The knowledge of salvation

To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." – Luke 1.77-79

  

John is over often overlooked in his important ministry. Because he is not in the Old Testament and his name doesn’t sound like a prophet’s name to us we often don’t think of him as a prophet. Because he preceded  Christ and never preached the full gospel of Christ we don’t really see him as a New Testament preacher. He is somewhere in between.

His message was to bridge the gap between the Old and New Testaments. Here Zechariah prophecies that John will ‘go before the face of the Lord’ and prepare the way for Him.

Part of that preparation was to ‘give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of God.’

While Jesus was preparing for His earthly ministry, John was preparing the world to hear it. He began preaching a new concept – that salvation was not from keeping the Law, but by the remission of sins by the tender mercies of God.

Imagine what a difference that made. Before Christ the Law was supreme in the remission of sins. In Christ mercy was the basis of remission.

Praise God for John’s embryonic gospel message. John is a great example of the kind of witness we should be for the now completed gospel.