The Virgin Birth
Both last Monday and this morning our Men's Bible Study has been focusing on the passage that explains the virgin birth of Jesus in Luke 1:26-38. Last Monday, I did not include our discussion in my blog, because I was interrupted by the birth of a baby in our own house. However, we had 15 men last week, and 10 men on this cold snowy morning.
It is amazing to think about what God did to bring His Son into the world to save us from our sins. Jesus had to be both completely God and completely man, except that He could not have any sin nature. Therefore, the virgin birth was the only reasonable way to accomplish this. Any human birth would have brought another child into the world with a sinful nature. The virgin birth allowed Jesus to be human but to bypass the reception of the sinful nature from Adam. This made Him fully human and divine, so He could be the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. God could die in our place, and at the same time a sinless man could take our sins upon Himself for us. Jesus was the perfect union of Perfect God and Perfect Man. In His love He came to save us by paying the sin debt with His blood.
Now, think about it all this way. Who better to describe the virgin birth than Luke, the Physician? After speaking with Mary in person, even the man of science came to the conclusion that Jesus came into this world as the product of a unique conception in which the Holy Spirit of God overshadowed Mary, and she conceived in her womb the Son of God. Jesus is not called the Son, because He was created, but because He was the reflection of the Father to us, and He voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Father in the process of redemption. It is too wonderful for us to comprehend, but it is marvelous indeed.
After all of the explanation Mary simply responded by submitting herself to the will of God as His maidservant. She is a great model for all of us. If we would surrender to Jesus all of the time, our lives would be so different and blessed. I pray that we will all strive to follow her example.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 28-30 and Mark 8:22-38.
It is amazing to think about what God did to bring His Son into the world to save us from our sins. Jesus had to be both completely God and completely man, except that He could not have any sin nature. Therefore, the virgin birth was the only reasonable way to accomplish this. Any human birth would have brought another child into the world with a sinful nature. The virgin birth allowed Jesus to be human but to bypass the reception of the sinful nature from Adam. This made Him fully human and divine, so He could be the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. God could die in our place, and at the same time a sinless man could take our sins upon Himself for us. Jesus was the perfect union of Perfect God and Perfect Man. In His love He came to save us by paying the sin debt with His blood.
Now, think about it all this way. Who better to describe the virgin birth than Luke, the Physician? After speaking with Mary in person, even the man of science came to the conclusion that Jesus came into this world as the product of a unique conception in which the Holy Spirit of God overshadowed Mary, and she conceived in her womb the Son of God. Jesus is not called the Son, because He was created, but because He was the reflection of the Father to us, and He voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Father in the process of redemption. It is too wonderful for us to comprehend, but it is marvelous indeed.
After all of the explanation Mary simply responded by submitting herself to the will of God as His maidservant. She is a great model for all of us. If we would surrender to Jesus all of the time, our lives would be so different and blessed. I pray that we will all strive to follow her example.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 28-30 and Mark 8:22-38.