Jesus, the Seed of the woman

Scripture Reading: Matt 1:18-23

Matthew 1:18–23 NASB95

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. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 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. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

The birth of Jesus was a gift.

Romans 3:23–24 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

It wasn’t an impromptu thing. God didn’t just suddenly decide to become man. It’s what we call ‘Foretold’ or ‘prophesied.’ Meaning that God promised His arrival beforehand. So God the Father prepared a gift that’s well thought out, well prepared, and suitable for the recipient.

Did you know that the gifts you receive say a lot about who you are? No one’s giving me football boots, but someone might get me books. What about you? What’s going to be under your Christmas tree? If you get bottles of wine, it probably means that you like wine. What if there’s a box of breath mints? It probably means your breath stinks.

So what does it mean when we receive the incarnate Son of God?

Since when did all this begin? Right from the start, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree, God promised to send the Messiah. That’s in Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 NASB95

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

And what we see here is the very first mention of the Messiah in the Bible. And it says that it is the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head. So that’s the Messiah’s first title. The foundation. He is the seed of the woman. Not of man. Seed in Hebrew is zerah, meaning seed or offspring. Biologically speaking, it is the man who has the seed, and the woman who receives the seed. But God says that the woman will have the seed.

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

“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.

So how did Mary get pregnant? It was by the Holy Spirit. And this is what sets Jesus apart from every other person. Jesus was born of the Spirit of God, and there is no sin in Him. He has a human mother and a divine Father, and so He is both man and God. He had the fullness of human nature, but without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 NASB95

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

So one could say that He is the only normal human being. What do you mean?

When something is normal, it’s working according to the way it should be. A hammer is normal if it can hammer nails in with no problem. A nail is normal if it can be nailed into something no problem.

Let me ask you this. What is the normal condition of a human being?

The normal condition is to be filled with the Spirit of God, in full obedience to the Word of God, to live for the glory of God. That’s the normal condition. We were made that way.

Genesis 2:7 NASB95

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NASB95

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

But because of sin, we cannot function according to the way we were created. That’s why we say that sin is brokenness. Sin is vandalism of the image of God in us. And we can even say that sin is dehumanization.

Here’s a question for you. When Jesus walked on water, was it His humanity, or His divinity?

Matthew 14:28–31 NASB95

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It was His humanity. How do we know? Because Peter walked on water too. This is how we were created to live. And the way back for us to be restored was for the sinless Son of God to take our sins upon Him, that we might walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 NASB95

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

And who is the one who gives us the Spirit? It is the Seed of the Woman, who is filled with the Spirit. He was conceived by the Spirit, He was led by the Spirit, and now He sends us the Spirit.

Luke 4:17–21 NASB95

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

John 15:26 NASB95

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

John 20:22 NASB95

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

And as the Holy Spirit incarnated Jesus the Word of God in the flesh, the Holy Spirit incarnates Jesus into our lives and actions.

Galatians 5:22–23 NASB95

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So let’s be filled with the Spirit this Christmas, and let the Spirit that birthed Christ birth Christ Jesus be incarnate through us and within us.

Ephesians 5:18–20 NASB95

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;