The Righteousness & Kindness of God in the Virgin Birth
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We’re only ten days from Christmas! Can you believe it? Every year it seems to get here faster than we imagine it could. It also means we’re still amid the Advent season. We’ve been looking back in the OT quite a bit, and since we don’t trace this much OT history all the time, this week and next I’ll bring a significant review to help us see how these things build on one another and tie together.
This year we’re peering through the windows of OT snapshots to help us look back well, to understand how the OT helps us both understand their longing, but also helps us look forward to Christmas yes, but primarily to the second advent, the second coming of Jesus.
Since we don’t trace this much OT history all the time, this week and next I’ll bring a significant review to help us see how these things build on one another and tie together.
Review
Review
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Rekindling the wonder of Christmas is being captivated by God - awestruck - as we see God working in the lives of men and women throughout the centuries, unfolding his masterful plan to save a people unto himself.
Rekindling the wonder of Christmas is being captivated by God - awestruck - as we see God working in the lives of men and women throughout the centuries, unfolding his masterful plan to save a people unto himself.
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We began in and with a couple glimpses of God’s people who were about to be routed by godless pagan nations. Everything was bleak. We’re not talking about minor struggles here: we’re talking about death and destruction, that an eternal promise brought light into, and the same truths for them are true for us:
But God - who knows a little something about death and destruction - spoke into their world through the prophets and he speaks into ours. The same truths for them are true for us:
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Only from deepest darkness does the True Light shine most brightly! So faith - confidence in what you don’t see/who you don’t see, but you know - faith in the Lord and his promises is the only helpful approach to life however great the crisis.
Only from deepest darkness does the True Light shine most brightly! So faith - confidence in what you don’t see/who you don’t see, but you know - faith in the Lord and his promises is the only helpful approach to life however great the crisis.
helps us see this. We saw that:
Jesus would come humanly to meet us where we are.
Jesus came humanly to meet us where we are.
Jesus would come as deity to accomplish what we could not.
faith in the Lord and in his promises is a practical, indeed the only, approach to life however great the crisis.
Isaiah promised them that their gloom would turn to rejoicing, their distress would turn to joy, their darkness would turn to light by the One True Light, and the shadow of death would be overcome by the Anointed One, Jesus, the life-giving savior who would come 750 years later.
Gloom (1) would turn to rejoicing (3)
Gloom would turn to rejoicing
Gloom (1) would turn to rejoicing (3)
Distress would turn to joy
Oppression would turn to a broken yoke
Darkness would turn to Light
Shadow of death would be overcome
And all of these things would be possible, Isaiah says, through the Anointed One, Jesus, who would come 750 years later.
Micah 5 point us to Bethlehem, where we see that:
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God delights to choose the weak and despised/lowly things of this world to shame the wise and strong. So we rekindle the wonder of Christmas by boasting in the Lord.
God delights to choose the weak and despised/lowly things of this world to shame the wise and strong. So we rekindle the wonder of Christmas by boasting in the Lord.
By God’s transforming mercy and power our imperfection, our weakness, our lives that, and let’s be honest here, aren’t that impressive on our own, are used to point to the strong and caring Father in Heaven, the all-wise Holy Spirit, and the sacrificial brotherly love of our Savior, Jesus.
We find joy in the that it’s only
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Advent - it means coming - and we remember how they OT saints waited. We intentionally go back to help us be able to look forward as we also wait. We wait on the Lord in dark days, and we stand in awe as we see God working in the lives of people: saving, bringing renewed desire and focus on living to see Jesus magnified above everything and everyone, even ourselves.
Oh, I pray that these truths warm your heart as your thinking is saturated with the greatness and majesty of God and helps you rekindle the wonder of Christmas this year!
[ pause ]
[ pause ]
Transition: Today we turn to the NT to look more closely at the greatest miracle of Christmas...
