Christmas and Covenant

Dannah Gresh: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has some good news for you.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: I want to tell you that there’s not a thing that you or I could ever do to placate the wrath of God. But the gospel, the good news, the message we celebrate right here at Christmas is that we don’t have to! It’s been done!

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, coauthor of You Can Trust God to Write Your Story, for Monday, December 22, 2025. I'm Dannah Gresh.

Have you ever made plans with your kids and gotten them all excited only to feel so bad when things didn’t work out in your schedule and you had to cancel?

When it comes to keeping promises, God is a lot better than we are. In fact, on Friday we celebrated a promise God finally delivered on. It had been made to the very first two people on the earth. We explored that in the series "Zechariah's Hymn."

Here’s Nancy to pick up on that series and tell us more.

Nancy: I’m sure that your life is very busy right now. There's probably a lot going on in your home. But I am trusting that in the midst of it all you are taking time to stop, to pause, to reflect on what this is all about.

We’re trying to help you do that this week and this past week on Revive Our Hearts by meditating on one of the great hymns of Scripture found in Luke chapter 1. I hope that you’re reading it along with us, meditating upon it, perhaps memorizing it.

It’s a hymn that was spoken by Zechariah the priest in Luke 1:67–79. He spoke it at the eight-day birthing party of his son, John, who would be John the Baptist who would grow up to be the forerunner of Christ, the Messiah.

Six months later Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. That’s why we’re airing this series at this time of year because there’s so much in this passage that helps us understand why Christ was born, why He came to earth.

We’re looking at some of the great themes of redemption and salvation that surface in this passage.

Let me read beginning in verse 68:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
   for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
   in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets
from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
   and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
   and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham. (vv. 68–73)

Now, let’s just go that far and I want to point out several things about what we’ve read thus far that touch back on this whole subject of salvation and redemption and God’s visitation.

Again, let me ask you to keep in mind the setting. John, the baby, Zechariah’s son is eight days old and the family and relatives have come together for celebration and Zechariah speaks this benediction—as they called it in Latin, the Benedictus.

It’s interesting that the words of Zechariah’s hymn show a connection (if you put together some words from the original language), a connection with the name John as well as the name Zechariah and the name Elizabeth, the mother of this child.

Look at verse 72, “to show the mercy promised to our fathers.” The name John means “the grace of God” and Zechariah talks about the mercy promised to our fathers. This whole song celebrates the grace of God.

Then he says, “to remember His holy covenant.” The name Zechariah means “God remembers." Zechariah is saying, “God has remembered His holy covenant. God made a covenant with our forefathers, and He didn’t forget His promise—God remembers. The grace of God, God remembers, and then . . .

Elizabeth’s name means, “the oath of God.” Look at the very next phrase in verse 73. “To remember His holy covenant, the oath that He swore to our father Abraham.” Elizabeth.

God put together in His supernatural wisdom and providence this family: Zechariah—"God remembers,” Elizabeth—“the oath of God,” John (born in their later years)—“the grace of God.”

How precious that the names of this family should remind them and us of the grace of God—the fact that God remembers and keeps His Word and He keeps His oath.

This salvation, this deliverance, that’s being celebrated in this hymn had been promised for generations, for centuries beginning back in Genesis chapter 3 when the man and the woman first fell into sin.

From that point, in an unbroken line through the end of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4, one after another God promised through His prophets that He would send a Savior, a Redeemer. God promised that this seed of Abraham, that out of the seed of Abraham would come blessing for His chosen people and for all the nations of the earth. That covenant was passed on from Abraham to his son Isaac and from Isaac to his son Jacob and from Jacob to his twelve sons and they passed it on to their sons and they pass it on to their sons and the prophets spoke about it.

God revealed to the prophets: “I’m coming. I’m going to send a Savior. I’m going to come! Emanuel—God with us.”

