Love Has Come and He is Promised – Love Has Come

Stephen Dellinger   -   December 21, 2025

Love Has Come, And He Is Promised

Together Church  |  Pastor Stephen Dellinger

December 21, 2025  |  Series: Love Has Come

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Welcome this Sunday before Christmas! Open your Bibles to Luke 2.

 

Luke 2 is most famously known for the story of the shepherds, the angels, and Jesus’ birth. Wonderful stories!…

 

… But this morning, we are not telling those stories. We’ll be looking at a story that happens right AFTER the birth of Jesus.

 

It’s the story of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to the temple in keeping with the law of Moses. At that temple, they meet Simeon and Anna – one a righteous man, and the other a prophetess.

 

Both are figures of incredible faith, because both heard and believed the promises of God. Because of their faith, God used them to pronounce His promises to others.

 

If you’re taking notes, the main idea of this message is: Love Has Come, and He is Promised. Today, we will specifically focus on living our lives in light of the promises of God.

 

 

Before we read the text, let me ask you a question…

How do you know someone truly believes the promises of God?

 

When you are looking for someone who has faith worth imitating, what is it about them that draws your attention?

 

Is it simply their ability to talk about the promises of God? Or is it deeper than that?

 

I think we would agree that lip service isn’t enough. In fact, I would say that for most people, saying something and not acting on it is detestable. A person who believes the promises of God will adjust their lives to those promises. A person who believes the promises of God lives their life in light of those promises.

 

 

With that in mind, let’s read this Christmas story about Joseph and Mary meeting Simeon and Anna at the temple…

 

 

Luke 2:22-38

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

 

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

according to your word;

30 for my eyes have seen your salvation

31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.”

 

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

 

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

 

 

What a powerful story about two senior adults at the time of Jesus’ birth!

 

Simeon and Anna believed in the promises of God. So did Joseph and Mary. These individuals all had faith in the promises of God; they believed His promises in scripture were true, and they believed He would keep His promises to them personally. Because of their faith, they lived their lives in light of the promises of God.

 

We can see their faith and anticipation in God’s promises in this text…

 

Joseph and Mary exercised their faith in God’s Word by keeping the law of Moses… (blue with highlight means to bring the passage up again with yellow highlights)

 

  • they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord…)
  • and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord
  • the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law

 

Why?

They are people of promise!

They believed this child was the Child of promise!

They believed God is the God Who keeps His promises!

 

Joseph and Mary had faith in God’s Word, specifically that the Mosaic Covenant – or Sinai Covenant – was from God and they acted on that faith by keeping the Law of the Lord.

 

 

Simeon was also living his life in light of the promises of God. The text says..

 

  • Simeon was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
    • Scripture
  • And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
    • Personal
  • And he came in the Spirit into the temple
    • Listening to hear from God.

 

Simeon was living his life in light of the promises of God!

 

 

Anna was also living her life in the light of the promises of God. In the text we read…

 

  • Anna did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day
  • to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
    • Speaking to others because of her faith! She believed that God would keep his promises to redeem her people.

 

 

All this faith in the promises of God.

 

 

Christmastime is the season of advent in the Christian faith. Advent is a word that describes our hope, our waiting, our anticipation, and our yearning for the fulfillment of the promises of God.

 

At Christmas, we remember the waiting and expectation of Israel as they awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise through the arrival of the Messiah. This is celebrated in the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

We also remember the groaning of this world today as we await God’s coming Kingdom and our future with Him forever in glory. We want to see King Jesus returning!

 

Advent is a season of waiting. It is a time to remember the promises of God. And today is our opportunity for our faith to be stirred up so that we live in light of those promises.

 

 

This story in Luke 2 is full of incredible advent examples… people who lived their lives with hope, expectation, yearning, and anticipation of God’s promises being fulfilled. Here is the truth: these things led to lives of action. This was not waiting at the window and sighing. This was different.

 

 

And here’s the reality of this Christmas story from Luke 2:

God was fulfilling right now what He had promised to do before.

 

 

That’s what it means to live in the light of God’s promises. It is not just lip service… it is adjusting our whole lives to live right now in light of the promises God has already made.

 

 

Joseph, Mary, Simeon, and Anna believed in the promises Messiah. They believed in the prophecies of scripture concerning the Christ.

 

What are those prophecies? Some of them that we remember at Christmastime include prophecies like…

  • He would come at just the right time, according to the timeline given by God to Daniel (Dan 9:24-27; Mk 1:14–15)
  • He would be born of a virgin (Is 7:14; Matt 1:22–23)
  • He would be born of the line of David, of royal descent (Is 11:1; Matt 1:1; Jer 23:5-6)
  • He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:1–6; Luke 2:4–7)
  • He would come out of Egypt (Hos 11:1; Matt 2:13-15)
  • He would suffer and die for the sins of His people (Is 52:13-53:12; Mk 10:45)
  • He would be a light to the Gentiles, a blessing to all nations (Gen 12:3; Is 49:6; Luke 2:30-32)
  • He would save His people from their sins (Jer 31:31-34; Ez 36:25-27; Matt 1:21)

 

These are just a handful of promises God made about the Messiah. They are just a snapshot of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled from the Old Testament regarding the Messiah.