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The Righteousness & Kindness of God seen in the Virgin Birth
The Righteousness & Kindness of God seen in the Virgin Birth
Take your Bible/App and go with me to Matthew chapter 1 (p 757), the first book in the NT. (As your getting there, just the fact that we’re opening to a book in the Bible named after a crooked tax collector who was given new life in Christ through repentance and faith is astounding (you know that?).)
SLIDES (faking it here…Todd Driessen will interrupt me and sing a song, so go to the next blank slide when he interrupts)
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
Todd Driessen sings “Matthew’s Begats”
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(Love me some Andrew Peterson sung by Todd Driessen! Thank you, brother!)
The Righteousness & Kindness of God seen in the Virgin Birth
We love to tell the story of our children’s births, don’t we. It takes our minds back to those wonderful moments, often including some scary turns along the way.
In Matthew, more than focusing primarily on the birth of Jesus, he focuses on the virgin conception of Jesus as the eternal Son of God becomes a man. God’s Spirit forms the human baby in the womb of a virgin. The angel of the Lord even tells Joseph and Mary all they need to know to care for this child who was, months later, born into their family.
So now having beautifully made our way through verse 17 let’s dive into the virgin birth of Jesus, which ushers in a new era in Israel’s history.
Alright - now having beautifully made our way through verse 17 let’s dive into the virgin birth of Jesus, which ushers in a new era in Israel’s history.
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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. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
(ESV)
18Now 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.
19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ (hear the accent…that’s in the text) took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed (that is, legally engaged) to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Now, let’s pause for a moment here. One of the questions you want to ask often is, “Why is this here? Why is he telling this to us in this way?” Matthew opens his book with a long list of names, and though we won’t have time to trace them all today, each and every name is significant, because it takes us back to the promise the God made in Abram that he would bless all nations through his offspring! That’s massive.
21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Now we are sometimes short-sighted in our appreciation for God’s faithfulness to himself and his promises, aren’t we? I know I’m quick to ask, “Yeah, but what’s that do for me now?” or “Big deal.” First we simply need to acknowledge our gut-instinct to focus on us, on the here-and-now, rather than on God’s grand narrative, which is really the perspective we need to affect all of our thinking about life. This is a pretty big deal. So, now we’re asking, “why does all this matter?” Well let’s keep reading together.
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: (from ) 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
In Matthew, more than focusing primarily on the birth of Jesus, he focuses on the virgin conception of Jesus as the eternal Son of God becomes a man. God’s Spirit forms the human baby in the womb of a virgin. In verse 18, the word translated “birth” is “γένεσις” which refers to the beginning or origin of something. So while the narrative is about the birth of Jesus Christ, every name in this lineage, and now the Holy Spirit’s producing a baby in Mary’s womb is very much about the origin, the giving of, and the begotten-ness of Jesus.
24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
18 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. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The angel of the Lord even tells Joseph and Mary all they need to know to care for this child who was, months later, born into their family.
At every turn we see the righteousness and kindness of God in the virgin birth.
Here in Matthew we see the righteousness and kindness of God in the virgin birth.
25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
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God is righteousness, meaning he never fails at one point, not even partially for that would mean total failure. Remember back in God cursed the Serpent, Satan, saying that Eve’s seed would crush his head? And throughout the OT we see prophecy after prophecy which are doubly fulfilled. Double fulfillment means that there was a partial fulfillment in their day, but the real, final fulfillment would be through Christ Jesus.
King after king would come in the OT, but none was righteous. Not until Jesus. Matthew shows us that:
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2 sam 7
Jesus is indeed from the line of David, but not from the flesh of David.
Jesus is indeed from the line of David, but not from the flesh of David.
https://www.theapollosproject.com/prophesies-prove-jesus-is-the-messiah/
Notice the details Joseph used to communicate the virgin birth:
(18b) before they came together (Mary) was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
(24) When Joseph wok from sleep, he did as the angel commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.