The coming of Christ was the fulfillment of all those years of covenant promises that God had made to Old Testament believers. As we look at this passage, we are reminded that God is a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God. The oath of God means something. It stands for something. It cannot be broken! Today people make promises and they break them just as quickly, but God keeps His Word. God keeps His promises.

Now, for sure there are seasons when it seems as if God has forgotten His covenant, God has forgotten His commitments, God has forgotten His oath. For the Jews in Zechariah’s day, it had been 400 years since they had last heard any word from God—the 400 silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Don’t you think that it seemed to those people that God had forgotten?

But Zechariah’s name means what? God remembers. God remembers His oath and God will fulfill His promises. He will visit you in His time and in His way. 

Then he says that “we shall be saved from our enemies,” in verse 71, “and from the hand of all who hate us,” verse 73, “to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies.”

Twice he mentions this being saved or delivered from our enemies, and we are reminded that God’s visitation, God’s redemption, God's salvation brings deliverance from our enemies, from Satan, from sin, from self.

That word “delivered” (that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies) . . . I like that word. If you look it up in the original language, it means “to draw with force and violence, to drag, to pull, meaning to deliver or to draw out of danger or calamity and to liberate.”

It’s like somebody’s in a burning house and somebody goes in and snatches them out at the last possible moment, just before they get asphyxiated. It’s this very dramatic picture of a rescue. God delivers us from our enemies. He drags us out. He draws us out. The “horn of our salvation” is powerful enough to do that for us.

This is the first of eight references in the Gospel of Luke to “enemies.” You’ll see that often times Luke refers to the enemies as supernatural and spiritual opposition.

Now as we’ve mentioned before in this series, Zechariah is undoubtedly thinking at this point when he talks about being delivered from our enemies of what was every Jew’s longing and desire—that was to throw off the oppression of the Romans.

They were the enemies as far as the Jews were concerned. But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in this hymn, this praise of Zechariah, there is a promise of deliverance from the spiritual forces that hold captive the hearts and souls of men.

God was talking about something far more significant than temporal deliverance from Romans. We have other forces of terrorism and totalitarianism in our world. There are brothers and sisters of ours in Christ who live in other parts of the world today where they are under regimes that are like the Roman empire of old.

One day, God will do away with all those enemies, but in the meantime, every child of God can experience that ultimate deliverance from Satan, from the spiritual forces that war against our hearts and hold them captive.

He’s talking here about salvation from sin, salvation from the dominion of Satan. That’s our enemy, salvation from every form of corruption.

Luke talks in chapter 11 of his gospel about the “strong man who rules over a house.” That’s a picture of Satan in that passage until, he says, "someone stronger comes and throws him out" (see vv. 21–22).

Who is the someone stronger who overcomes our enemies? It’s Jesus, the horn of our salvation.

Jesus is able to conquer not only human opponents, but also the spiritual ones that stand behind them as we read in Ephesians chapter 6, the powers of darkness that stand the forces of wickedness in this world (see v. 12).

So while Jesus was here on earth ministering, what did He do? He was giving signs, visible expressions of His power to deliver from the enemy. When he healed people, He was demonstrating His power over the enemy who causes sickness, ultimately.

When He did miracles and stilled the winds and the waves and the storms, He was showing His powers over all the enemies and the demonic, hellish forces behind them.

When He cast out demons, He was demonstrating His power over the works of Satan and his demons. He was demonstrating His authority, His mission to deliver us from the hand of our enemies.

Jesus’ miracles weren’t just acts of physical deliverance, they pictured a deeper reality—the power of Christ over evil and His power to deliver us from evil and from the evil one.

We saw earlier in this passage that Christ is the horn of salvation, the mighty, powerful Savior, the one who deals with the enemy, who puts him on the run, who guarantees victory for those who belong to Christ. God’s salvation brings deliverance from our enemies.

Then we see in verses 73 and following that God saves us for a purpose, not just so we can be saved, but there’s something He wants to come out of that.

