A Miraculous Birth
Notes
Transcript
A Miraculous Birth
Isaiah 7:14
The signs of Christmas are all around us…
· Dear Santa, I’ve been good all year…OK, most of the time…Once in a while…Forget it, I’ll buy my own stuff.
· Making a Christmas Wish won’t get your car back…No parking. Tow Away Zone.
· Christmas Calories Don’t Count.
· Friends Don’t Give Friends Fruitcake.
· If Anyone is Christmas Shopping For Me…I Wear a Size 10 day Disney World trip
· Welcome Semi-Annual Worshippers.
We’re looking at Christmas according to Isaiah this year. Last week we looked at the uniqueness of the name of Jesus as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” from Isaiah 9:6-7.
Today we’ll be looking at an incredibly precise prophecy from Isaiah 7:14.
The Book of Isaiah is filled with prophecies about the birth and the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. It’s been called the “fifth gospel” because it contains so much good news and is quoted more often in the New Testament than any book, except Psalms.
Isaiah ministered in the Middle East during a really difficult time. Terrorists from Assyria were attacking and beheading people. Fear gripped everyone and Isaiah dared to believe something better was coming even though his culture was corrupt and everything around him seemed so dark.
In Isaiah 64:1 we hear him longing for the Lord to somehow come down into his world to make sense out of all the nonsense, to bring peace to all the problems, to dispel the darkness and to defeat evil:
Isaiah 64:1
1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down…
In Isaiah 6, we read of Isaiah’s calling as a prophet when he comes face to face with the holiness of God. After admitting his own misery and calling on God’s mercy, Isaiah signs up for ministry by saying, “Here I am, send me.”
Scholars suggest as many as twenty years passed before we get to chapter 7, where we’re introduced to an evil king named Ahaz. He was the most ungodly ruler to date, building a pagan altar in the Temple area and sacrificing his own children to the pagan god Molech.
The prophets Micah, Hosea and Isaiah called Ahaz to repentance, but had no luck. Because he had deliberately disobeyed God, his kingdom came under attack from all quarters.
This caused King Ahaz and his cabinet to panic:
Isaiah 7:2
…the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
Isaiah is told to comfort Ahaz by bringing his son to the water reservoir. Interestingly, Isaiah means, “Yahweh is salvation” and his son’s name means, “A remnant will return.” The message is clear to Ahaz – let Yahweh be your salvation and a remnant will return.
Isaiah points out in verse 9:
Isaiah 7:9
…If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”
This is a Hebrew pun that could be translated: “If there is no belief, you will find no relief.” That’s still true today.
In verse 10 Ahaz is told to ask for a sign that would help him believe. In verse 12 we see that Ahaz refused to ask for a sign by claiming a pretense of false devotion. The truth is he didn’t want to submit to God. Instead of obeying God, he deliberately disobeyed Him.
This lights Isaiah up in verse 13:
Isaiah 7:13
13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
With that as context, we come to one of God’s most remarkable Christmas signs. God picks a sign that is incomprehensible and biologically impossible in verse 14:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This prophecy combines God’s intervention in the immediate situation regarding Ahaz and also looks ahead to an ultimate fulfillment of His covenant commitment to David that would take place 700 years later when a son would be born to a virgin in Bethlehem, the town of David. In other words, there are two fulfillments in this passage – one that is near and partial and one that is far and complete.
Let’s look at this spectacular sign phrase by phrase…
· “Therefore…”
Whenever we see the word “therefore” we should ask what it’s there for. In this case, it’s a word of contrast to show what God will do despite of Ahaz’s disobedience. This word was often used by the prophets to introduce a divine declaration.
· “the Lord Himself…”
This is the name Adonai, which speaks of God’s sovereignty. The pronoun “Himself” helps us to see that this sign comes from Him and He will fulfill it.
· “will give you…”
We see in verse 13 that God moves from Ahaz to the “house of David.” The word “you” is plural, helping us know that God’s desire is for everyone to respond to the gift He’ll give.
