfort for sinning saints (and there is no other kind). His love for us is described by Paul again in Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Next,

HE IS GREAT IN HIS GREAT SALVATION

Hebrews 2:3 says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;"

His salvation is a salvation that condescends from heaven to us and meets our need where we live. His salvation is a salvation that invades the domain of Satan and rips away his power to take mankind to hell with himself. His salvation is great because it pays the penalty of sin and buys us out of the slave market of sin and sets us free from its eternal and dreaded prospects. The angel said to Mary, "He shall be great." Next,

HE IS THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP

Hebrews 13:20-21 says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Someone hold my mules!!!!! The angel gave the message to a little Jewish maid, "He shall be GREAT."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White