 

Look at the end of verse 73, “to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Jesus came to this earth to save sinners, to deliver them, to rescue them, to redeem them (all those related words), why? So we could serve Him.

We are not saved or delivered as an end in itself. We’re saved, we’re delivered from the yoke of sin and the yoke of Satan so that we can take our place in the yoke with Christ, so that we can serve the Lord with gladness, so can be linked with Him in kingdom work and purposes.

That word "serve" (“that we might serve Him without fear”) is an interesting word in the Greek language. It’s sometimes translated “serve” and other times it’s translated “worship.” I looked up almost every reference I could find to that word in the New Testament, and it’s hard to tell why in some cases they translate it “worship” and in some other cases they translate the exact same word “serve.”

I’m not into Bible translation, so I’m sure there’s a good reason for it, but it’s the exact same word. It really means “to worship God by serving Him,” or “to serve Him worshipfully.”

It’s our “reasonable act of worship,” we read in Romans 12:1. It's the same word—service, worship. We serve Him with our hearts and with our lives. Our service becomes an act of worship, and our worship always involves active service.

You can see that concept in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 3 when God says to Moses as He’s getting ready to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, to deliver them from slavery. God says, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (v. 12).

Now, fast-forward to the New Testament book of Acts when Stephen is getting ready to be stoned. He gives this whole rehearsal of Jewish history. He says when he’s quoting this passage from Exodus chapter 3 (“when you come out of Egypt you shall serve God on this mountain”) when Stephen quotes it in the New Testament he says, “they shall come out and worship me in this place” (7:7).

The same words—serve and worship. We are saved to serve Him worshipfully. We are saved to worship Him with service.

The purpose of God’s visitation, the purpose of salvation and redemption is that we would serve Him as priests unto God.

Then we see that God’s salvation enables us to worship and serve Him “without fear” (v. 74). Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 2 that Jesus became a man, "He took on flesh and blood so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, even the Devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to life-long slavery" (vv. 14–15 paraphrased).

How many people in the world today through fear of death are still subject to life-long slavery to false religions, even sometimes what they call “Christianity"? They are trying to do things, slavishly fearful of God. They are trying to do things to placate Him, to make God happy, to appease the wrath of God.

I want to tell you that there’s not a thing you or I could ever do to placate the wrath of God! But the gospel, the good news, the message we celebrate here at Christmas is that we don't have to. It's been done! The Redeemer has come! He has visited us. He has delivered us that we might serve Him without fear. He delivered us from the one who had the power of death, delivered us from that fear of death and our life-long slavery.

“There is no fear in love,” 1 John 4 says because “perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love" (v. 18). There’s only one source of that kind of love. It’s the incredible, awesome love of God and that perfect love will cast out any fear of punishment.

That we "might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him” (Luke 1:75). We are saved to be holy in heart and in conduct.

"He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him,” Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4 says.

He saved us so we could "serve Him without fear in holiness before Him all our days” (Luke 1:75).

Do you have some of those days, as I do, when you think, There is no way I can keep hanging on to my faith? There are circumstances that come into your life, there are doubts that assail, there are fears and you think, How in the world will I ever be able to persevere all the way to the finish line? He came to save us from the hand of our enemies that we might serve and worship Him without fear all the days of our lives.

Listen, I’m not the one holding on! He’s the one holding on! It’s His love and His mercy that are eternal. It’s His staying power. I am kept by the power of God today, and I will be tomorrow and the next day and the next and by faith in His delivering, redeeming, saving power. You will be as well.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has visited and redeemed us. He has saved, delivered us from our enemies that we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives" (vv. 69, 74).

Dannah: That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth helping us grasp the eternal significance of the holiday we'll celebrate this week. She’s in the middle of a series called "Zechariah's Hymn." Zechariah doesn’t always get a lot of attention, but this series has shown me the richness in this wise man’s words.

For nearly twenty-five years now, listeners have enjoyed rich messages like the one you heard today. They’ve been blessed by the faithful teaching of Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and so many others here on Revive Our Hearts. How has it already been twenty-five Decembers already,  Nancy?!

