Are You Ready For The Coming Of The Lord?

Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38. This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient, authoritative word for you, his people.

Luke 1:26–38

Luke 1, starting at 26.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.

Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Verse 31.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and he shall be called Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and ever.

And of his kingdom, there will be no end.

Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be since I do not know a man?

And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God.

Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has gone and also conceived a son in her old age.

And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

For with God, nothing will be impossible.

Then Mary said, Behold, the maidservant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, we praise you that you have not left us in darkness,

but you have shown the light of your glory into this world in the person of Jesus Christ.

We praise you for the light that has overcome the darkness

and for how the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord,

how this gospel continues to conquer and push back the darkness.

Lord, no shadow can stand before your unfolding glory.

We praise you, Father, that you speak still today,

that your Holy Spirit makes your word active and sharp and alive.

We pray that your word will shine into the darkest places, Lord,

of our minds that need to be enlightened and reformed,

and that you'll draw us, Father, by your love, by your conquering power,

to more and more conform to this image and likeness of your Son,

that he will be glorified,

and the purpose of his mission will be fulfilled in us as people.

We ask this for your glory, for our good, and for his precious namesake.

Amen.

Well, failure to prepare is fatal.

History teaches us this.

If the Romans were to set their eyes on your piece of land

and you were not ready for them to come with their army and their artillery,

it was game over for you.

You know how the Roman Empire would expand and conquer.

They would begin by surrounding your countryside.

They would then destroy your farms,

cut off your supply of food,

so that you become starved and weakened on the inside of the walls.

After a while, if you were to try to negotiate with the Romans,

they would give you a settlement that is so unfavorable,

they would drive you into poverty by heavy taxes.

If you were to fight when you're already weakened without food,

you would easily get slaughtered,

and any survivors would then become their slaves.

Failure to prepare for a conquering kingdom is fatal.

This is the time of Advent.

Advent.

And I want to encourage you that Advent is a time of Christ's kingdom coming

and for us to prepare for it.

Where does that word Advent come from?

Well, after Julius Caesar in about the year 100 before Christ,

he won a battle in Asia Minor,

so just north of Philippi, where we've been going in our series.

He later returned home,

and famously, or at least supposedly, according to historians,

he declared those famous three words in Latin,

veni, vidi, vici.

It's a phrase that means I came, I saw, and I conquered.

What does that have to do with the word advent?

Well, that verb, venire, or ven,

it means to move towards, to draw nigh, to approach,

to arrive at, to be present, or to advance upon.

It means I came to that land that I saw, and I conquered it.

It's the coming of a conquering king.

Since God finished the revelation of the Old Testament,

there have been 400 years without a prophet being risen up,

and the spirit poured out so they could give new revelation.

400 years without an angel showing up from heaven,

and speaking on behalf of God to God's people.

And there's been a remnant waiting for those 400 years

for the coming of the king,

the coming of Messiah, the anointed one.

They're waiting for him to come.

Those 400 years were 400 years of advent,

making themselves ready,

preparing themselves because the king is coming to their land.

An example of this remnant that was waiting

for the coming of the anointed one,

you can actually turn a page forward in your Bible.

It's Luke chapter 2, verse 25.

Luke 2:25

We read of Simeon.

He's described as being just and devout.

He's a man whose faith is serious.

He's wanting to be in the presence of God,

to stand forgiven and righteous before the Lord,

devout to search the scriptures.

And it says that Simeon, Luke 2, 25, was waiting.

He was waiting for the consolation of Israel,

and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And he's one of many who will prophesy,

and who will burst forward into song.

So, beloved congregation,

Advent is not bells and smells.

Advent is a time to get your soul ready

for the second coming of Christ.

My question for us today is,

are you ready for the coming of the Lord?

Are you ready for the coming of the Lord?

I want to see in Luke 1,

four ways to be ready

for the king that's coming

and advancing his kingdom.

The first one is this,

in verse 26,

to be ready for the coming of the Lord.

Realize that heaven invades earth

when you least expect it.

Heaven invades earth when you least expect it.

In verse 26, we read,

now in the sixth month,

what is this point of reference?

You can go back two verses.