· “a sign…”
The word “sign” is used 183 times in the Bible to convey a mark or a miracle. A sign often brought a message of wonder or terror. A sign is a signal most often used to describe awe-inspiring events and is designed to communicate certainty as in:
Isaiah 38:7
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised:
Ahaz refused to ask for a sign but he gets one anyway. When used in the plural, signs are often combined with wonders (as in the Book of Acts) to represent works of God or to demonstrate His presence among the people.
· “Behold…”
The word “Behold” is used to get our attention, to indicate the importance of what’s about to be said. What God is about to do is intended to be shocking and startling and surprising. When used in Isaiah, “behold” always relates to something that will happen in the future.
· “the virgin…”
The definite article means it’s a specific woman. The word for “virgin” was used of a young, never-married woman. While there was likely an immediate application in Ahaz’ day, ultimately, God had in mind one specific teenager, a virgin named Mary, whom He had chosen to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
· “shall conceive…”
This was no ordinary pregnancy and no ordinary birth. A virgin with child would certainly stand out as a miraculous sign!
· “and bear a son…”
It’s obvious but still important to mention that this was an unplanned pregnancy for Mary. Mary’s unplanned pregnancy was God’s planned pregnancy. She chose life because the Lord is the one who put that little life in her womb – as He still does today.
Later, when Mary is with her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, baby John leaped in her womb because he was in the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb.
Ahaz sacrificed his own son to the god Molech while Mary gave birth to God’s Son who sacrificed His own life in our place.
· “and shall call his name Immanuel.”
The name “Immanuel” means, “God with us.” In Hebrew, the word order is a bit unusual: “With us is God.”
One commentator writes, “If you have a problem with a virgin conceiving and bearing a child that should be nothing in comparison to the thought of Immanuel – God with us in the flesh. This is nothing short of a miracle.”
Reasons to Believe the Virgin Birth
Because the virgin birth of Jesus Christ is a key doctrine of Christianity and critical to understanding Christmas, let’s look at five additional Scripture passages from the Christmas narrative.
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.
…before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
In the next verse, it clearly shows Joseph knew he wasn’t the father:
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son…
Luke twice refers to Mary as a virgin in:
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
And verse 34 shows that Mary knew she was a virgin when she asked the angel an obvious question:
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
… “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
As someone has said, “It is extremely difficult to make the terminology of the Virgin Birth refer to something other than the Virgin Birth.” I would change “extremely difficult” to “impossible.”
Jesus has two natures: human and divine.
As human He is able to experience all that we experience, and as God He gives us all we really need: salvation.
This is clear from the announcement of the angel to Joseph in:
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
He’s a son who saves.
It was necessary for the Savior to be born of a woman, so He would be of the same nature as those He came to save.
He also needed to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. It was just as important that He should be holy, sinless, and blameless in order to be the spotless sacrificial lamb. No mere human is qualified to redeem sinners from their sins.
Both of these are fulfilled in Jesus. He is fully man, yet fully God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He tabernacled among us. He came to us and pitched His tent in our neighborhood.
The immortal, invisible, untouchable and holy God is Immanuel, God with us. He suffered as we suffer and was tempted as we’re tempted. He cares for you, understands you, loves you and sympathizes with you.
You may be thinking, “Yeah, I guess I believe in the Virgin Birth, but why does it matter?”
I like how someone explains it…
“The Bible teaches that we’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It also teaches that the wages of sin is death. Sin had to be paid for, so throughout the Old Testament, God’s people were taught that a flawless sacrifice was needed to pay the price for their sins. The Law called for repeated animal sacrifices.
But everyone knew the blood of animals didn’t really fix the problem. What was needed was a perfect SOMEONE who would willingly die for our sins. But no mortal man could be found that was sinless enough to die in our place…only God could be perfect, sinless and pure enough to be our perfect sacrifice.
“But there was a problem. By definition…an immortal God can’t die. God could NOT become our sacifice…because a sacrifice has to die. He would have to be made human in order to die. So, God decided…that He would personally pay the price for sins.
And (of course) that meant, He had to become mortal…that’s why the SIGN mentioned in Isaiah is that, “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” And what does IMMANUEL mean? God with us. In that one word God declared that His child was God in the flesh.”
