The Virgin Birth

John 3:13-17 “No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“What Child if This”

Words and Music by Christ Tomlin

PRAYER OF PRAISE

Lord, we are humbled that You, the King of Kings would call us to know You. We thank you that You brought us here today to worship and adore You. We ask that You would help us to clear our minds and hearts as we come before You this morning to worship You. We ask that Your Spirit would full this room and fill these temples that our worship would be pleasing to You. AMEN!

“O Little town of Bethlehem”

Words and Music by

LIGHT ADVENT CANDLE

This morning we are lighting our final advent candle which is the Christ candle. The color of the candle is white because it represents the purity of Jesus the Christ. No one else could do what Jesus has done for us, because only Jesus was absolutely pure. It took a perfect sinlessness sacrifice to redeem those who are born into sin so that we could become children of God.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

“Silent Night”

Alcepela

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Lord, as we open up Your Word, we ask that You would open up our hearts. We ask that You would remove all distractions from this place, that You would clear our minds and hearts, and teach us today how to better follow You. We ask that Your Holy Spirit would illuminate the Scripture today in such a way that our lives would be changed forever. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

SERMON

Introduction

Christmas growing up

I thought I saw Santa in the window

I remember my parents going out and buying gifts and I thought they got in a car wreck and died because they were gone so long

What will our kids remember?

I want my kids to know their parents made it about Christ

We still so presents

But when my kids grow up, I want them to say, they made it about Christ

They read us the Christmas story every year

They talked about the birth of Jesus at the dinner table

They made the worship of Jesus a priority over the Christmas culture has created

This is why today is so special

Most of my kids may not get to come to church with us on Christmas again

Some of you may not be here for the next Sunday Christmas

So let’s ponder that, and keep these memories buried deep within our hearts

And one day we will say, “remember when that Arctic blast came, and set record lows, and Christmas fell on a Sunday, and we got Up and went to church and worshiped Christ on Christmas.

Those are memories I want us to treasure in our hearts

There are two major events in Jesus’ life that are indispensable from the gospel. One is the fact that He resurrected from the dead after being nailed to the cross. And the other is His virgin birth. The Bible testifies of the virgin birth not once but twice in Matthew 1 and Luke 1…..and that is sufficient enough for us to stand on. I personally believe if either one of these events were removed from the gospel story, our faith would be majorly impacted.

Most people in here believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, but historically that has not always been the case. In fact, one’s position on the virgin birth was at one times a litmus test of believing in the supernatural was whether or not someone believed in the virgin birth.

Because if you could accept the virgin birth, then you would most likely accept the rest of His miracles.

What I want to do today is point out some significant aspects of the virgin birth and explain why I believe it is indispensable from the gospel.

Turn with me to Matthew 1:18-25

Scripture testifies that Mary’s pregnancy was of a divine origin

Matt 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.”

“Mary had been betrothed to Jospeh”

We often think this means she was engaged like we in our Western culture today. But in that culture to be betrothed means that they had already entered into a legal agreement to be married.

When two people were betrothed, they entered a formal pre-nuptial contract before witnesses, which gave the man legal rights over the girl. These rights could only be broken by a formal process of divorce.

Also in most cases the terms “husband” and “wife” were already being used during this time Which was usually around a year.

And if one of the partners happen to die before they were officially married, the other became a widow or widower.

Scripture makes it clear that Mary was found to be pregnant, “Before they came together”

This is referring to the absence of sexual relations between the two. As is with Christian beliefs today, the marriage bed was to remain pure until the couple was officially joined together in a covenant marriage.

In fact when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he was ready to kick her to the curb! Why? BECAUSE HIS SOON TO BE WIFE WAS PREGNANT AND IT WAS NOT BY HIM

Because the witness of Scripture says, She became pregnant “by the Holy Spirit”

Scripture repeats this truth in verse 20: “for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”

And again in verse 23: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son”

Which is emphatically declaring that Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, not by Joseph.

But what does that mean?

“by the Holy Spirit”

The key to this verse is in that little preposition “by” which means origin. In other words the origin of Mary’s pregnancy was not from a man, but literally from the Spirit Of God.

This means that this child Jesus did not have an earthly father, HE HAD A HEAVENLY FATHER.

His mother was woman, but His biological Father is God Himself.

Had Jesus been born today

No man would have be paying child support.

Because no matter who Mary claimed to be the father, all DNA tests would have come back negative!

This is why Jesus is the Son of God!