So look at Luke 1, verse 24.

Luke 1:24

We're told Elizabeth had conceived,

even though she was in her old age.

It was God miraculously allowing

someone much beyond the age

of giving birth to a child

to become pregnant.

And then we're told in verse 24

that she hid herself five months.

So this clarifies,

it's now the sixth month

of Elizabeth's pregnancy.

The angel Gabriel

was sent by God

to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.

See, heaven,

it will invade earth

when you least expect it.

Picture this trip.

Gabriel, an angel of the Lord,

God most high.

His trip goes from glory

to utter simplicity.

It goes from highest heaven

to Nazareth.

Look in Luke chapter 1, verse 19.

Luke 1:19

Gabriel had made another appearance

and he described himself this way

in Luke 1, 19.

I am Gabriel

who stands

in the presence

of God.

This is where Gabriel stands.

This is where he goes to work.

It's in the presence

of God.

What does the Bible say

about the presence of God?

In Hebrews 12, 22,

we're told the presence of God.

It's a heavenly Mount Zion,

the city of the living God

surrounded by an innumerable

company of angels.

So there stands Gabriel

before God the creator

with an innumerable company

of angels in heaven.

Revelation 4 and 5

described heaven

as a place of worship

where the voice of angels

is crying out

the glory and the praise of God

along with all the souls

that God has redeemed

throughout the Old

and the New Testament

by the great host

that surround the throne of God.

And we're told in Luke 15, 10

that heaven,

the presence of God

is a place of joy

that the angels of God,

they burst forth in joy,

rejoicing over one sinner,

who repents.

That's where Gabriel

gets to work

day and night

before the throne of God.

And from the holy throne

of God in heaven,

he sends Gabriel

to Nazareth.

Simple,

middle of nowhere,

quiet town of Nazareth.

When God gave to the Israelites

the land of Israel,

the promised land,

you remember how

the 12 tribes,

the two half tribes

are made into 13,

but they each were given

a portion of land

in Israel.

Well,

this place of Nazareth

was given to the half tribe

called Nap,

I'm sorry,

to the tribe of Naphtali.

It was the son

of Rachel's

maidservant.

maidservant.

So not the beloved Rachel,

but the place

where Rachel's bond slave,

her son,

was given.

This land of Nazareth

had turned

to worship the idols.

They had been conquered

by the Assyrians

much before

the two southern tribes

fell to idolatry.

The people that lived

in the land of Nazareth

had been scattered,

carried away.

There had been a remnant

that had been left back,

but then

when the Lord brought them

back out of captivity

and they began

to live in the land,

the Assyrians

had purposely

intermingled them

and mixed them.

So these northern tribes

were looked down upon

by the two southern tribes

as being impure,

unkosher.

Even the other Galileans

who lived in this

northern region

would mock Nazareth

as an out-of-the-way place.

It's not something

you would expect

anything great

to come from.

You remember

the words of Nathaniel

in John 1.46.

He said,

can anything good

come out of Nazareth?

Well, we read that

in verse 26.

This is exactly the town

that the Lord

sent Gabriel to.

And in verse 27,

we read,

it was to speak

to a virgin

who was betrothed

to a man

whose name was Joseph

of the house of David.

A person would be betrothed.

Their parents

would talk to other parents

and they would agree

that this daughter

around the age 13

would be given

in marriage

to this boy

or this young man.

You would be betrothed

for one year.

It was legally binding.

And during this one year,

it was a period

of testing

to make sure

that the two

could remain pure

for one another.

It was a period

of chastity.

If this betrothed girl

were to

become impure,

then the young man

who was betrothed

to her

during this one year period,

he had two options.

He could apply

justice to her

according to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 22:21

chapter 22

verse 21,

and he would stone her

as an adulteress

for being unfaithful.

Or he could choose

to show her mercy

by divorcing her quietly.

Mary's relatives

were told

she traveled down

to visit Elizabeth,

so that was

her side of the family

that lived in the hill

country around Jerusalem.

And Elizabeth's husband

had been chosen

to be the high priest

that year.

We also know that

Joseph had to travel

down to Bethlehem

to trace his family

heritage down south.

