“Intro to “Zachariahs’s Song of Salvation -PT 2:The Abrahamic Covenant” (Luke 1:72-75)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/20/2026 5:44 PM

My Worship Time  Focus: “Intro to “Zachariahs’s Song of Salvation -PT 2:The Abrahamic Covenant”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                          Focus: Luke 1:72-75

Message of the verses:  “To show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” (NASB)

            I will quote the introduction from John MacArthur’s commentary.

            “If one were to ask historians to name the single most even in history, the one with the most far-reaching implications and that made the greatest impact, there would be no consensus.  Some might suggest a major battle or war that reshaped the balance of power, or the influence of a great military or political ruler, such as an Alexander the Great, Pharaoh, Caesar, king, prime minister, president, or general.  Others might suggest the rise to power of a major civilization or nation, such as Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, China, the British Empire, or the United States.  Conversely, some might point to the fall of a major civilization, such as Babylon, Rome, or the decline of contemporary Western civilization.

            “Other historians might argue that a scientific invention or discovery made the greatest impact.  Inventions such as the wheel, telegraph, telephone, automobile, airplane, radio, and computer, the harnessing of electricity, and the discoveries of modern medical science have unquestionably helped make our world what it is today.

            “Many would insist that it is ideas and beliefs that exert the greatest influence on history.  They would point out the impact of thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche; religious leaders such as evolution, communism, democracy, capitalism, and postmodernism.  Nor can the significance of major movement or events, such as the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, the American Revolution, or the French Revolution, be under underestimated.

            “But while historians might debate history’s most significant event, history itself has already answered the question.  The most monumental event of all was the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.  The division of history into B.C (“before Christ”) and A,D (Anno Domini, ‘in the year of our Lord’) reveals the unsurpassed significance of Christ’s incarnation; it is history’s great dividing point.

            “God created mankind to serve, worship, and glorify Him.  To that end, He placed Adam and Eve in the perfect environment of the garden of Eden.  Tragically, Satan’s lies led to the corruption of that perfect world as the fall plunged the human race into sin and depravity.  But what Satan meant for evil, God used for His glory.  He saved lost sinners, putting on display His otherwise unknowable attributes of grace, mercy forgiveness, and compassion.  The Father redeemed a people, and presented them to His beloved Son as a gift of His love.  They will serve, praise, and worship Him forever.

            “The pinnacle of God’s redemptive plan was the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.  After living a sinless life of perfect obedience to God’s law, He died on the cross bearing the sins of His people.  Because He treated Jesus as if He had lived their sinful lives, God is able through His grace to treat the redeemed as if they had lived Jesus’ perfectly righteous life.  The incarnation, substitutionary atonement, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the Bible overarching themes.  The Old Testament (most notably in Isaiah 53) anticipates the death of Messiah as the ultimate sacrifice that the Old Testament sacrificial system pointed to.  The Gospel’s given the record of Jesus’ sinless life and  sacrificial death.  Acts and the Epistles are a commentary of the theological significance  of His life, death, and resurrection.  Revelation gives the details of His return and millennial reign on earth, and His eternal reign in the new heaven and new earth.

            “In Zacharias’s day, the Jewish people were eagerly awaiting Messiah’s arrival.  They longed for Him to come, set up His kingdom, and restore their land to them  Zacharias was one of those ‘who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem’ (2:38).  The birth of his son filled him with anticipation; the angel Gabriel had told him that John would go as a forerunner before [the Messiah, Jesus Christ] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make read a people prepared for the Lord’ (1:17).  Zacharias knew that if His forerunner had just been born, Messiah’s coming was imminent.  That knowledge prompted his magnificent hymn of praise and worship.  As befits a priest, a man who had devoted his life to studying and teaching God’s law, Zacharias’s hymn is saturated with Old Testament covenant texts.  Specifically, he centers on the three covenants of salvation and blessing—the Davidic, Abrahamic, and New covenants.  Having referred to the Davidic covenant in verses 67-71, Zacharias now turns to the Abrahamic covenant, noting its background, promise, and fulfillment in the coming Messiah.”

3/20/2026 6:32 PM