God Becomes A Man

Introduction:

Attention Getter: We began our series of “Is There Anything Too Hard for God?” with the birth of Isaac in Genesis 18. The Theme verse being Gen. 18:14

Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Tonight, as we enter the Christmas season, we will look at an even greater birth, the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Introduce Topic: The Incarnation/The Virgin Birth

Scripture: Turn with me to Luke 1:26.

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Background:

Morris, “The virgin birth is a distinctive Christian doctrine. There is no Jewish parallel, but attention is sometimes drawn to birth stories among Greek legends

Morris, “They usually tell of a divine person having sexual intercourse with a human (usually a god with a woman). A truly virgin birth is unique.

Morris, “Marshall emphasizes the Jewish character of the narrative; it is unlikely to derive from pagan sources

Challenge Audience:

God Becomes a Man

1. The Mystery (34)

Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Sceptic’s Doubt:

Sproul, “At the turn of this century some scholars tried to say the word virgin, if we look back to the Old Testament, could mean simply a young woman.

Sproul, “It is true that the word doesn’t have to mean virgin, although that is its principal meaning. But even if the word virgin were not found in the text, how could we miss the concept, when Mary asks, ‘How can I have a baby? I have never been with a man.’

Zechariah’s Doubt:

Osborne, “She says, “How will this be?” while he had doubted God, saying, “How can this happen?”

Morris, “Where Zechariah had been disbelieving, Mary was puzzled, though why is not immediately obvious.

Osborne, “So God judged him and struck him dumb until the birth occurred, and he dropped out of the action for the next nine months, unable to participate.

Osborne, “The action shifts to Elizabeth and then Mary, who exemplify faith and joy in God in spite of difficult circumstances. This is a terrific model for us, for we are often asked to trust in God through hard times.

2. The Means (35a)

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

Jesus’ birth was to be a human birth.

Calvin, “ Marcion and Manichæus believed that Mary brought forth not an ethereal body or phantom.”

Jesus’ birth was to be a miraculous birth.

God is not mating with Mary. Gabriel makes it clear that the conception will be the result of a divine activity.

Sproul, “This child was not to be born by the normal biological process. He would go through the process of birth, being carried for a full term of pregnancy. Yet he was to differ from all humanity in that he did not have a human father. His conception occurred by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was a miracle in the strictest sense of all: it was an act that only God could bring to pass. God alone can bring something out of nothing; life out of death; fertility from a barren woman; a virgin birth.

Jesus’ birth would be a divine birth.

Holy Spirit comes upon Mary

Osborne, “The Holy Spirit joins the Father and the Son in his trinitarian role as the active source of the new creation: the Holy Spirit will “come on” and “overshadow” Mary with the “power of the Most High.”

Power of the Most Hight will overshadow you.

Spence-Jones, “Again the angel makes use of the term “Highest” when alluding to the eternal Father.

Spence-Jones, “The expression of Gabriel, “the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,” reminds us of the opening words of Genesis, where the writer describes the dawn of life in creation in the words, “The Spirit of God moved [or, ‘brooded’] over the face of the deep.”

Believe the Miracle!

Spence-Jones, “The Word was conceived in the womb of a woman, not after the manner of men, but by the singular, powerful, invisible, immediate operation of the Holy Ghost, whereby a virgin was, beyond the law of nature, enabled to conceive, and that which was conceived in her was originally and completely sanctified” (art. iii., Bishop Pearson on the Creed).

Osborne, “Once more it is the Holy Spirit who will bring this to pass (v. 35). In every single section of the infancy narrative, he makes it possible for these unbelievable events to take place. Luke will feature the Spirit’s enabling presence throughout both Luke and Acts, and the message to us is clear. This selfsame Spirit is also with us and will empower us in the very same way to carry out the mission God has for us.

The Miracle (35b)

Luke 1:35 …therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Morris, “This sets him apart from all others and makes him Son of God in a special sense.

Heb. 1:5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,“You are my Son,today I have begotten you”?Or again,“I will be to him a father,and he shall be to me a son”?

Barnes, “It was not by ordinary generation; but, as the Messiah came to redeem sinners—to make atonement for others, and not for himself—it was necessary that his human nature should be pure, and free from the corruption of the fall. God therefore prepared him a body by direct creation that should be pure and holy.