Bethlehem is very close

to Jerusalem

as well.

But how did this

young couple end up

not close to Jerusalem,

the pure tribes,

but way up in Nazareth,

out of the middle

of nowhere?

We don't know

the details of their story.

It's likely that

either their parents

or grandparents

for work and survival

had to migrate

within the country.

We do know that

Joseph and Mary

were working class

and very poor

because when they came

to bring a sacrifice,

they didn't bring a lamb.

They had to bring

a poor man's offering,

which was pigeons.

And we knew that

Joseph was a carpenter's

apprentice,

getting started,

learning a trade.

And this is where

the angel Gabriel

shows up.

We don't get a lot

of details about

the life of Mary

and Joseph or Jesus

in those formative years,

but we do read

in Luke 4,

chapter,

I'm sorry,

chapter 4,

verse 16,

that it was in Nazareth

where Jesus had been

brought up,

that Jesus went

to the synagogue.

Synagogue would be

not a temple,

but a place

where God's people

could go to read

the scriptures

for themselves.

And Jesus went there

on a Sabbath,

as was his custom,

and he stood up

and read.

So growing up

with these poor,

simple parents,

going to the synagogue,

hearing the word

of God read,

this is the simple

upbringing of the

Son of God.

Small town,

small church,

you work,

you study,

you do it again

the next week.

heaven will break

into earth

when we least

expect it.

It might feel

the same for you

today.

Your life is simple,

it's routine,

feels very mundane,

and here we have

a small group

of people awaiting

the coming of the

Messiah,

the King,

the promised one,

and they're living,

devout,

reading his word,

studying his word,

coming to hear

from the Lord

week after week.

Will we be ready

for the next

coming of the King?

1 Thessalonians 4,

16 and 17

says that the Lord

himself,

again,

will descend

from heaven,

not Gabriel this time,

it will be Jesus

Christ himself.

He will come

to earth again,

and it will be

with a great shout,

with the voice

of an archangel,

with the trumpet

of God,

and the dead

in Christ

will rise first.

Then we who are

still alive,

we will be caught

up together

with them in the clouds,

and we will meet

the Lord in the air.

Heaven will burst

onto this earth

when we least expect

it once again.

So let's be ready

for the next coming

of the Lord.

The second way

we do this

is to realize

that our salvation

depends entirely

on God's grace

for you in Christ.

Realize that

your salvation

depends

entirely

on God's grace

for you

in Christ.

I want to point

this out with

Mary

and her response

to the angel.

Look at verse 27

at how Mary

is described.

We're told by

this same author

under the inspiration

of the Holy Scripture

that Simeon

was devout

and just.

And that's how

Elizabeth and Zacharias

were described.

But to Mary

there's no description

given.

Look at verse 27.

It simply says

the virgin's name

was Mary.

Not pointing out

any other blessings

or attributes

or meritorious traits

of this young one.

Verse 28 says,

Having come in,

the angel said

to Mary,

Rejoice,

highly favored one.

The Lord is with you.

Blessed are you

among women.

Do you see

the simplicity

of it?

such a quiet town

you can almost hear

the door crack

open,

screech,

and then here comes

Mary entering the house

and before her

is an angel

who moments ago

was in the presence

of God most high.

But this greeting

is very calm.

There's no ceremony

to it.

It just simply says,

Rejoice,

favored one.

The Lord is with you.

Blessed are you

among women.

And Mary's response

in verse 29

says that when she saw him,

the angel Gabriel,

Mary was troubled

at his saying

and considered

what manner

of greeting this was.

We have to understand

their custom

to realize

what that sentence means.

A great example

that was helpful to me

is,

do you remember

in the Old Testament

when one of the patriarchs

was going to meet another

or when we had

Jacob going back

to meet Esau

and there's,

send the caravans

out in front

with all the gifts

and let me come

and make myself

low before him

and show like,

I'm submissive to you.

You're the Lord

in this relationship.

I'm humbling myself

as I greet you.

So how a greeting

happened in the custom

of the ancient Hebrew people,

it was establishing

right off the bat,

how are we going

to interact

with one another?