Nancy: Oh Dannah, don’t get me started! Time flies when you’re having fun—and when you’re watching the Lord’s faithfulness carry you year after year. You know, over the past two-and-a-half decades, listeners have prayed for this ministry and given financially to support our outreaches. I’m continually blown away by the faithfulness of God’s people to give—and to give generously. If you’ve supported Revive Our Hearts over the years, I want to say a hugh “thank yo, thank you, thank you.”

As 2026 approaches, the hunger and need for the message God has entrusted to us continues to grow. New requests for our content are coming from various parts of the world; in response, we’re launching Revive Our Hearts teaching in languages like Hindi, Arabic, Swahili, Russian, and more. 

And, of course, day after day we’re still ministering to our English-speaking listeners, too.

Dannah: Yes, we are. Like this precious listener from the Houston area. She wrote to tell us this. 

Listener: Recently the Holy Spirit gently woke me up about 4 a.m. and kept after me until I got out of bed. Being retired, I went to my sewing room and asked Him, "Okay, which radio station do I listen to while I sew? I felt like He was directing me to KHCB, and Revive Our Hearts was on. 

Nancy (at True Woman '25): In Psalm 119, we see a man whose relationship with God and with His Word pulsates with life, with passion, with warmth, with joy.

Listener: There were clips playing from the recent True Woman conference. 

Dannah (from past program): Thousands of women gathered in Indianapolis, and thousands more joined us online for: The Word: Behold the Wonder.

Nancy (at True Woman '25): So how do you cultivate hunger for the Word? Do we long for it? Do we delight in it? Do we love it? So how do you find delight in God's Word? Get your nose in this Book! I beg you; I implore you; I plead with you—read it!

Listener: Then someone told me about reading through the Bible in 2026.

Nancy (at True Woman '25): We have encouraged the women as this conference was the launch of the several year Wonder of the Word initiative. Next year, 2026, we are going to read through the Bible together—women around the world. Some of them have done it before, some of them have never done it. But women reading in their own language the Bible, and then our team will be providing resources for them each day to help to keep them going, to give them opportunities to share what they are learning what God is teaching them.

So we have a great big banner in the hallway, and women have signed it. I haven't even see it yet! But I heard that it has a lot of names on it saying, "I want to read through the Bible with you next year." And if you've not so yet, you can sign up to read with us by visiting ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026.

Listener: I followed the instructions, signed up, and went back to bed. This was exactly what I had been looking for!

Dannah: Isn’t that great? Here’s how she finished her email.

Listener: I love Revive Our Hearts, Nancy, and Dannah! There isn't condemning preaching, just peaceful, "coming alongside" fellowship that shares exactly what I need for that day. 

Dannah: Praise God! Well, thank you, sweet friend, for sharing how you spent your early-morning hours in the sewing room! 

Nancy: I love that! And this month we’re inviting you to help multiply the message of His truth in Houston and around the world. This December, every gift to Revive Our Hearts will be matched—up to a total of $1.5 million. That’s your impact doubled, helping even more women find freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. This matching challenge gives us a wonderful start on the $4 million dollar total need we have this month. $4 million sounds huge. It is! I’m so grateful for every person who has given so far—there have been thousands already. Each donation means so much. 

We're trusting the Lord to prompt the hearts of others that He wants to help meet that need between now and December 31. If the Lord wants you to be one of those people, you can visit us at ReviveOurHearts.com, and you’ll find a link there where you can donate, or you can give us a call at 1–800–569–5959. Thank you so much for partnering with us. We’re excited to see what God will do in the hearts and the homes of women around the world through the generosity and the prayers of His people. We appreciate it so much!

Dannah: Yes. We do!

You know, there’s an important truth we need to grasp in order to fully embrace the gospel. We all need to admit: I am a sinner. That sounds heavy, but it’s actually incredibly good news. Find out why tomorrow, when we’re back with Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

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