Heb. 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,but a body have you prepared for me;6  in burnt offerings and sin offeringsyou have taken no pleasure.7  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”

Barnes, “He is also called the Son of God on account of his resurrection, Ro. 1:4; Ac. 13:33, compared with Ps. 2:7.

Osborne, “The two descriptions of the child are both vertical, showing his relationship to the Godhead.

This child will be “holy”; this connotes that he will be set apart for God more than that he will simply live a holy life.

He is set apart in a special way as the Son of God.

Believe In the Holy Son of God!

Osborne, “he will … be called the Son of the Most High.” The title speaks of the special filial relationship of the Son to the Father. He is the Davidic Messiah, but he is also much more. While not an ascription of divinity, it has connotations of such and moves in that direction.

4. The Encouragement (36)

Luke 1:36 And 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.

God gives Mary a friend.

Barnes, “The case of Elisabeth is mentioned to inspire Mary with confidence, and to assure her that what was now promised would be fulfilled.

Osborne, “The angel mentions this to comfort Mary that she is not alone. She is remarkably young, but Elizabeth is remarkably old to bear a child, and that same power has overtaken her.

Jesus’ Geneology

Morris, “Some have concluded from the fact that Elizabeth is Mary’s kinswoman that Mary must have been of the family of Aaron, as Elizabeth was (5).

Morris, “They conclude that, if we accept the virgin birth, Jesus was not descended from David, but this is to go too far too fast. All the conditions are satisfied if one of Mary’s parents was of David’s family and the other of Aaron’s. The reference to Jesus as descended from David (32), made when Joseph’s reaction was as yet undetermined, shows that Mary must have been able to claim Davidic descent.

Take Comfort in Friends even if their situations are different.

Osborne, “Old age and the childless state are no obstacles to the power of the Most High, and neither is Mary’s virginal state.

Osborne, “All of the Old Testament women had been married, so hers would be the first such birth. John’s birth would be incredible; Jesus’ would be miraculous.

5. The Message (37)

Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Lange, “With God nothing shall be impossible.—Nothing, i.e., no word (ῥῆμα) of promise.

Lange, “The calm entrance of the Divine into the world of man.—God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

Consider the Greatness of John the Baptist’s Announcement:

In the Temple, To a Priest, A Priest Burning Incense, Crowd Gathered, Sign of Dumbness.

Consider the Smallness of Jesus’ Announcement:

In the village of Nazarth, to a woman, quiet moment, alone, disappeared to Elizabeth.

5. The Response of Faith (38)

Luke 1:38 And 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.

Mary’s Submission:

Handmaid (doulē) means ‘slave-girl’; it expresses complete obedience. The slave-girl could not but do the will of her Master.

Morris, “We miss Mary’s quiet heroism. She was not yet married to Joseph. His reaction to her pregnancy might have been expected to be a strong one and Matthew tells us that he did in fact think of divorcing her (Matt. 1:19).

Barnes, “This was an expression of resignation to the will of God, and of faith in the promise. To be the handmaid of the Lord is to be submissive and obedient, and is the same as saying, “I fully credit all that is said, and am perfectly ready to obey all the commands of the Lord.”

Mary’s Faith:

Spence-Jones, ““God’s message,” writes Godet, “by the mouth of the angel was not a command. The part Mary had to fulfil made no demands on her. It only remained, therefore, for Mary to consent to the consequences of the Divine offer. She gives this consent in a word at once simple and sublime, which involved the most extraordinary act of faith that a woman ever consented to accomplish.

Osborne, ““The Lord’s servant” is almost a title, used of Joshua (Judg 2:8) and David (Ps 35:1), so Mary is in reality accepting an exalted place in God’s plan.

Osborne, “Whatever God has in store—and there could be personal pain (disgrace and rejection as an unwed mother)—she is willing to allow God’s purposes to be brought to completion. When “the angel left,” this plan was put into motion, and Mary accepted his will completely.

Sproul, “Yet Mary says to God, ‘If that is your will, then I’ll do it.’ The beginning of Jesus’ life is marked by a mother who submits to the will of God. The end of Jesus’ life is marked by the words: ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’