Daily Devotion 23 December 2025

"But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1-2)

READING: Isaiah 51: 2-16

The Old Testament holds so many prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour. Isaiah 51, telling us of God’s promise to His people, is filled with wonderful images of joy and rejoicing being experienced, of justice and righteousness ruling, when the redeemed of the Lord will sing, crowned with everlasting joy, overtaken with gladness and joy, while sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Above all, it speaks of the salvation of the Lord.

And in Isaiah 62:11 and 12 we hear how God comes to restore His people: "Look, your saviour comes”… they shall be called, "The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord," and you shall be called, "Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken."

Although Isaiah’s language is old fashioned, the message of intention is clear and unbelievably heartwarming. God will restore and redeem, or buy back, His own - His intention is to save us and He set out deliberately to do that. We are “sought out, not forsaken” (v12).

This is the meaning of Christmas, that God has fulfilled His promise, that He does, in His own way, seek us out, lift us up and build us up. He will never forsake us, but He will redeem us.

When it feels to us that all of humankind has lost its way, when violence and suffering and inequality stalks our world and our land, we can be reassured by these verses that we have not moved beyond the scope of His love. And if we feel that we personally are unworthy, abandoned or forgotten, we are wrong. We are His precious creation (Ephesians 2:10), His very own, named by Him (Isaiah 43:1-2).

He has come to redeem us. Buy us back. Bring us to a place of love and fellowship, of joy and warmth.

Over the image of the baby in the manger we always see the image of the Cross, the glory of the empty cross of the resurrection. Christ’s coming into the world which we celebrate at Christmas, had a purpose not understood, nor fulfilled, until the resurrection. That is the foundation for our hope, that God came to our world, to find us, to claim us for his own, to buy us back from the dark places. This Christmas, let us accept that Love; let us allow ourselves to be overtaken with gladness and joy, let us sing and be filled with God’s everlasting joy.

Prayer

Lord God, help me to accept the gift of Jesus this Christmas, bringing hope, peace and new life. Let His love transform me, His peace steady me, and His hope overwhelm me with everlasting joy. Amen.