Application

The virgin birth reminds us that our salvation is supernatural

Salvation is something that God through the Holy Spirit does to us!

It is work of God, and if God does not do it, it does not happen!

Had God not sent the Holy Spirit to Mary, she would have never brought forth new life

If God does not send His Spirit within us, then we will not have new life!

Salvation is not merely someone following the rules of Christianity, coming to church, doing the religious things others do.

It is a supernatural act of God upon one’a life!

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

John 1:13 “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.”

There is not soul in here who has been saved apart from God saving and working supernaturally in our life

If God does not do it, then it does not happen. Plain and Simple!

What does that mean for us?

We can only come to God in His terms, in His ways, upon His invitation.

Salvation does not come through human effort, nor is it some kind of human accomplishment

We must not think we can create our own pathways to God.

We must never think we can define what it means to come to Christ

We also must never think that we have control over the timing of this event!

We must not think that we will get it together when we are ready!

When God invites us, it is time!

And the response to that call is to repent and believe

Turn from our sins

Believe in Jesus as the Messiah

Only One born of a virgin birth could deliver us from our sin

Matt 1:19-21 “And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had thought this over, 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. She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

How does someone save people or deliver people from their sin? I want us to think about what sin is and why it is such a serious matter in our lives:

Sin is a legal matter before God

It’s not just a boo boo or a mistake that all people make. it has legal ramifications.

The Bible says God is a judge as we would understand a judge in a courthouse today

And as Judge of the earth (because He has created it) He has written the rules for us to follow

When people break the rules, they are guilty because they have transgressed or sinned against God

FOR God to be a righteous judge, He must hold those who break His laws accountable

And the question for us all is, “Have I broke the rules?”

Rom 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

So when someone sins they have broken the law and they must stand before the Judge for sentencing

The punishment for sin is death

Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death”

Every man, every woman has sin on their account

There are things that we have done against Gof that cannot be undone

We cannot go back in time and take those things away, they are there permanently!

And that sin adds up to a legal debt that we owe

And the only way to be right with the Judge, is to somehow pay that debt off

BUT sin can be removed from one’s account by blood

Heb 9:22 “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

So the only way to take away sin from someone is if someone dies in its place

Why is that?

Because the penalty for sin is death. so that person who dies for another takes the punishment that one deserves.

BUT not just any blood will do, it must be PERFECT SINLESS blood!

Blood that is tainted with sin is corrupted, and can do nothing for sinners

To try to take away our sin with sin tainted blood is useless

What the world needed was sinless blood

This is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin

Had Jesus been born of an earthly father, his blood would have been tanited just like ours

Becuase every earthly father has inherited a sinful nature from Adam

Rom 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—

When Adam transgressed against God’s Law in the garden, he brought sin into the world

And every person that has descended from Adam has been born with a sinful nature

This is why Paul says: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Every human who has ever been born came from Adam

And therefore everyone has inherited Adam’s sinful nature

If Jesus had been conceived by an earthly man, He would have inherited Adam’s sinful nature

This is why the virgin birth matters

This is why the Scripture tells us three times that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit

This is why Jesus is called, “The Son of God”

This is why there was one ONE virgin birth

This is why Jesus’s sacrifice was unlike any other sacrifice in the history of mankind

Application

This verse gives us the reason Jesus came: “for He will save His people from their sins”

All that Jesus did in His 33 years could be summed up in this sentence

He came to deliver us from sin

I want you to notice what the angel doesn’t say

He does not say Jesus will come and give them a glorious life

He doesn’t say Jesus will come and give them good health

He doesn’t say Jesus will come and give them a family, friends, and good reputation, health wealth and happiness

He says that He will come to save people from their sins

If our expectations of Jesus are to get something from Him that He never says He will give us, then we will eventually fall away

We will end up disappointed

We will think Christianity is a sham

And we will eventually think God is not real.

But if we will understand that our greatest need is to be forgiven, and desire that above EVERYTHING else in this life then we will be completely satisfied with Jesus!

It is not an easier life!

It is often much harder, which is why the Bible speaks about perseverance so much!

It is not filled with earthly glory, rewards, and material things.

It is a MUCH DIFFERENT life than this world lives!

BUT IT MEETS MAN’S GREATEST NEED: forgiveness

Only Jesus can wash away my sins

When we leave this earth, that is ll that is going to matter

It is all going to boil down to, “are my sins forgiven?”

