She (Mary) will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21.
Already before Jesus Christ came to earth, God had delivered those who trusted Him from earthly troubles. But the decisive act of deliverance, that was to bring salvation from sins and eternal life still had to come. For this purpose the Son of God came to earth. This had been prophesied long before in the Old Testament, and the first announcement in the New Testament indicates it. His Name was to be Jesus, signifying “the Lord is salvation”. This was to be His Name, for He would “save his people from their sins”.
This offer of salvation and the forgiveness of sins was not limited to the Jews alone. When the Samaritans became acquainted with Jesus, they came to the conclusion: “We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42). At that time the majority refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Saviour. When He was hanging on the cross, He was mocked, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Matthew 27:42). The scornful did not realize that He bore all the suffering and God’s punishment of sins in His death by crucifixion voluntarily, so as to lay the foundation for our salvation.
After His death, resurrection and ascension to heaven Jesus Christ was preached as the only One, in whom salvation can be found and in whom “we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This is the only way by which we can escape God’s punishment and obtain eternal salvation.