Mary was impregnated by God and Joseph followed in faith-filled obedience. God intervened to bring Joseph into the loop. And Joseph, “Being a just man,” v19 tells us, “unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” But a messenger of God intervened.
APP: At this point it’s natural for us to ask, “Since God sent an angel to clue Joseph in, why won’t he send an angel to clue me in or give me an answer with this problem I’m facing?”
First, let me as you this question: if you were given that answer, are you ready to follow in faith-filled obedience?
Faith-filled obedience means that you’ll obey the Lord without having proof, without knowing every step but knowing the next step.
Faith-filled obedience means that you’ll obey the Lord without having proof, without knowing every step but knowing the next step.
Faith-filled obedience means that you’ll obey the Lord without having proof, without knowing every step but knowing the next step. Well, Hebrews answers that question for us: there was a time when the Lord spoke more frequently through many methods (angels, prophets, signs and wonders), but now, tells us,
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“…He has spoke to us by his Son...”
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
Jesus, Son of God and Son of man was given to us as the communication of God. Angel simply means “messenger.” Jesus is God in the flesh.
col 1:15-
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15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Col 1:15-
Did you see that in v. 19, “in him (meaning Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...”
Jesus had to be born a virgin in order for all of the fullness of God to be Christ.
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Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.
Sin came to all of us through Adam, so the only way to break that curse was for God himself to come to earth and do it himself.
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22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
You see, if there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. No sinless Christ ... no atonement. No atonement ... no forgiveness. No forgiveness ... no hope of heaven. No hope of heaven ... we would all die and go to hell. Thank God for the virgin birth. If you take away the virgin birth, the whole house of Christianity collapses like a house of cards.
Now listen friends, we can believe this doctrine with our minds without trusting Christ to be our sin payment. John Walvoord says,
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The magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were indifferent to the King. The priests knew the Scriptures, but ignored them. Isn’t it sad how much people can know of the Word of God and at the same time how little it often affects their lives. “Such is the appalling gulf between religious belief and practice.” (John Walvoord, Matthew, Thy Kingdom Come, p. 22.)
The magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were indifferent to the King. The priests knew the Scriptures, but ignored them. Isn’t it sad how much people can know of the Word of God and at the same time how little it often affects their lives. “Such is the appalling gulf between religious belief and practice.” (John Walvoord, Matthew, Thy Kingdom Come, p. 22.)
They would not even take the time to go to worship Him themselves. This illustrates how we can know the Bible, yet fail to appropriate it by faith so that it changes our objects of worship; indeed, so that it changes us to make us like the Lord Jesus.
(to the right a bit in your Bible - p 803
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.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And 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. 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 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.
Communion Transition
Communion Transition
And friends, that right there is the whole point: Jesus not only need to come to earth through this miraculous virgin birth, he also needed to give his life at Calvary so that you and I can believe, because on our own we just don’t.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
This is why we remember Jesus’ sacrificial live, dying, and rising from the grave when we meet together. It’s a visible way to preach The Gospel to ourselves and one another again and again.
So Christian, let us remember in these moments, that we eat a strong symbol of Jesus’ body which was broken for us, and we drink a strong symbol reminding us of Jesus’ blood that was shed so that everyone who believes in him, places their faith for salvation ONLY in Jesus, will have new life.
Non-Christian, we’re so glad you’re here with us this morning. It is our prayer that as you let these plates pass you by this morning you’re reminded that Jesus came for you too. If you will turn from your sin and believe that Jesus forgives you, you will be saved. But like with any gift, there is an asking, or a confessing. Simply cry out,
"Jesus, I know I can’t save, or fix myself. Thank you for paying the penalty I deserve to pay. Change my heart today.”
Parents, exercise wisdom with your children, encouraging believing children to take communion with you while unbelieving children, or even if you’re not sure, should refrain for now. But you know your kids. Allow the Spirit to guide you and shepherding them.
Pray with me.