And it would be presumptuous

for a 13-year-old girl

who has nothing

to be described by

except that she was young

and virgin

to expect

to be on the same level

as the angel Gabriel

from the presence

of the Lord

who strikes fear

in anyone.

So she's surprised

at what manner

of greeting is this?

The angel

from God's presence

is greeting me

and saying,

you are highly favored.

The Lord

is blessing you

above all other women.

This doesn't make

any sense.

She's the one

who should be

making herself low

and giving

these exalted

greetings and praise

to this glorious figure

from heaven.

In verse 30,

the angel said to her,

Do not be afraid, Mary.

You have found favor

with God.

You have found favor

with God.

That phrase,

to find favor

with God,

has been used

by the Roman Catholic Church

to create an entire

idolatrous body

of teaching.

The Roman Catholic

Council of Trent

wrongly interpreted

that phrase,

to have found favor

with God,

as to be full

of grace.

And it's then taught

that Mary is all holy.

If you're full

of God's grace,

there's no room

for sin,

therefore you are

fully all holy.

Pope Pius IX

in 1854

taught that Mary

was redeemed

from the moment

of her conception.

It just keeps adding

on these requirements

then for Mary

to give birth

to the Holy Son of God.

How could her sin

have not polluted him?

And therefore,

she must have never

had sin in her whole life.

She would have also

been sinless.

All of this is based

on that exact little phrase,

you have found favor

with God.

The verb is

to have found.

So that's a good translation.

You have found favor

with God.

The word favor

in the Greek

is karim.

Karim.

And that literally

means grace.

152 times or so

that word is used

in the New Testament.

130 of those times

it's translated

as grace.

It's a mere handful

of times

where it's translated

as anything other

than grace.

Here's an example

in Acts 15, 11.

It's through the grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ,

through the karim

of the Lord Jesus Christ

that we shall be saved.

You hear the word of God

of the gospel

and you believe.

God who knows the heart,

he acknowledges you

by giving you

the Holy Spirit

and purifying your heart

by faith.

So that's the same translation

of the word karim,

grace.

This phrase,

to have found favor

in the eyes of God,

this also brings to mind

a couple passages

in the Old Testament

where that same description

is given.

In Genesis 6, 8,

we're told that Noah

found grace

in the eyes

of the Lord.

Now the Hebrew word

is chin,

Noah found chin,

and so how is that

word translated?

Well in Exodus 13, 17,

God said of Moses,

you, Moses,

have found chin,

or you have found grace

in my sight

and I know your name.

The sins of Noah,

the sins of Moses

are very clear

in the Old Testament.

The point is that

God looked upon

all those who deserve

punishment and wrath

for their sin

and instead of giving them

what they deserve,

they are ill-deserving.

Instead,

he gives them favor

and blessing

and it's the same word

to describe to Mary

finding grace

in the sight of God.

We read in verse 38,

Luke 1, 38,

then Mary said,

behold,

the maid servant

or the bond slave

of the Lord.

Let it be to me

according to your word.

And then the angel

departed.

See,

even Mary's faith

is nothing extraordinary.

Mary's faith

is simply the faith

of a child.

She is trusting

this word

that the Lord

has given her,

surrendering to the Lord

himself,

trusting in his word.

And that's how she is ready

for the coming of the Lord.

She receives this

by faith,

trusting in the grace

of God to her.

Alone.

For you to be ready

for the coming of the Lord,

that's the response

that God calls of you

as well.

When Christ returns,

don't remain unrepentant,

proud.

See,

the demons

know that God

is coming again.

In Mark 1, 24,

they say to Christ

that his first coming,

what have you to do

with us,

Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come

to destroy us?

We know who you are,

the Holy One

of God.

So the faith

of the demon says,

yes,

he is coming

and he will destroy

all those

who do not bow

their knee to him.

They fear

the first coming

of the Lord.

And Paul words

very sternly

in 1 Corinthians 16,

22,

if anyone

does not love

the Lord Jesus Christ,

let him be

accursed.

And then he says,

oh come,

Lord Jesus.

Maranatha.

See,

that should be

our prayer

in the face

of injustice.

Someone who

denies Jesus Christ,

does not believe

God at his word,

stands proud

and unrepentant

before the Lord.