By means of the virgin birth, Christ entered the world guiltless of the sin of Adam. Because He is born of Mary, He is truly human; because He is conceived by the Holy Spirit, He is free from inherited sin handed down from Adam.
So, He is fully able to stand in our place to take our punishment. He could pay for our sins precisely because He had no guilt or shame of His own.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
It’s amazing that the God and creator of the universe entered the womb of a virgin to become like us in order to save us from our sins.
· He was just like us . . . and yet, He was nothing like us.
· He walked among us . . . and yet, He came from God above.
· He’s our friend . . . and yet, He’s our Savior and Lord.
· Little children loved him . . . and yet, He confuses the greatest minds.
· He was called “son of Mary” . . . and yet, He is the “Son of God”
Do you believe it?
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
Each of the events of the first Christmas came to pass exactly as they were prophesied. God is the one who laid all this out.
Listen to how many times Matthew 2 mentions the fulfillment of prophecy:
Matthew 2:5
… “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
Matthew 2:15
… This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Matthew 2:17
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
Matthew 2:23
23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Let’s look at Matthew 1:23 where we see the 700-year-old prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 quoted:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
We have more than a sign of God’s presence, here we have the Son who is Savior fully and completely present.
This is close to how Isaiah said it but there’s one key word added by Matthew.
· Isaiah says: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
· And Matthew says: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”
Did you catch it? It’s the word “they” as in “and they shall call his name Immanuel.”
Matthew makes the change deliberately to make a very significant point. Now all believers can call Him Immanuel. Christmas must become personal. The “they” is “us” which is ultimately “you.”
Will you call His name Immanuel? Is God with you?
There’s one other difference when Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14. He defines and translates the meaning of “Immanuel”: (which means, God with us). He wants his non-Jewish readers to understand that God is with us. In a similar way, we must make sure we’re translating and explaining the Scriptures so people can understand and apply them to their lives.
It’s fascinating that Matthew began his narrative with a sign of the coming of Immanuel – God with us – and at the end of His life we see the other confirming sign – the Resurrection. Matthew concludes his gospel with Immanuel’s promise in Matthew 28:20: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The One who is “God with us” will always be with us.
Because Jesus is with us, He goes through hard times with us.
In the past year, we’ve all faced hard times. 2020 hasn’t exactly been a one of the best years ever, has it? We’ve experienced sickness, loss, disappointments, family situations, hospitalizations, loneliness, despair, stress and even death.
But at this time of year, we discover the truth that Jesus wasn’t born just so we could have a celebration and give gifts. He was born so that He could die for our sins and offer hope and forgiveness to all of us.
· At the cradle we see God is with us and at the cross we see God is for us.
· And it’s personal because God is with you and God is for you.
Why did God become one of us?
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
This deserves full acceptance from each of us. As a sinner, will you accept the salvation He freely offers?
Unfortunately, not everyone is interested in Immanuel. Maybe the most common reason people don’t believe in God is simply this: They don’t want anyone telling them what to do.
Martin Luther once remarked the Incarnation consisted of three miracles: “The first, that God became man; the second, that a virgin was a mother, and the third, that the heart of man should believe it.”
I like what someone said centuries ago, “If Christ were born in Bethlehem a thousand times and not in thee thyself; then art thou lost eternally.”
Ultimately the virgin birth is a miracle and so is the new birth. Ask God right now to do a miracle in you.
I’m reminded of how personal Christmas must become for each of us.
Listen to what the angel said to the shepherds:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Do you believe He was born unto you? If so, it’s time to repent this day and accept Him as your Immanuel. All the signs of Christmas are designed to point you to the salvation of Christ.
Are you waiting for a sign to be saved? Jesus Christ came in the cradle in order to go to the Cross. When He returns, He’ll be wearing a crown. Are you ready to repent and receive salvation?
Jesus paid the price, picking up our tab. But in order for His payment to be applied, we must accept it. We could try to pay for it but it wouldn’t make much sense, would it?
The ultimate gift was given when Jesus took on human flesh. He now offers us the free gift of salvation. Will you receive it?