"Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary"

"Born of the Virgin Mary: Truly God. Truly Man."

Luke 1:26-38

The Apostle's Creed

THE APOSTLE'S CREED

"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven; And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit;

The holy catholic church;

the communion of saints;

The forgiveness of sins;

The resurrection of the body;

And the life everlasting. Amen."

Bible Passage

Luke 1:26-38 (ESV - English Standard Version)

26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

28And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

35And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37For nothing will be impossible with God."

38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

INTRODUCTION

FIRST TWO WEEKS:

"I believe"

"God The Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth"

LAST WEEK:

"And in Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son, Our Lord"

He is:

Prophet

Priest

King

Prophet 

Speak to the people for God

HE IS GOD

Priest

Speak to God for the people

Make sacrifices

HE ALWAYS MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US

HE IS OUR SACRIFICE

King

King of kings and Lord of lords

HIS REIGN IS EVERLASTING

THIS WEEK:

"Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary"

Conceived By the Holy Spirit (Nature & Essence of God)

Born of the Virgin Mary (Nature & Essence of Man)

Truly God. Truly Man. (Hypostatic Union)

Why does any of this even matter??

Bible Passage

Job 9:25-35 (ESV - English Standard Version)

25 My days are swifter than a runner;

 they flee away; they see no good.

26 They go by like skiffs of reed,

 like an eagle swooping on the prey.

27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,

 I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,'

28 I become afraid of all my suffering,

 for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 I shall be condemned;

 why then do I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow

 and cleanse my hands with lye,

31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,

 and my own clothes will abhor me.

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

 that we should come to trial together.

33 There is no arbiter between us,

 who might lay his hand on us both.

34 Let him take his rod away from me,

 and let not dread of him terrify me.

35 Then I would speak without fear of him,

 for I am not so in myself.

1

"Conceived By The Holy Spirit"

Bible Passage

Luke 1:31-35 (ESV - English Standard Version)

31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

35And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Explanation

The God who SPOKE ALL THINGS into existence with words that didn't even exist or have a sound until He spoke them, was MADE INTO FLESH...

We are NOT God

We do NOT speak things into existence

We do NOT manifest our future, GOD is the only One Who IS and WAS and IS TO COME...NOT US.

God is NOT PASSIVE in our lives, BUT VERY ACTIVE

He Only gives us what is good.

Why do we suffer?

Jesus suffered

Jesus said that the servant is NOT greater than his master

We will suffer until the nature of Christ is formed in us

We do NOT decree and declare things to be so, because we are NOT GOD

We are NOT dragging God wherever we want Him to go...

We are FOLLOWING HIM, NOT vice versa...

We TRUST JESUS to be in control and to lead us daily by Holy Spirit.

Why did Jesus need to be conceived by the Holy Spirit?

Every son or daughter of Adam is a sinner by nature

Had Jesus been born of a man, He would've had a sin nature and a leaning to WANT SIN

Since Jesus was conceived by Holy Spirit:

He is truly God because God is His Biological Father

He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY because God is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

He has the "nature of God" because He was conceived by God

He was NOT conceived under Adam.

Adam was not his biological or spiritual father.

Joseph was not his biological or spiritual father

Application

We, as sinful humans, need Jesus to be TRULY GOD, conceived by the Holy Spirit, because we need a SINLESS SAVIOR.

If Jesus has sin, we are WITHOUT HOPE and WITHOUT SALVATION

Jesus is TRULY GOD...the essence of God with the SINLESS NATURE of God.  He is Holy.

2

"Born of the Virgin Mary"

Bible Passage

Luke 1:35-38 (ESV - English Standard Version)

35And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37For nothing will be impossible with God."

38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Explanation

Mary was NOT SINLESS.  (Immaculate Conception)

Mary is NOT COEQUAL with God.

We do NOT pray to Mary as a mediator or intercessor.

Mary admits this herself.

Mary then sings a song about it:

Mary had never been with a man.

Mary was a sinner, but sin nature is not passed down through mothers, it is passed down through fathers, BACK TO ADAM.

Jesus was TRULY MAN because of Mary.

He is Holy, the Son of God

Both the essence of God, and biologically the Son of God.

Truly God. Truly Man.

Application

Why do we NEED Jesus to be TRULY MAN??

The wages of sin is DEATH.

Only a human man can die and pay these wages.

Jesus came to lay down his life in death to pay the wages of sin.

Jesus needed to come as a true man to be able to be tempted in every way as we are.

He never gave in to sin.

He came and lived how God intended for ADAM to live.

Obedience from love, joy, and humility.

3

Truly God. Truly Man. (Hypostatic Union)

Explanation

You will hear people say, "Jesus was FULLY God and FULLY Man."

This is somewhat of a misrepresentation.

You cannot be full of BOTH natures

There would be no "room" for the other"

"Truly God. Truly Man." = "Hypostatic Union"

Jesus had to come as BOTH:

Truly God = Conceived by Holy Spirit = Essence & Nature of God, Biologically.

Truly Man = Was born of the Virgin Mary = Essence and Nature of PURE Humanity (NOT ADAM), Biologically

Only a MAN could die in the place of mankind

Only GOD has the capacity/bandwidth to swallow down the wrath of God

Jesus, the God-Man, came and stood in our place.  Took the Judgment of those who believe as if HE had committed each and every sin.

He died.  Because He is TRULY God and is LIFE ITSELF, He resurrected!

Application

For those who are repenting and believing:

He has put HIS VERY LIFE inside of you, by

giving you a NEW HEART

and He is keeping that heart new and continuing to chip away the parts of stone that remain:

by Holy Spirit through suffering

being closer to the FIRE of His presence

until, one day, we WALK STRAIGHT INTO HIS PRESENCE, and see Him face to face.

Bible Passage

Job 9:25-35 (ESV - English Standard Version)

25 My days are swifter than a runner;

 they flee away; they see no good.

26 They go by like skiffs of reed,

 like an eagle swooping on the prey.

27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,

 I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,'

28 I become afraid of all my suffering,

 for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 I shall be condemned;

 why then do I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow

 and cleanse my hands with lye,

31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,

 and my own clothes will abhor me.

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

 that we should come to trial together.

33 There is no arbiter between us,

 who might lay his hand on us both.

34 Let him take his rod away from me,

 and let not dread of him terrify me.

35 Then I would speak without fear of him,

 for I am not so in myself.

Bible Passage

1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV - English Standard Version)

5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Bible Passage

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV - English Standard Version)

15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Conclusion

Jesus Christ, Truly God. Truly Man.

Has He become YOUR mediator?

Has He stood in YOUR place?

Has your life of sin changed to a life pursuing God in holiness??

Come to Him.

PRAYER