Our prayer should

simply be to turn

to God and say,

come quickly,

Lord Jesus.

My temptation

is to take matters

into my own hands,

but I need to remember

I'm a sinner

just like that.

I would be just

as blind

if God hadn't

shown me his grace

and shown me his favor

when I'm ill-deserving.

Because my salvation

depends entirely

on God's grace

for me in Christ.

And then it changes.

I can pray,

come quickly,

Lord Jesus.

Not because

I live in fear

like these demons,

but because I trust

I am fully pardoned,

fully forgiven,

fully united to God

by the person

and work of Jesus.

I stand

in his grace alone.

Well,

the third way

to be ready

for the next coming

of the Lord

is to trust

that he is

who he says

he is.

To be ready

for the coming

of the Lord,

trust that the Lord

is who he says

he is.

Look at verse 31.

We read,

Behold,

the angel tells Mary,

you will conceive

in your womb

and bring forth

a son

and shall call

his name

Jesus.

and he will be great

and will be called

the son

of the highest.

The Lord God

will give him

the throne

of his father David

and he will reign

over the house

of Jacob forever

and his kingdom

there will be no end.

Mary,

do you trust

that Jesus

is who he says

he is?

Both Mary

and Joseph

were told

by the angel

to give

this baby

the name

Jesus.

And we know

that Mary

goes to visit

Elizabeth

but then the next

thing that happens

is that Mary

and Joseph

travel together

and they would

have so much

to process together

that God

has revealed

to them

and making sense

of what God

has told them

by the mouth

of his own angels

his servants

and messengers

that came from

the presence

of God

most high.

