God's Word For You is a free Bible Study site committed to bringing you studies firmly grounded in the Bible – the Word of God. Holding a reformed, conservative, evangelical perspective this site affirms that God has provided in Jesus Christ his eternal Son, a way of salvation in which we can live in his presence guilt free, acquitted and at peace.

 
 

MARY’S SONG – LUKE 1:46-56

Luke reports the words of a song that Mary sang early in her pregnancy. It is a song of praise and thankfulness to God in anticipation of the salvation that would be accomplished through the child within her. So certain was Mary of this saving action of God that she spoke of it as already in place.

For Mary, salvation was largely understood in physical concepts, and in keeping with the Old Testament perception of physical blessedness for the physical descendants of Abraham. But even the Old Testament believers, including Mary when she sang this song, knew that there was a far greater blessedness than physical well-being. Far above and beyond such earth-bound blessedness was the blessedness of a right relationship with God, a blessedness that persists even in the absence of physical blessings.

In this brief meditation on Mary’s song let us look past the physical symbols of blessedness to spiritual blessedness they symbolise. Let us make Mary’s song our song ... a song of praise springing up out of the present and eternal blessedness that those who believe in him have in and through this child, this Saviour, Jesus Christ, son of Mary, Son of God.

Because of this Child, this Saviour:

Our souls glorify the Lord. We know, in a way that Mary never knew when she sang this song, the grand and glorious plan of spiritual salvation that God has accomplished through this Child – through his sinless human life and through his substitutionary, sin-bearing death. [Luke 1:26; Romans 15:6; 1Corinthians 10:31; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 3:3; 1Peter 2:9].

Our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour. Without this Child, without the reconciling impact of his death, we were barred from God’s presence by our sin and guilt, and afraid of his just judgement. But now, because of this Child, we are no longer barred and no longer afraid. The way into his presence has been opened for us, and we have received from him a declaration of full acquittal. [Luke 1:47; Matthew 27:50,51; Romans 4:5; 5:1,11; 8:33; Philippians 3:1; 4:4; Colossians 1:19-20; 1Peter 1:8].

God has been mindful of our helpless and hopeless state, and in an action of immeasurable compassion, fully understanding our personal inability to save ourselves, has in this Child done all that is necessary for our complete salvation. [Luke 1:48; Romans 3:19-21; 5:6,8,10; Colossians 2:10].

Because of what this Child has accomplished God himself calls us blessed, indeed he tells us that he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. [Luke 1:48; Romans 4:6-8; Ephesians 1:3].

So great are the things that he has done for us that we cannot fully understand and describe them, for they are beyond description, beyond the ability of our finite minds to fully comprehend. [Luke 1:49; Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 3:8,17b-21].

His mercy extends to us. The merit which we thought we had to provide, but knew we never could, has no place in our relationship with him. In his great mercy he himself provides for us what we ourselves could never provide: the perfect righteousness of this Child, this Christ, credited to us, and the total force of his wrath and condemnation borne for us by this Child. [Luke 1:50; 18:13-14; Romans 9:30-10:4; Ephesians 2:4,5; 1Peter 1:3; 2:10].

He has defeated the one in whose dark dominion we were held captive, rescuing us in and through the victory of this Child. [Luke 1:51,52; John 12:30-32; Colossians 1:13; 2:15].

He has filled us with good things: for this Child whom he has given to us is the Bread of Life, and the fountain of living water, who permanently satisfies, so that spiritually, because we have received this Child, we never thirst and we never hunger ever again. [Luke 1:53; John 4:13,14; 6:35, 48-51].

He has helped us, the spiritual children of Abraham, who with faith like the faith of Abraham, are called ‘the Israel of God’, the recipients of God’s irrevocable mercy. [Luke 1:54,55; Romans 4; Galatians 3:6-14, 26-29; 6:16].

Elizabeth said to Mary, just before she sang this song:

‘Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!’ [Luke 1:45].

We today know so much more than Mary did. We today know so much more about God’s eternal purpose which he accomplished for us through this Child, his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. How much more do Elizabeth’s words apply to all who by God’s grace believe in his Son:

How blessed are those who have believed all that the Lord has told us has been accomplished in and through this Saviour!

© Rosemary Bardsley 2018