 

And the ones that haven’t been fulfilled yet?

Those are the promises related to His return. As followers of Jesus Christ, that’s our advent hope today. But we have confidence that He will come again because we see how God has kept His promises and WILL keep His promises to us!

 

 

BODY

Our God is a promise keeping God!

As followers of Jesus, we admire the faith of Joseph and Mary, of Simeon and Anna. And we want to know… how can our faith be like theirs? How can we live our lives in light of the promises of God?

 

 

To live our lives in light of the promises of God, we must believe four things…

 

  1. God’s Word contains the promises of God.
  2. God speaks promises to us personally.
  3. God has the ability to keep all His promises.
  4. God has the character to keep all His promises.

 

 

  1. God’s Word contains the promises of God.

 

Something we see in the Bible repeatedly is powerful people attempting to stamp out the Word of God. They do not like what they hear, or it does not agree with them, so they try to destroy the Word and those who bear it. They try to keep it from happening by contending with God. It happened in the Old Testament with kings and queens who did not like what they heard from the prophets, and it happened to Jesus, the Word made flesh, with religious leaders who did not recognize the voice of God. Not only does this happen in God’s Word, but it’s also been attempted throughout history since then. Various world powers, ancient and modern, have tried to destroy the Word — burning it, banning it, outlawing it – even killing those who speak of it. Those powers pass away, but God and His Word will never pass away. Read this with me!

 

Psalm 119:89

89 Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.

 

And also…

 

Isaiah 40:8

8The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

 

As we get into God’s promises let me give you an important disclaimer: not every promise in the Bible is for you! What do I mean? I mean that there are promises in the Bible where we are LITERALLY not the intended audience. Take our story for example: Simeon received a personal promise that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. That promise is not for us. Mary was promised she would have a miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit. That is not for all women. You need to carefully consider the scriptures before you start claiming promises as your own – do not claim what God does not call yours.

 

But listen to this: God’s Word does contain promises specifically for us! Here are just a few examples of some of the things we are promised by God as Christ followers…

 

Promises from God to Believers:

  • If you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and confess with your mouth God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 6:23; 10:9-13)
  • If anyone believes in Christ He is a new creation… (2 Corinthians 5:17)
  • Heirs of Christ, adopted as children, sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (1 John 3:1; Romans 8:15–17; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22)
  • There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1-11)
  • Future with Him (John 14:2–3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

 

I just spent such a terribly short time on this. If you want to know more about these promises, I recommend you sign up for Birthright this Spring semester! Knowing God’s promises are essential to our next point as well.

 

 

  1. God speaks promises to us personally.

 

  • Instead of divorcing Mary, Joseph married her based on a message from the Lord. He believed Jesus was the Promised One, born of the Holy Spirit, who would save His people from their sins. He also rooted up and moved his whole family based upon the Word of God.
  • Mary believed God would fulfill his promises to her (Luke 1:55). Based upon her song in Luke while meeting with Elizabeth, Mary exalted the Lord, revealing her belief in God’s ability to keep His Word.
  • Simeon lived every day in faith that God would send His Messiah to bring salvation to all peoples, and that Jesus was the light of the world, and that he would see it. The Holy Spirit revealed this to Simeon personally.
  • And Anna lived her life fasting, praying, seeking God, and speaking to others about the promises of God because she believed in the promises of God. She was a prophetess and its evident from the text that she was personally aware that the Messiah was at hand.

 

These people knew how to discern when God was speaking to them – how about you? Do you know how?

 

Here is what you need to consider:

  • The Word of God. Any promise you believe you have received from God will never contradict God’s Word. This is another reason to be familiar with His Word and to dedicate it to memory. The Lord is in perfect agreement with Himself. Remember, His Word endures forever!
  • God will bring people into your life to confirm it. If you are questioning if direction is from God, or what to do next, seek the counsel of godly men and women. I am telling you, I would want to hear from someone like Anna who fasted and prayed both day and night – someone who had a reputation for hearing from God! That’s someone who is engaged in more than lip service.
  • Prayers and fasting. That’s another thing. If you want to hear from God, pray and fast. If you have heard nothing from the Lord, but you are not seeking Him in prayer… I encourage you to go and pray about that. Truly though, these are a core part of seeking God’s Will – do not overlook them.
  • Test the promise. If it does not come to pass, then it was not from the Lord. That, or you misunderstood. And before you say there is no way you could have misunderstood, consider how confused the many of the religiously educated were about Jesus himself. They misunderstood the promises of God. They willingly put the Son of God on the cross they were so convinced. Let’s not be arrogant about this.

This brings us to our next point.