Only a virgin birth could allow for Jesus to be fully God and fully man

Matt 1:22-23 “Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

“God with us”

Jesus did not come into existence through Mary

He has always existed with God, because He is God

He is the second person of the Trinity

He is one with the Father

He is not less than God, but absolutely equal to God

He left His throne in glory, when he was born of a baby

And when He died and resurrected, He returned to the right hand of God

The virgin birth allowed Jesus to have an earthly mother and a Heavenly Father

It allowed Jesus to be fully human, yet fully God

And this was the only way because we needed a perfect man who could die for us

Must any man wouldn’t work because his blood is tainted with Adam’s sin

And God himself had to become a man and then give His life for us

There are some who claim to be Christians and claim that Jesus was created by God

Jehovah’s Witness

When Ashley and I took our trip to California, I was eagerly looking forward to my flights

Not because I couldn’t wait for the tiny bags of snacks they hand out of the cup of ginger ale

Not because of the tiny restrooms

But because of the great witnessing opportunities to have on the plane

The flight sits you next to people and you have a new friend for the next two hours

And we had a total of 5 stops on our trip.

Every person that I at next to had earbuds in their ears the whole time!

And on the last flight, God blessed me with an older lady who wanted to talk

Sithin 5 minutes I learned that she was a Jehovah’s witness

And Jehovah’s witnesses believe that Jesus Christ was created by God And is less than God

That is heresy, and blasphemy!

And despite the many Scriptures and arguments, she refused to acknowledge the truth and chose to believe a lie

Jesus has no beginning!

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Is 9:6 “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.””

John 12:45 “And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.”

“Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

God’s plan from the beginning was to dwell among His people

There are four stages of God’s presence:

(1) God is present in the “Shekinah glory” or the pillar of fire and cloud in the OT

(2) God is present in his Son during his 33 1/2 years of life on this earth.

(3) God is present in the Holy Spirit during the church age (In which we live today)

(4) God is present physically and in full reality throughout eternity (Rev 21:1–22:5).

In this church age, we have access to God every day because He lives within us in His Spirit

He is literally. “God with us”

1 Cor 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Application

What we so desperately today is for Christians to practice His presence

God dwells in us

He speaks to us

He guides us

He encourage us

He convicts us

He teaches us

He illuminates God’s truth for us

He seals us for the day of redemption

And what He wants us to do is to live like He is within us

We need more of is a reliance upon Him

We look to so many places but rarely within

As I was preparing this sermon, I was tempted to ask my wife a question about an illustration, and I thought, “why don’t I just ask God?” “Wouldn’t he know much better than her?”

We need to stop grieving Him with sin

We need to learn to hear His voice and be sensitive to His leading of our lives

We need to rely upon His power to carry us through

If you are born again by the Spirit of God practice seeking him

Looking to Him

Talking to Him

Depending upon Him

A good indication that you are growing in your relationship with God is whether or not you practice His presence.

Conclusion

What does this mean for us?

It means that we need Him above anything else.

It means worshiping Him should be our priority this Christmas day

Do you know for a fact that your sins are forgiven?

You’ll only find forgiveness in Christ

No other religion

No amount of good deeds

You need Jesus

Call on Him today and plead for salvation.

~PRAYER~

RESPONSE

PUBLIC INVITATION

“O Come O Come Emmanuel”

Words and Music by

BEFORE WE TAKE COMMUNION, LET’S TAKE A MOMENT OF SILENCE TO REPENT OF ANY UNCONFESSED SIN

Father, we ask at this time that you would reveal any sin in our hearts that we may not be aware of. We confess that we are all sinners and are in desperate need of your grace. We ask for your forgiveness at this time and claim the promise of John 1:9, “that we if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

COMMUNION

Behold the virgin will conceive and give birth

Communion is a 2,000 year old tradition that Jesus began in the Upper Room with His disciples

And it is simple, yet profound in meaning

The bread symbolizes the body, the flesh that Jesus became to give for us

Born of a virgin, died as a sinless Savior

Pray a blessing over the bread

Jesus said: “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Eat the bread

But it was not just His flesh that was important, but His blood.

The angel told Jospeh, “He will save His people from their sins”

And there is no forgiveness of sins without he shedding of blood

And so we remember the sinless, perfect life giving blood that Jesus shed for us, so that we could be forgiven

Pray and bless the cup

“do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

And as they went out they sang a hymn

~AMAZING GRACE~

OFFERING

We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.

BENEDICTION

Phil 4:8-9 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

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