As Zacharias stood at the altar of incense, as he listened to an angel of the LORD telling him the impossible news…that he and Elizabeth were going to have a baby son…Zacharias was stunned.  (See Luke 1:13)

The angel told Zacharias of the baby’s name and how people and God would react to him.  He was told about how to raise this baby son.  And he was told about the ministry this baby would have when a man.  All of this of a person not yet conceived.

For women who are carrying a child and have not yet met that little person who is kicking and moving about, God knows that child…and one day you will get to meet that child.  What privilege it is to be a godly mother and father to your children, whether by natural birth or adoption.

What the angel told Zacharias:
John’s person:
Name: John born of Zacharias and Elizabeth
Zacharias would have joy & gladness and many would rejoice at his son’s birth.

John’s lifestyle:
He would be great in the LORD’S sight; he was to drink no wine or liquor; he would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God while still in utero.

John’s god-given ministry:
Turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God
He would be the forerunner of Messiah (in the spirit and power of Elijah)
He would turn the hearts of fathers back to their children
He would turn the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous
He would make ready a people prepared for the LORD
(See Luke 1:13-17 NASB)

John would be God’s messenger to “clear the way before Me.”  He would be the herald of Messiah, pointing to the Christ.  (See Malachi 3:1)

What a responsibility of joy it must have been for Zacharias and Elizabeth to tell the child John of God’s message for what he would be doing in the coming years.

What do you say to your children to point them to the God of the Bible who loves them?

John would be the messenger telling all who would listen, of Messiah.  He would prepare the people for the reality of Messiah, Immanuel (God with us), living among them.  (See Isaiah 40:3-5)

John and his ministry were prepared by God…John was set apart for God’s use while still in the womb…and even before he was conceived.  Nothing is impossible for the living God.  He gives life, and that abundantly.

How this God, Giver of life, must yearn for you and me to turn to Him, to trust Him to be true to His words we read in the Holy Bible, to be a man or woman of God.