First Advent Names | The Institute for Creation Research

First Advent Names



“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

Matthew records two names for Mary’s first child: Emmanuel and Jesus. In today’s verse, an angel told Joseph to go ahead and marry Mary since her pregnancy was divine. The name Jesus transliterates the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Yeshua. The Hebrew yasa, “to save,” lies at its root. Jesus is not just a savior but the Savior! “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour” (Isaiah 45:15). “We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).

What qualifies the Lord Jesus to be our Savior? First, He must be one of us—born of a human mother—our kin. We’ve known of this since the Curse: “And I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). We needed the seed of the woman, and God supplied Him!

But each human’s own sin requires propitiation. This disqualifies us from saving ourselves, let alone others. Second, therefore, we need this man to also be sinless God, hence the second name from Matthew, quoting Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The one and only holy God “was made in the likeness of men….Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:7,9). What name? Jesus, God with us, our Savior. BDT

Days of Praise Podcast

Days of Praise Podcast is a podcast based on the Institute for Creation Research quarterly print devotional, Days of Praise. Start your day with devotional readings written by Dr. Henry Morris, Dr. Henry Morris III, Dr. John Morris, and others to strengthen and encourage you in your Christian faith.

The Latest
NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...

NEWS
''Blood Worm Moon'' Total Lunar Eclipse 2025
Barring cloud cover, about 75% of the country saw the total lunar eclipse, aka the “Blood Worm Moon.” Texas had good weather conditions...

NEWS
Jupiter: The Mighty Guardian of Earth
NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently unveiled breathtaking images of Jupiter during its 66th flyby of the colossal planet. Juno has been exploring...

CREATION PODCAST
Glacial Archives: Mysteries Hidden Beneath the Ice | The Creation...
Welcome to the first episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old earth...

NEWS
Arachnid Origin—WGD (What God Did)
Where did spiders (arachnids) come from? What was their origin? Clearly, the fossil record shows spiders have always been spiders1,2 along...

NEWS
Seastar Skeletal Evolution?
The beautiful sea stars (“starfish”), classified as echinoderms, are one of the most easily identifiable marine invertebrates, with their...

NEWS
Nitrogen Networks Negate Naturalism
The element nitrogen is critical in the living world. It is a basic building block of structural and regulatory proteins, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll...

NEWS
March 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV) ICR's March 2025 wallpaper is...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Moonwalker: The Incredible True Story of General Charlie Duke...
What would it be like to walk on the moon? General Charlie Duke is one of the privileged few who enjoyed such an awe-inspiring experience. But believe...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Lightning!
by Michael Stamp and Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover...