Born of a Virgin

Matthew chapter 1, we'll be reading verses 18 through 25.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

As we're turning there, let me pray, and then we'll read together.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for this season that we can remember and celebrate your first coming.

We pray that as we do that, that we would at the same time live with longing and hope

for your return and look forward to the day when you will come and make all things new.

Bless us as we look into this passage this morning, and we pray that you would speak

to us and help us to be strengthened and equipped.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Matthew chapter 1, beginning at verse 18.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to

be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to

divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife.

For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son.

And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

But behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.

One of the most profound and awe-inspiring experiences that a human being can have is to see a new human

being come into the world.

From the moment of realization she's pregnant, through the months of preparation, as the baby

gradually develops to the climactic moment of birth, there is a sense of mystery and wonder

at the fragility and the beauty of a new human life.

Now, sometimes the birth of a particular child is seen as particularly unusual or providential.

I think of children born to couples in their mid-forties who thought they were past the age of childbearing,

or couples who for years thought they were infertile, yet conceived multiple children,

or children who were born several weeks premature and yet survived with the aid of modern technology.

I think of a child who, by God's grace, survived an attempt to abort him,

or children born after a previous miscarriage or stillbirth.

But the reality is not only in unusual circumstances, but every time that any child is born into the world,

something amazing and extraordinary has happened.

Most things that have happened over the last ten years I have long since forgotten,

but I have distinct memories of watching each of my children be born

and of the circumstances surrounding their birth.

It's something you don't quickly forget.

Now, sometimes we are surprised and rightly grieved

when someone has a miscarriage or stillbirth,

but perhaps we should be even more amazed

every time that a baby is born,

considering all the perils that attend the development of the tiniest human lives

from the moment of conception onwards.

This morning we're looking at Matthew's account of the conception and birth of Jesus.

And Matthew wants us to know that of all the unusual and providential births

that have ever occurred in human history,

the birth of Jesus was the most unusual of all.

Matthew wants us to know that of all the people that have ever occurred in the world.

Matthew wants us to see that the conception and birth of Jesus was not just unusual,

not just providential, not just amazing and awe-inspiring,

but it was positively supernatural and miraculous.

Verse 18 begins,

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

That word translated birth is the same word that in verse 1 is translated genealogy.

It is the Greek word Genesis,

what we call the first book of the Bible.

It could also be translated origin, right?

In chapter, in verse 1, the book of the origin of Jesus Christ.

Verse 18, the origin of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

So Matthew's telling us in this chapter about Jesus' origins.

Now last week, the first half of the chapter in the genealogy,

we saw Jesus' human origins.

He was the son of David, the son of Abraham,

descended from the genealogical line of the people of Israel

to whom God had made his promise long ago.

That a descendant of Abraham would be the means through which

all the nations of the world would be blessed.

That a son of David would arise as a righteous and victorious and merciful ruler.

So we saw Jesus' human origins last week,

but in the second half of the chapter,

what we're looking at today,

Matthew emphasizes Jesus' divine origin.

Verse 18, now or but,

the origin of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

Matthew's saying he's making a contrast

between all the other births recorded in the genealogy,

all 42 of them in the chapter 1,

and the birth of Jesus.

If you look at the genealogy, it follows a typical pattern.

A is the father of B.

B is the father of C.

C is the father of D.

In some unusual circumstances,

the mother is also mentioned.

But at the end of the genealogy,

in verse 16, Matthew breaks the pattern.

Verse 16 says,

Jacob, the father of Joseph,

the husband of Mary,

of whom Jesus was born,

who is called Christ.

That word Christ is the same word for Messiah.

So Matthew carefully avoids saying

that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus,

even though the rest of his narrative

in chapters 1 and 2

focuses far more on the character of Joseph

than on Mary.

So in verse 16,

he's alerting us to something unusual.

Then verse 18, he picks up that thread.

It happened in this way.

How exactly did Jesus originate?

In a supernatural and miraculous way.

And throughout the second half of the chapter,

Matthew intentionally points out

Jesus' divine and supernatural origin.

Verse 18,

Before Mary and Joseph came together,

Mary was found to be with child

from the Holy Spirit.

Verse 20,

The angel says to Joseph,

That which is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit.

Verse 23,

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

Verse 24,

Joseph took his wife but knew her not

until she had given birth to a son.

So Matthew repeatedly points out

that Jesus did not originate

in the normal human way.

In the words of the Apostles' Creed,

Jesus was conceived by the power

of the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary.

This is something that Christians

have always and everywhere believed

ever since the beginning

of the Christian movement.

Now this morning,

I want us to consider two things.

First, I want us to consider

whether this is actually plausible.

Right?

Can we really believe this?

Second, I want us to consider

why does it matter?

Why is it important

that Jesus was born of a virgin,

that he was supernaturally conceived?

So first,

is this actually believable?

Is it plausible?

Ever since the beginning of Christianity,

right, Christians have always

proclaimed this and believed this

and confessed this,

but many people have been skeptical.

Also ever since the beginning

of Christianity,

not just in modern times.

some people,

some of the Jewish people

who did not accept Jesus

as the Messiah

accused him of being born illegitimately.

There was a rumor

that he was born of a Roman soldier

getting together with Mary.

Right?

So from the beginning,

people were skeptical.

And so we have to ask,

is this plausible?

Right?

Some people say today,

a virgin birth,

scientifically impossible.

Now, parthenogenesis,

that's the scientific term

for virgin birth,

does occur occasionally

in some animals,

but how could a woman

with XX chromosomes

give birth to a man

with XY?

Where does the Y come from?

Without any male involvement.

That seems unbelievable, right?

But the search

for a scientific explanation

is misguided.

Because Matthew is not claiming

that God used

a very unusual

or previously unrecognized

set of natural processes

to produce a very statistically

unlikely outcome.

No.

His claim is

that the God

who made the world

chose to intervene

within it.

The Christian claim is

God acted supernaturally.

He did something

that would never have happened

through natural processes alone.

So we then have to ask,

well,

could God intervene

in the world?

Can God step in

and do something

that would never happen

through natural processes alone?

Well, if you believe

in the God of the Bible,

or really if you believe

in any kind of God at all,

or even if you're agnostic,

you can't rule out

the possibility

of divine intervention

in principle.

You have to evaluate

on a case-by-case basis.

Now, that doesn't mean

that you should believe

everyone who tells you

that they have seen a miracle

or that God has spoken to them

and told them

to do them something

or appeared to them

in a dream.

In fact, the Bible

instructs us to be discerning,

not to just believe everything,

not to be naive.

The Bible instructs us

neither to dismiss

all such claims out of hand.

It says,

don't despise prophecies,

but test everything,

hold on to what is good.

Don't dismiss everything

out of hand,

but also don't naively believe

anyone regardless of,

without checking

into their story.

So the question isn't,

is the virgin birth

of Christ possible,

but more like,

is it fitting?

Is it plausible?

Does it make sense

given what we know

of the character of God?

Is this the kind of thing

that the true God

would actually do?

Now, some people say no.

Some people say

the idea of a virgin birth

sounds like a pagan legend,

right?

They say,

pagan legend imported

from Greek and Roman legends

and created long after the fact.

Doesn't the Roman writer Ovid

have stories of the gods

copulating with mortals

and producing demigods?

Well, yes.

Although,

there are stories

of pagan gods

who take on the bodies

of men or of animals

and produce demigods

born of human mothers.

Those are not stories,

however,

of virginal conceptions,

and they are very different

from what we see here.

All that Matthew tells us

is that Mary was found

to be with child

from the Holy Spirit.

There are no sensational details

or wild speculations.

It's seen as something

that was real

and yet mysterious.

Further,

other stories

of supposedly miraculous births

were written down

hundreds of years

after the hero died.

So,

there's a legend

that Alexander the Great

was born of the Greek god Zeus.

That legend

was written down

400 years

after Alexander died

by the Roman writer Plutarch.

The Gospel of Matthew,

by contrast,

was written at most

50 or 60 years

after Jesus died,

perhaps even before that.

And most scholars

believe that Matthew

was drawing on

earlier traditions.

Matthew is the most Jewish

of the Gospels,

so,

most likely,

those traditions

came from Jerusalem

or Judea,

the most Jewish area.

Now,

for the first 30 years

after Jesus' death

and resurrection,

guess who was leading

the church in Jerusalem?

Jesus' own brother James.

Unfounded legends

about miraculous births

do not usually originate

when family members

who know the truth

are there.

to set the story right.

Now,

other people say

Matthew created

the idea of a virgin birth

out of Old Testament prophecies

like the one he quotes

in verse 23.

Isn't that what he's doing?

He finds an Old Testament text

and then he makes

a story around it

to show the people

that the prophecy

has been fulfilled.

But really,

he made the story up.

But,

there's a problem.

Prior to Matthew,

we have no evidence

that anyone interpreted

Isaiah 7,

which is the chapter

he's quoting from,

as a prophecy

of a literal virgin

giving birth to the Messiah.

So,

in fact,

nobody even saw it

as talking about

the Messiah.

So,

why would Matthew

take a verse

that no one

had previously seen

as a messianic prophecy

and invent a story

around it

that had no historical basis?

That's just stupid.

If you want to persuade somebody,

that won't persuade anybody.

People will be like,

what?

Nobody even thinks

that text is talking

about that at all.

Right?

It only makes sense

the other way around.

It's much more likely

that Matthew received

a report

from reliable sources,

perhaps from Jesus'

family members

or relatives themselves,

that Jesus was born

supernaturally,

born of a virgin,

and in light of that report

and that reality,

he saw that the prophecy

of Isaiah

had been fulfilled

in a way

that no one

had previously expected.

You see,

many things in life

only become clear to us

in hindsight

when we're looking back

on them.

We never could have guessed

how they would turn out

in advance.

And that's true

with many Old Testament prophecies.

We wouldn't have guessed

exactly how they would

be fulfilled in advance.

But when we look back

on them,

we see something

that we couldn't see before.

Now, if you're interested

in Isaiah chapter 7

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

in particular,

what was its meaning

in Isaiah's time

and how was it fulfilled

in the birth of Jesus,

I preached a sermon

about a year ago

on that chapter.

You can listen to it.

It's on the church website

and you can ask me about

or you can ask me

about it afterwards

if you have questions

because I'm not going

to get into all the details today.

So,

many reasons

why people reject

the virgin birth

are not actually

that convincing.

But are there any

positive reasons

to think

that the virgin birth

of Jesus

actually is

fitting

and plausible

and appropriate?

Well, imagine

if you were one

of Matthew's

first readers.

You would have

already been familiar

with the Old Testament

because Matthew's gospel

is the most Jewish

of all the gospels.

Almost everybody agrees

that he was writing

to people

of Jewish background,

whether they were Jews

who had come to believe

in Jesus as the Messiah

or whether he was writing

to persuade Jews

to believe in Jesus

as the promised Messiah.

But he's writing

to a largely,

though not exclusively,

Jewish audience.

And so,

they would have known

that in the Old Testament

we have a few examples

of unusual

or even miraculous

births.

Periodically,

the people of Israel

found themselves

in desperate straits.

Things were going badly

and it seemed like

everything was going

to fall apart.

But God demonstrated

his kindness

to his people

and his faithfulness

to his promises

by providing a child.

And that child

would later grow up

to lead and teach

and deliver

the people of Israel.

So, a few examples

from the Old Testament

of this.

We might think of

the founders

of the Jewish nation,

Abraham and Sarah.

Right?

God had called them.

They had left behind

everything they had ever known,

left behind their home country,

followed the call of God,

and God had promised

that through

one of their descendants,

that one of their descendants

would eventually become

the ancestor

of a great nation.

And yet,

they get older and older,

they get into their

80s and 90s,

and still,

they have no child

of their own.

Until,

God provides a son,

Isaac,

when Abraham is 100

and Sarah is 90.

Or,

you might think of

a few hundred years later.

People of Israel

are oppressed

and enslaved in Egypt.

Pharaoh is attempting

to exterminate them.

But then,

baby Moses was born.

Now,

his parents were likely young,

no unusual circumstances

in that regard,

but Moses particularly

was preserved

in a time

when his very life

was threatened.

He was preserved

through childhood

and was able to grow up

and grew up

to deliver God's people.

Or,

a couple hundred years later,

the people of Israel

are in the land of Canaan

and they're defeated

and oppressed

by the Philistines

and the angel of the Lord

comes to a couple

who are previously infertile

and says,

you will have a son,

call him Samson.

And he will begin

to save Israel

from the hand

of the Philistines.

Not long after that,

God answered

the prayers of Hannah,

another infertile woman,

she and her husband

and gave her

and her husband

a son Samuel

who grew up to be

a prophet

and teacher

of God's people.

So,

we see,

periodically,

on multiple occasions,

God's people

find themselves

in desperate circumstances

and God shows

his kindness

and faithfulness

to them

through the gift

of a child.

And Matthew's readers

would have known that

and they would have said,

yes,

that's the God

we believe in.

We believe in a God

who sees us

when we are in desperate straits

and who hears our prayers

and who answers our prayers

and sometimes the way

he answers prayers

is by providing

in unusual ways

for a child

to be born

and to grow up

and to fulfill his mission

and to lead the people.

They would have said,

yes,

that's the God

we know and trust.

And Matthew says to them

and he says to us,

look here.

Here's the same God.

The one true God

showing his kindness,

showing his faithfulness

through the greatest gift

of all.

The same Holy Spirit

who quietly hovered

over the formless emptiness

in Genesis 1

who gave life

to all that God had made

is still alive

and now active

in bringing Jesus,

the Messiah,

into the world.

Of all the unusual

and providential births

that have happened

in human history,

isn't it fitting

that the birth

of the Messiah himself

would be the most unusual

and directly supernatural

of all?

So I think it is fitting

and plausible

and appropriate

to believe

in the virgin birth.

But second,

I want us to ask,

why does that matter?

Why is this important

that Jesus was born

in a supernatural way,

not through

the natural means,

not through natural way

of being conceived?

I think at its core

when we say

Jesus was conceived

by the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary,

what we're saying

is that our Savior

and Lord

is fully divine

and fully human.

He's fully divine,

conceived by the Holy Spirit,

or as Peter will say

later in the Gospel of Matthew,

the Christ,

the Son of the living God.

He's also fully human,

born of a human mother,

Mary,

and here adopted

and raised

by his legal father,

Joseph.

By marrying Mary,

Joseph takes on

the legal responsibility

of being

the adoptive father

of Jesus.

So he's fully divine

and fully human.

And we see this union

of human and divine

in the two names

that are given

to our Savior

in this passage.

First, verse 21,

the angel says,

you shall call

his name Jesus.

Now, Jesus is

the Hebrew name Joshua.

It's a common name

in the Old Testament

and still today.

Joshua was the successor

of Moses

who led the people of Israel

into the promised land

later on after the exile.

Another Joshua

was the high priest

who led the people

in rebuilding the temple

and several other

less important characters

in the Old Testament

also shared that name.

So at one level,

the name Jesus

or Joshua

emphasizes his human nature.

Jesus came from

the people of Israel.

He's connected to them.

But the name Jesus

also points

to his divine nature

because the name Jesus

or Joshua means

the Lord saves.

Verse 21 says,

he will save his people

from their sins.

Now, human beings

have many problems,

right?

We have sickness

and pain,

weariness

and loneliness,

relational conflicts,

frustrations,

unfulfilled longings.

But the Bible says

that the deepest problem

of all

is our sins.

Our sins

are everything

that keeps us

alienated from God.

Everything that corrupts us

from the inside out.

Everything that's

contrary to God's

intent and purpose

for us

as human beings.

Our sins

are the deepest

and most intractable

of all human problems.

And Jesus

has come

to save us.

Not just from

our day-to-day

challenges,

not just from

the occasional

frustrations

we face

or sorrows

we endure,

but He

hasn't just

come to save us

from some

of our sins

but from

all of our sins.

And only God

can do that.

In fact,

Psalm

Psalms 130:8

chapter 130

verse 8

says,

the Lord Himself

will redeem

Israel

from all

their

sins.

And verse 21,

maybe echoing

that Psalm,

He will save

His people

from their sins

and the people

would have remembered

in that Psalm

that they would

frequently sing,

the Lord Himself

will come

and redeem

us from

all our sins.

Jesus is

the Lord Himself.

Now,

the second name

given to the Savior

is in verse 23.

They shall call

His name

Emmanuel,

which means

God with us.

Now,

this is a less

common name.

It only appears

here and in Isaiah.

And at one level,

the name Emmanuel

obviously indicates

Jesus' divine nature,

right?

He is God.

God with us.

God Himself.

We read earlier

in Isaiah

that prophecy

of that the child

to be born

will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Those titles

are far too exalted

for a mere human being.

You don't call

a normal guy

Mighty God

or Everlasting Father.

No,

those titles

indicate that

we're dealing

with somebody

much more

exalted than that.

And yet,

what does Emmanuel mean?

God with us.

Again,

it points to

Jesus' divine nature

but also to

His human nature

that He has come

to share

our humanity.

He's the fulfillment

of the Old Testament

promise that

God Himself

would come

to dwell

and rest

with His people.

And we can call

Him Emmanuel

because He is God

who has come

to be with us.

In verse 23,

Matthew quotes

from Isaiah chapter 7

Isaiah 7:14

verse 14.

And he quotes

the verse

almost exactly

but He changes

one word.

Isaiah

says,

Behold,

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a son

and

she

shall call

His name

Emmanuel.

But Matthew

says,

Behold,

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a son

and they

shall call

His name

Emmanuel.

You see,

it's not just

Mary

who can call

Jesus

God with us.

it's all

the people

who He has

come

to save

from our sins.

Right?

Who's they?

Well,

you look up

at verse 21.

He will save

His people

from their sins

and they

shall call

His name

Emmanuel.

Every one

of us

who have

received

Jesus' forgiveness,

who have

looked to Him,

we can know

and call

Him

God

with us.

J.C. Ryle

put it this way.

He said,

If we

want to have

a strong

foundation

for our

faith

and hope,

we must

keep

constantly

in view

our Savior's

divinity.

We must

remember

that Jesus

is fully

God.

He in

whose blood

we are

invited to

trust

is the

Almighty

God.

All

power

is His

in heaven

and earth.

If we

are true

believers

in Jesus,

our heart

need not

be

troubled

or afraid.

But then

He goes

on,

He says,

And if

we would

have

sweet

comfort

in

suffering

and

trial,

we must

keep

constantly

in

view

our

Savior's

humanity.

He is

the man,

Christ

Jesus,

who lay

on the

bosom

of the

Virgin

Mary

as a

little

infant.

He

can be

touched

with the

feeling

of our

infirmities.

He

has

experienced

Satan's

temptations.

He

has

endured

hunger,

shed

tears,

and felt

pain.

He can

sympathize

with

us.

Brothers

and sisters

in Christ,

this is

very good

news.

That we

have a

fully

divine

and fully

human

Savior.

And He

has been

this way

ever

since

His

conception.

You know,

I want you

to just

consider

for a few

moments

what some

of the

implications

would be

if Jesus

had come

into the

world

in some

other

way.

What if

God had

instead

chosen

to send

Jesus

into the

world

as a

fully

formed

adult?

What if

He had

bypassed

the long

years of

childhood?

We don't

know exactly

what He did

as a child

anyway,

for the

most part.

What if

He had

gone more

directly to

the culmination

of His

mission,

to die on

the cross

for our

sins?

But in

that case,

He would

have had

no human

parents.

He would

have been

neither a

son of

David nor

a son of

Abraham.

So He

couldn't have

fulfilled any

of the

Old Testament

prophecies.

So that's a

problem.

But even

more,

if Jesus

had come

into the

world as

a fully

formed

adult,

could we

really say

that He

had been

made

like

us

His

brothers

and

sisters

in

every

respect,

as the

author of

Hebrews

says?

Would He

really be

one who

in every

respect has

been tempted

as we

are,

yet without

sin?

Would it

really reflect

His merciful

will to

save

children as

well as

adults?

Now,

children,

I know

you're out

there.

I want to

talk to

you for

a minute.

So look

up at me.

If you've

been drawing

or coloring,

that's fine,

but I

want to

talk to

you directly

for a

minute or

two.

Right?

Maybe you're

younger,

maybe you're

older,

but you're

living at

home,

you're under

the authority

of your

parents.

Let me

ask you

a question.

Do you

ever feel

like your

parents don't

completely

understand you?

That maybe

they've

forgotten what

it's like

to be a

kid?

Now,

Jesus knows

exactly what

it's like

to be

a kid

because he

was once

a kid

too,

and Jesus

never

forgets

anything.

He hasn't

forgotten what

it's like

to be a

kid,

and he

understands

the challenges

you face,

and he's

always available

to help

you.

When Jesus

was a kid,

he had to

honor and

obey his

parents,

even though

his parents

weren't perfect

and he was

a lot smarter

than them.

And he

can help

you to

honor and

obey your

parents too,

even when

they fall

short,

because that's

one of the

responsibilities

that God

has given

to you.

Jesus died

on the cross

for children,

not just

for adults,

and so he

invites you

to talk to

him in

prayer,

and he

promises

that he

will always

listen.

So it's

good that

Jesus

didn't just

come into

the world

as an

adult.

But let's

think about

one other

possibility.

What if

Jesus had

come into

the world

in the

normal way?

What if

this story

about being

born of a

virgin

wasn't true

at all?

He just

came with

the normal

contribution

of a

human

father

and a

human

mother,

and then

maybe at

birth or

maybe later

on he

was anointed

by the

Holy Spirit

like King

David?

Now that's

what many

people say

who find

the virgin

birth too

hard to

swallow,

but they

still want

to believe

that Jesus

was somehow

special.

But again,

that option

creates big

problems.

For one

thing,

it would

mean that

both Matthew

and Luke,

who both

tell us

that Jesus

was born

of a virgin,

that both

Matthew and

Luke are

lying to

us,

or at the

very least

carelessly

passing on

unreliable and

fanciful accounts

of Jesus'

origins.

Even more

than that,

if Jesus was

conceived by

purely natural

means,

then the

Savior of the

world would

then be the

result of a

joint human

effort.

Mary and

Joseph could

look at each

other and

say,

we produce

the Savior,

just the two

of us.

Aren't we

special?

We've

accomplished

something really

great.

But the

whole message

of the

Bible is

that God's

salvation is

not the

result of a

human initiative

using natural

means.

God's grace

is not just

the frosting on

the cake of

our human

accomplishments.

God sent

Jesus to

save us

because all

of our human

efforts to

make things

right have

fallen short

and failed to

produce the

redemption that

we need and

long for.

God's salvation

is carried out

by the power

of the Holy

Spirit within

all those who,

like Joseph and

Mary,

simply receive

His Word

and respond to

Him with

trust and

obedience.

An early

Christian writer

whose name

has been lost

to us wrote

this,

Humanity is

born out of

the necessity

to exist.

Today we

might say

humanity

reproduces out

of the struggle

to survive.

He continues,

Christ,

however,

was not born

out of the

necessity of

nature to

exist,

but by His

merciful will

to save.

not out of

the necessity

of nature,

but by His

merciful will

to save.

That's what it

means that Jesus

was conceived

by the Holy

Spirit and born

of a virgin.

It shows us

God's merciful

will to save.

Or as another

early church

father,

Origen,

put it,

His birth was

both like

ours and

above ours.

To be born

of a woman

is like our

birth,

but to be

born not

of the will

of the flesh

or of man

is above

ours.

There is

here a

hint,

a prior

announcement

of a future

birth to

be bestowed

upon us

by the

Spirit.

You see,

what Origen

was getting

at was

this,

because Jesus

came into

the world

in a divine

and supernatural

way,

the salvation

that He gives

us is a

divine and

supernatural

gift.

Jesus was

conceived by

the Holy

Spirit within

the womb

of Mary in

a wonderful

and mysterious

way,

and similarly,

we are born

again.

We are brought

into new life

in Christ

through the

same Holy

Spirit in a

wonderful and

mysterious way

that we can't

even fully explain.

Jesus says,

the wind blows

where it pleases,

and you can see

its effects,

but you can't

grasp onto it.

You can't…

There's a mystery

to it.

There's a mystery

to how God

brings us

out of ourselves

and out of our

darkness

into the light

of Jesus,

but boy,

is it real.

Just because

it's mysterious

don't make it

any less real.

The early

church father

said over and

over,

He has taken

on what was

ours,

our humanity,

even our sin

and our death,

in order to

generously share

with us what

was His,

His divinity,

His righteousness

and life.

He's taken

on what was

ours to give

us what was

His.

Have you

received God's

grace in Jesus

as a gift?

Have you

turned away

from trusting

in yourself

and trying

to save

yourself

through your

own efforts

and your

own accomplishments?

Have you

come to

trust in

Jesus,

the fully

divine

and fully

human

one,

as your

and the

only Savior

and Lord?

Hail,

the heaven-born

Prince of

Peace.

Hail,

the Son

of Righteousness,

light and

life to all

He brings,

risen with

healing in

His wings,

born to

raise the

sons of

earth,

born to

give us

second birth.

Let's pray.

Father, thank

You for the

gift of Your

Son.

Thank You for

the power of

Your Spirit.

Thank You for

Matthew and

His faithful

report.

We pray,

Lord, that we

would know the

power of Your

Spirit working

in our hearts

today.

Lord, that we

would know

the joy

and peace

that You have

come to

save us from

our sins,

that You have

come to be

God with

us,

the God

who has

promised never

to leave us,

never to forsake

us, to be with

us to the very

end of the age.

We thank You,

Lord, for who You

are.

Pray this in Your

name.

Amen.