You have to wonder if that prophesy Isaiah penned raised any eyebrows at the time the words were spoken which was over 700 years prior to it coming to pass.
A ‘virgin shall conceive’…
One of those unique attributes that God possesses…is He is not an attention seeker.
When He says He is going to do something, He sets it in motion, it happens and He just moves on…whether people want to believe Him or not. He is confident that the ones who are supposed to ‘get the message’ …will.
And as subtle and as ‘off the radar’ as God can be oftentimes, He also knows how to herald in good news in style.
Just ask the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night when God wanted to get the word out nine months after the virgin conceived, that His Son had arrived. He sent a choir of angels to let them know. It’s all a part of the ‘Christmas story’ that gets lost on us at times.
People like to talk about a ‘Christmas Miracle’.
No denying the fact that a ‘virgin’ conceiving and then delivering the Son of God… would be an impressive miracle, as it was.
And while that did not make the cable news channels, we do have record of it in the Gospel of Luke chapter 1.
God sent His angel, Gabriel, to visit Mary and fill her in on the ‘plan’. You’ll notice she was not ‘asked’ if she wanted to have a part in this, but rather was ‘told’ what was going to happen.
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.” (31)
But Mary had a legitimate question. Who could blame her for this one?
“How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (no explanation needed on this I hope)
And Mary got her answer.
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (35)
Granted…many ‘educated’ church folks today openly admit they are skeptical of the biblical account of a ‘virgin conceiving’. But there are many of us who do believe this account and we have no problem believing that God could do, and did, what He said He was going to do.
At least, with Mary.
Why is it we always seem to ‘have faith’ for others but not ourselves? We’re rather proficient about vocally expressing our faith that ‘God can do anything’ …accept when it comes to Him doing something miraculous in us.
You know, like a ‘miracle birth’?
It’s no secret that modern science/medicine have found ways to circumvent the ‘old fashioned way’ of getting pregnant. And for those who have been the recipient of a new baby via those new methods, we rejoice with you.
Now do you remember the story of Abraham and Sarah who were old and childless?
Sarah had few options back in her day when God wanted to ‘birth a miracle’ in her. (Gen 18) And when at the ripe old age of 90-something, when she overheard God tell her husband Abraham that she was going to conceive and have a son, she started laughing. You know she had a similar question as Mary would have much later, but from a different angle.
How can this be? I’m like really old and way past the age of bearing children.
God shrugged…and said: ‘You think anything is too hard for the Me?”
Sarah had that baby boy…in case you are not familiar with this story.
It’s an all too common question that God gets from His people when He brings them in on what He is going to do or wants to do. People get that look like a ‘calf at a new gate’ and ask: “How can this be?” Zacharias had the same response when an angel told him similar tidings in Luke 1 regarding his wife Elizabeth.
It’s like we forget who we are talking to or hearing from.
Jesus sat down with Nicodemus, the well-known and respected Pharisee. And you know what the conversation centered on there in John 3?
Yep… another ‘miracle birth’.
Jesus was trying to explain what needed to take place if anyone was to experience, or see, or enter the kingdom of God and that it would require being ‘born again’.
Nicodemus’s bewildered response: “How can this be?”
Sigh
And while many Christians today feel compelled to ward off all the secular noise and activity that distracts from the ‘real’ Christmas message, it is the same people that have failed to take to heart the annual message that we are compelled to proclaim.
God birthed a miracle in Mary and produced a Son. His name was to be called ‘Jesus’ and He was going to ‘deliver people from their sins.”
Go take a quick look at Romans 8:29. Guess how Jesus is referred to there…
”He will be the firstborn among many… brethren”.
Did you catch that? “Brethren”.
God was not finished creating ‘miraculous births’ after Jesus was born.
Yes…go back and read that again. Maybe one more time?
If you are not careful here or not willing to take a moment with this, you may miss out on a ‘hidden nugget’, perhaps a ‘gift wrapped packaged of revelation’ that God wants to show YOU here at this moment. Can you just pause…and pray this: [ Holy Spirit…please open my eyes and heart and understanding in this very moment if there is something here for me to see]
… wait a second there…don’t be in a rush… take a few moments with this one. Never hurts to learn how to ‘wait on the Lord’ ;- )
…
You might say that Jesus was the ‘proto-type’ of what God planned on doing in US. As in…You, and Me, and to ‘whosoever’ would believe on Him and turn to Him with All their hearts.
Do you remember what Mary said to the angel after hearing this was going to be a work of the ‘Spirit’ and that ‘with God NOTHING will be impossible’?
She said: “Let it be to me according to your word”.
We do understand from the Parable of the Sower that the ‘seed’ is the ‘word of God’, yes?
Have you not read where Peter writes: ‘having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23)
And in his second letter states that we have become ‘partakers of the divine nature’ ( 2 Pet 1:4) Oh…might want to make note that he is referring to people who actually have and demonstrate this divine nature…not those who ‘think it is automatic because they attend church somewhere.
Paul had no hesitation admonishing those in Corinth to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5)
The past few weeks, countless churches around the country have hosted Christmas programs or some form of nativity scenes depicting the manger where Baby Jesus lay after his birth. In most cases, a baby doll or ‘fake baby Jesus’ is used to lay in the hay wrapped in swaddling clothes.
But we know that it was no ‘fake baby Jesus’ who was born of a virgin over 2000 years ago.
The question worth addressing though…is ‘what Jesus’ is lying in the manger of YOUR heart? Is it the one born of incorruptible seed…or just a ‘knock off’ version that may from time to time produce ‘warm feelings’ as you walk in a form of godliness but denies the power of producing the very likeness of God’s divine nature residing in you.
Because that is what He came to do.
That, my friends, is the true meaning and purpose of the miracle birth: Christ in us…the hope of Glory. (Col 1:26-27)
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