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MARY'S SAVIOR
Probably most of the things believed about Mary the mother of Jesus are based upon imagination rather than upon the Bible. Let us consider one thing about her that is clearly taught by the Bible: once Mary was a lost sinner, but the Lord saved her. We know this because Mary said so herself. She said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,” (Luke 1:46-47). It is obvious, is it not? If a person has a savior they must have at one time or another been saved. For instance, if a man falls overboard and is about to drown and another person pulls him back into the boat, the one man was saved from drowning and the other person is his savior. Mary was the natural child of her parents. Her genealogy is presented through her husband and her father. It goes all the way back to Adam proving that she was a human being and thus as a descendant of that first man was a sinner. She needed a Savior as do all lost sinners. Every true child of God, that is, every lost sinner who has been born again by the Holy Spirit experiences the same thing that Mary experienced. She and all who know the salvation of the Lord have experienced the rejoicing of the inner man that comes with being born from above. They can all say with Mary, “my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Those who do not experience this joy have never been born again! Every child of God ought to say with Mary, “my soul doth magnify the Lord.” But, alas, there are some who will only share a part of the credit for their salvation with God. They magnify themselves by claiming that they initiated their own salvation. They are like the man overboard who, once rescued, says I sure am glad that I held on tight to you and pulled myself back into the boat with your help – when in reality they were helpless and were pulled in by the other person. “I came to Christ,” they say, thinking they did it themselves. While Christ said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day,” (John 6:44). They refuse to “magnify the Lord,” but rather attribute at least a part of their salvation to themselves. They did not need to be saved. They only needed a little help. They helped save themselves and so they are a co-savior with Christ, only sharing a part of the glory for their salvation with Him. Their attitude is “we did it.” There was none of that in Mary's confession! She said, “my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”! What do you say? “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8).
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