Daily Devotional for Tuesday, February 14th

God’s Preparation for the Messiah

“Of this manʼs seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus,”
Acts 13:23.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God began to unfold to humanity His plan for redemption. Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, but the works of their hands would not cover them. Only the shedding of the blood of an innocent animal would be a covering acceptable to a holy God. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). Blood was shed for them, a picture of the ultimate sacrifice to come.

Later, God called Abraham to follow Him and through Abraham, God promised a great nation. This nation of people would be God’s chosen people through whom He would show His glory to the rest of the world. God instituted worship that included regular offerings of animal sacrifices to foreshadow the once for all sacrifice that would come.

When Jesus was arrested, He said, “But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matthew 26:56). Jesus was referring to His sufferings and Crucifixion. While Jesus was here, He established His church to show the glory of God to the world. From before the time Adam sinned in the garden, God had prepared the way for the Messiah to come.

God has always had a people that He called unto Himself to show His glory to a lost world. Today, His local churches are showing and sharing the good news of Christ to an unbelieving world that is gripped by the darkness of sin. God has prepared a way for all of mankind to be redeemed from their sins and to be in relationship with Him: Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

REFLECTION
There has never been a time in history
when God did not make a way to redeem lost sinners.

Steven Ridings