When God Invaded History
The accounts of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth are fully
historical. They describe the events when the supernatural invaded the normal
flow of historical events.
The physician Luke tells us he thoroughly researched
everything about the life of Jesus concerning His conception and birth (Luke
1:1-4). Luke must have gotten his details from Mary.
Matthew makes it very clear that God invaded history. He
quotes Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a
virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Jesus is “God with us.” The Hebrew word Bethulah means an unblemished
young woman of marriageable age. She was a virgin. Matthew used the word
“virgin” to tell his readers that Jesus was conceived by God to the Holy Spirit
apart from any human father.
Matthew states clearly and concisely: "Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit"
(Matthew 1:18). A couple of verses later he adds, "But when he had
considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for
the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).
The child who had been conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit
was the divine Messiah, the Son of God. He is Immanuel, God incarnate, meaning
“God with us.” Jesus is incarnate deity, and He has promised us that He will be
with us always, even to the very end of the ages (Matt. 28:20). He will never
leave us nor forsake us.
Jesus is “God with us” by means of the supernatural
conception in the womb of the Jewish virgin Mary.
Luke the physician gives us his research, "Now in the sixth
month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,"
(Luke 1:26) "to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary" (v. 27).
The conception of the Messiah would be unique, such as had
never occurred before in history. How will it take place? The angel said it
happened in the womb of “a virgin.” The womb that will carry the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, the world’s Savior, will not be born in Rome or even
Jerusalem or in a royal palace. The womb that carried the greatest treasure of
the universe is a Jewish virgin who pledged to be married to a humble village
carpenter. The virgin surrendered herself wholeheartedly. On the part of Mary,
we see “unqualified submission to God’s will.” No wonder she was “highly
favored,” and “full of grace.”
Our lives are full of grace when we humbly submit to the
will of God. You are in a unique sense a divinely favored person because God
loved you so much that He sent His unique Son to die for your sins.
Jesus is “the Son of The Most High” (Luke 1:31-33). His
“greatness” is in obedience to sacrifice Himself for the salvation of sinners.
The great promises to King David that one of his
descendents would sit on his throne and “reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and His kingdom will never end” (cf. 2 Sam. 7:11-13) can be fulfilled ultimately
only in the son born to the virgin.
The son of the virgin will be great, even the Son of The
Most High, to whom the LORD God will give the throne of his father David, and
His reign as King will last forever, and His kingdom will never end!
Have you bowed at the feet of this King? Eternal
consequences result in your attitude toward Him. Are you going to spend eternity
with Him in heaven? “His kingdom will never end.” There will be no end to His
kingdom or to His rule. Does your heart cry out, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Come today”?
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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