so they can

refer now

to this little

baby in the tummy

as Jesus

like parents

love to do

and as they're

talking together

husband and wife

as they travel

to Bethlehem

Jesus

his name

will be

Yeshua

Yeshua

means to save

in Exodus

14

13

Moses

is given

this word

stand firm

and see

the salvation

of the Lord

which he

will work

for you

today

to read

that with

the Hebrew

word inserted

it's this

stand firm

and see

the Yeshua

of the Lord

which he

will work

for you

today

Yeshua

means

salvation

and you

can picture

Mary's thoughts

well Isaiah

43 11

God says

behold I

am

the Lord

and there

is no

other

savior

besides

me

God

says

I

am

the

Lord

there

is

no

other

savior

besides

me

and

Isaiah

45 22

says

turn to

me

and be

saved

all the

ends

of the

earth

for I

am

God

and there

is

no

other

see

the

teaching

of the

Old

Testament

is

very

clear

there

is

one

being

capable

of

saving

sinners

and who

is it

it's

God

himself

there

is

no

one

else

who

can

save

there

is

no

other

savior

besides

God

I

am

the

Lord

himself

and

Joseph

recalls

Matthew

121

in fact

turn there

so you can

see it

with your

own

eyes

Matthew

121

the

angel of

the

Lord

appeared

to

Joseph

in a

dream

saying

Joseph

son

of

David

do

not

be

afraid

to

take

to

you

Mary

your

wife

for

that

which

is

conceived

in

her

is

of

the

Holy

Spirit

and

she

will

bring

forth

a

son

and

you

will

call

his

name

Yeshua

salvation

for

he

will

save

his

people

from

their

sins

how

much

of

this

could

Mary

and

Joseph

have

put

together

with

what

God

revealed

to

them

we

can

use

a

logical

syllogism

to

arrive

at a

conclusion

that

sound

here's

the

first

premise

according

to

Isaiah

43

there

is

no

savior

besides

God

here's

the

second

premise

we

got

to

reconcile

according

to

Matthew

21

Jesus

will

save

his

people

from

their

sins

do

you

get

this

there's

no

savior

besides

God

Jesus

will

save

his

people

from

their

sin

the

only

conclusion

you

can

draw

is

that

Jesus

in

your

womb

is

God

look

at

Mary's

response

go back

to

Luke

chapter

one

we're

told

that

Mary

was

reflective

you

know

she

pondered

these

things

in

her

heart

we're

told

two

times

there's

so

much

to

ponder

here

and

as

she

ponders

and

meditates

at

some

point

the

Holy

Spirit

inspires

her

and

she

bursts

into

song

look at

Luke

chapter

one

verse

46

Mary

says

my inner

being

my soul

magnifies

the

Lord

in my

womb

is the

one who

will

magnify

all of

God's

attributes

to the

world

God

God

my

Savior

Jesus

salvation

the

only

one

who

will

take

away

the

sins

of

his

own

people

my

own

sins

and

he

will

be

called

son

of

the

highest

the

phrase

is

El

Elion

El

means

God

and

it's

the

Lord

God

in

excelsis

it's

God

most

elevated

is

what

the

one

inside

of

me

will

be

called

Jesus

Christ

is

not

a

created

angel

he

is

not

a

spirit

making

appearances

on

earth

but

he

is

the

only

co

existent

eternal

God

the

son

creator

of

all

without

beginning

without

end

who

took

on

a

growing

fetus

body

inside

the

womb

of

simple

Mary

in

middle

of

nowhere

Nazareth

in

verse

32

Luke

132

the

angel

says

the

Lord

God

will

give

him

the

throne

of

his

father

David

and

he

will

reign

over

the

house

of

Jacob

forever

and of

his

kingdom

there

will

be

no

end

you

got

your

finger

there

in

Luke

you've

turned

to

Matthew

1

I

want

to

do

this

fast

but

I

don't

want

to

lose

you

but

what

I

want

you

to

see

are

two

things

this

reference

to

the

father

from

the

line

of

David

you

know

he

says

the

throne

God

will

give

him

the

throne

of

his

father

David

Jesus

gets

the

lineage

of

David

from

both

Mary

and

Joseph

it's

because

we

get

two

different

genealogies

there's

a

genealogy

in

Matthew

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

and

there's

another

genealogy

in

Luke

Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

you're

welcome

to

flip

back

and

forth

and

also

study

this

more

carefully

yourself

the

genealogy

in

Matthew

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

leads

to

Joseph

who

is

legally

the

father

of

David

and

the

angel

refers

to

Joseph

son

of

David

and

so

legally

in

terms

of

the

census

within

Israel

Joseph

is

of

the

line

of

David

Jesus

is

born

legally

into

the

household

of

Joseph

son

of

David

but

Mary

is

also

from

the

line

of

David

and

if

you

look

at

Luke

Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

it's

a

different

genealogy

than

Matthew

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

Mary's

lineage

which

is

given

in

Luke

Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

it

also

includes

the

line

of

David

so

the

other

names

are

different

but

the

meeting

point

is

from

this

line

of

David

both

in

Mary

and

in

Joseph

and

if

you

think

about

the

audience

of

each

of

these

books

Matthew

was

written

for

Jews

who

would

believe

the

gospel

and

they

wanted

to be

able

to

see

this

like

tracing

out

the

patriarchal

line

it

leads

to

Jesus

Christ

born

under

the

house

of

Joseph

in

Bethlehem

all

of

the

prophecies

are

fulfilled

but

Luke's

gospel

comes

later

all

of

us

need

to

understand

how

is

this

good

news

for

me

as

well

and

we

can

look

at

Luke's

genealogy

and

you

see

where

this

one

ends

up

it

goes

all

the

way

to

Adam

described

as

the

son

of

God

who

God

made

in

his

image

see

the

promise

to

Adam's

wife

Eve

is

that

the

seed

of

woman

will

destroy

the

serpent's

head

and

this

is

good

news

for

Jew

and

Gentile

for

all

of

us

who

can

trace

our

lineage

all

the

way

back

to

Adam

and

in

our

catechism

today

we

read

how

in

Adam's

fall

sinned

we

all

but

now

from

that

same

fallen

line

comes

the

seed

of

woman

the

lineage

of

Mary

the

lineage

of

Eve

all

the

way

back

it's

God

keeping

his

promise

for

the

whole

world

isn't

this

a

beautiful

gospel

how

is it

that

the

seed

of

woman

could

bring

a

savior

the

old

testament

always

describes

the

seed

of

a

man

you

know

Abraham

to

your

seed

it's

always

in

reference

to

the

man's

line

but

the