  1. God has the ability to keep all His promises.

 

We couldn’t have faith in the promises of God if He didn’t have the ability to keep them! But as we heard from the angel last week, nothing is impossible for God. Where we are unable, he is able. Do you know what the simple definition of power is? The ability, or capability, to do something. God has no lack of power.

 

Do you remember the points about God’s attributes from the sermon last week? Let’s review them real quick shall we…

 

God has the ability to keep all His promises because He is…

  • All-powerful
  • All-knowing
  • All-sufficient

 

If He didn’t have the ability, we shouldn’t have any confidence! Who wants to believe in a God that might fail? We wouldn’t! But our God never fails to keep His promises because He has the ability to do it. His power is perfect. No human intervention or outside force can thwart God’s plans.

 

But there’s another attribute of God I didn’t mention… and that is that God is always good (Add to bulleted list above). That brings us to the final reason we can have hope in God and live our lives in light of His promises…

 

 

  1. God has the character to keep all His promises.

 

God is not like us! If we say something, we will not be able to back it up 100% of the time because we are imperfect. We have character flaws – maybe we procrastinate because of anxiety; maybe we are lazy and despise the work to keep our word; or perhaps we just do not love others. In the flesh, we have so many flaws that can keep us from being promise keepers. You know God does not procrastinate? You know that He does not worry like us? You know that He does not fear like we do? His love is perfect. His character is perfect.

 

Imagine you are on time to something. You were not lazy, you prepared adequately leaving 15 minutes early, and your car is fully functioning with gas. You made no mistakes! We might be late because 1) we have poor character or 2) we lack the ability! But then it’s bumper to bumper traffic making you late by a whole hour. It was outside of your control but you still failed. God can overcome any obstacle. He is all-powerful (he has perfect capability) and he has perfect character.

 

And being on time for a meeting is such a small task!

But God never lacks the character or ability to keep His promises. No matter how great the promise, he is the promise keeping God!

 

 

CONCLUSION

God is the promise keeping God! (put all four points on screen)

Joseph and Mary believed it. Simeon and Anna believed it. And because they believed it, they adjusted their lives to God’s promises.

 

 

Each one of these incredible men and women of faith responded to God’s promises by not just offering lip service to God, but by adjusting their lives to live in light of God’s promises. They expected God to fulfill His Word!

 

 

What will happen to you when you truly believe in the promises of God?

 

YOU WILL ADJUST YOUR LIFE TO LIVE IN LIGHT OF GOD’S PROMISES!

 

So how about you? In what season does God have you right now? Maybe you are a father or a mother with a family to care for. Perhaps you are a child living in your parent’s home. Maybe you are a single person living on your own. Regardless of where you are at, God wants you to live your life in light of His promises.

 

Here are some applications…

 

 

  • Read from Luke 2 and tell the Christmas story. Lead your family to remember that Christ is coming again! Remember that He came, and lead them to look forward to His coming again!
  • Plan to sing Christmas carols to those who are alone. Maybe plan to minister to a nursing home or to a widow?
  • Invite someone to your house for Christmas. Open your home to someone else and make sure they are not alone. This is a time to remember when God stepped down in human flesh – the ultimate act of hospitality.
  • Invite others to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. This is a time to intentionally remember the promised Savior and all that means to us! It could be the reason someone connects to Christ’s church!
  • Cook a meal and bring it to someone. There is something so wonderful about sharing a meal – whether that is sitting down to eat or even just bringing thoughtful gifts of food.
  • Call a family member you won’t see. It’s so easy to disconnect from family – especially if you do not see them all the time. But Christmas time can be an extraordinary opportunity to reconnect with and minister to family.
  • Seek to make things right with someone. Perhaps there is someone you are estranged from – maybe it was your fault or maybe it was theirs. Jesus came to Earth to live amongst us and love us while we were enemies of God. Consider what your part is.
  • There is more! Seek the Lord. Consider the giftings He has given you. Remember Anna, Joseph, Mary and Simeon. As you start to think about 2026, what are the rhythms of your life where Jesus and His promises are top of mind. Rhythms mean how you give of your finances, how you calendar, how you raise your family, how you talk to people, how you spend your mornings. All of it.

 

INVITATION

Will you live your life in light of the promises of God?

 

 

TO LOST-

You need to believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Promised One and the one who came to be a light to the world and to save people from their sin. He came to die for the sins of the world. Reference John 3:16.

SHARE THE GOSPEL BRIEFLY HERE using the wallet analogy and invite people to fill out a Connect Card so we can follow up with them, pray with them, and help them take their next steps – salvation, baptism, or something else. Lead them in the sinner’s prayer and invite them to fill out a connect card – physical or online.

 

 

TO SAVED-

How is God calling you to put feet to your faith in His promises? (put list back up). How will you use this Christmas season to point your family and others to the message of advent and the good news of Jesus Christ?

 

Would you stand with me at this time as we worship the Lord through this song?

 

SONG: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

 

Merry Christmas! You are dismissed! If you are coming to First Steps come on down and find me in the back corner of the auditorium. I hope to see you all at the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service!

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