Have you ever experienced hearing a person share a profound incident that had happened to them? I have! Several times throughout my life I had been given the joy of seeing someone come closer to faith in Christ, and then believing in Him as Lord and Savior.
Just a year ago, one special young man whose wife had just given birth to their baby girl shared a remarkable experience with me.
He had been at the hospital for many hours. When the grandparents came to visit his wife and baby, he went home to take a long, hot shower. While in the shower, he said that he “had a vision” and he saw God in the face of his newborn daughter!
Since I was told about this over a year ago, I don’t remember all of the details, but that one detail will stick with me forever. I think he also said that he sat down in the shower and cried…tears of joy. It’s no wonder! The birth of a child is a very emotional experience!
There have been many stories about men suddenly believing in God (where they previously may have had doubts) after witnessing the birth of their first child. I think that there are many reasons for this. Most of all, the concept of marriage and family was instituted by God Himself, therefore why wouldn’t such a profound, exhilarating, emotional and loving experience of witnessing childbirth bring a father closer to the reality of God Almighty?
I shared this story today because I was reminded of it while reading the answer to the following question:
Why did God choose to bring the Savior of the world to us through a process of supernatural conception and natural birth?
I have a cousin who once stated to me that she cannot believe in the virgin birth of Christ. I tried to share the biblical reasons why I believe it to be true. Most of all, I knew that this type of “stumbling block” in a person’s mind could keep them from receiving Christ as Lord and Savior in their lives.
Everything about the Gospel is bound up in that question, and all the answers are in God’s Word.
Well, at the time I only knew of just a few of the answers. Today, after reading an article written by David Jeremiah entitled, “What Child Is This?” in the December issue of Turning Points magazine and devotional, I have been further educated with answers to that profound question!
I love what he wrote at the beginning of the essay:
The two trajectories of Infinity and Infancy crossed at Bethlehem, making Christmas a mystery that flows like a bottomless river from the depths of God’s heart. On the most remarkable night that ever was, a baby cried and eternity was changed. In a stable in Bethlehem, the God-baby passed from a virgin’s womb into humanity and into history. A child was born; a Son was given; a Savior came down from heaven, and earth received her King.
We’ve never gotten over it. His name is Jesus, and we’ve never gotten over Him.
Dr. Jeremiah goes on to ask why Christ arrived this way. Why wasn’t he brought forth as a fully grown, 33-year-old-man ready to die for our sins? This brings forth the same question, once again:
Why did God choose to bring the Savior of the world to us through a process of supernatural conception and natural birth?
It would be best to read the entire article, but due to copyright laws, I must only summarize. I received the new December issue yesterday. Anyone can get three free issues by going to this page.
Dr. Jeremiah writes:
First, Jesus came into the world as an infant so the bloodline of all humanity would flow through His veins.
We can read about the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Bible (see, for example, Matthew 1:1 and Luke 3:38). It goes all the way back to Adam.
The fact that the lineage of all the world was in His blood brings forth the profound truth that His death and shed blood was for the salvation of all.
Dr. Jeremiah continues:
Second, through the miracle of the Virgin Birth, Jesus acquired a twofold nature, being both God and Man.
Being both fully human and fully divine at the same time, He has the power to save us from our sins and through belief, He reconciles us back unto the Father, enabling us to come to heaven.
Continuing:
Noted theologian Wayne Grudem wrote:
God, in his wisdom, ordained a combination of human and divine influence in the birth of Christ, so that his full humanity would be evident to us from the fact of his ordinary human birth from a human mother, and his full deity would be evident from the fact of his conception in Mary’s womb by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
I want to pause here for a moment. Recall how adamant atheists, skeptics, and haters of the Bible are against the display of the nativity scenes in public places that show up at Christmastime? They often spew their rhetorical excuse that it is because of their belief in the so-called, “separation of church and state.” I think it’s far more than that. It is an indication of where the heart and soul of the individual happens to be and it is due to rebellion against God, His Living Word, Jesus Christ, and His written Word, the Bible. Think about it. If they don’t believe (or fear) that the nativity has God-given power, then why does it bother them for it to be displayed?
The next answer to the question, “Why did God choose to bring the Savior of the world to us through a process of supernatural conception and natural birth?” reiterates what I had just written.
Third, Jesus also came as a newborn baby to fulfill the possibility of living a perfect life.
Jesus had 33 years to demonstrate His righteousness before giving His life as a sinless substitute. Even His executioner proclaimed, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” (Luke 23:47) His chief apostle called Him “a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:19). Dr. G. Campbell Morgan put it like this: “The death of Christ would have been of no avail for the redemption of the world, had it not been preceded by His perfect life.”
[Every] human being since Adam has battled a guilty conscience–except for Christ, whose conscience was as pure as His life. Because of that we can draw near to Him “in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience…” (Hebrews 10:22).
We can easily add on this verse:
Rom 3:10
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
In fact, read all of Romans 3:10-3:18 (including the footnotes to the Psalms) and Romans 3:19-31.
Here’s the easier to read and understand NLT version of Romans 3.
Fourth, Jesus came as a baby and grew to manhood as we do so He could identify with every phase of our lives.
We have an Advocate in Jesus Christ who was fully human like us in every way. He came from a family as God has ordained families to be, so he would be a merciful and faithful high priest and make atonement for the sins of the people. He helps those being tempted.
Fifth, Jesus came as a baby to show us the importance of families.
Throughout history, God’s version of family includes a mother, a father, and a child or children. He created family first – through Adam and Eve. Then came the institution of the state, the entity of the Church, and the nation of Israel. It is very fitting, then, that the Lord would begin the process of bringing salvation of the world through another family, the family of Mary and Joseph.
Nicole Cottrell said (paraphrased in part):
Families provide support, encouragement, discipline and love which we all need to become whole and healthy.
God chose for Jesus, the Savior of the world, to be raised by a mother and father, surrounded by siblings and other family members…[Jesus] was born into a family because families are important to God.
The true meaning of Christmas is often secularized to appeal to many different types of people. Some might say that it is too commercialized, and I would agree. However, for believers, the Incarnation of Christ is a story that sends its shafts of meaning to the very depths of our souls!
This is what I hold onto. This is what my family holds onto. The rest of the secular world can just say “Happy Holidays” if that’s their prerogative.
But Christians know that God so thoroughly planned a way for you, dear reader, to be reconciled to Himself. I pray that if you don’t know Christ as Lord and Savior, isn’t now the time to be saved?
Hat tips:
Turning Points December, 2016 magazine and devotional entitled “Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child.”
All links.
Talk Wisdom 