07-26-2020 - Christmas in July

Matthew 1:18–23 NLT

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ”

Luke 1:30–35 NLT

30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Why Did Jesus Trade the Glory of Heaven for the Humility of this Sinful World?

Galatians 4:1–7 ESV

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Because we were SLAVES to the “basic spirits” of THIS WORLD (v. 3)

To BUY FREEDOM FOR SLAVES (v. 5)

To TRANSFORM us through ADOPTION into His Children (v. 5)

To SEND THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON JESUS into our Hearts to we could Call the ONLY TRUE GOD FATHER (v. 6)

To MAKE US HEIRS with Jesus (v. 7)

Romans 8:14–17 ESV

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

His Coming Has Benefited us:

God dealt with the Sin that we could not by giving Jesus a body to Sacrifice in our Place

God moved us from being slaves to sin into the family of the Heavenly Father

God has given us the Spirit of Adoption to replace our fleshly spirit of fear - we are no longer ruled by the murderous deceiving father named Satan, but have been Adopted and the Spirit of Christ helps us cry out ABBA, FATHER! (Romans 8:15)

God has removed the Wages of Sin, Which are Death and Replaced it With an Inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading - kept in heaven… (1 Peter 1:3-4)

All of this is IMPOSSIBLE without the LITERAL, The REAL, VIRGIN BIRTH of JESUS CHRIST… Called HOLY from Birth (as no other child has ever been…)