We tend to overlook things we do not understand and move beyond it. We then try to categorize what we do not understand into what we believe to be a rational way of thinking. What does Isaiah's writings mean when he wrote that the Child that will be born to us will be called Mighty God and Everlasting Father. Do we drive by the sign that says "Stop and Ponder", or just roll by and proceed towards something we understand. Being we might not understand what that means, do we just grab onto what someone interprets that for us. The Bible says that God's ways are not man's ways. We always try to understand the things of God in human terms. To be able to understand how Jesus could be the Father, we have to look at it in God's terms.
Isaiah wrote in his 7th Chapter, in verses 17;
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child
and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
Immanuel means, "God with us". So we know that the sign from God will be a son that will be born to a virgin that will be God with us. This child will be God. We start to think, "How could this be possible, for we know that God is a Spirit?" We don't understand, so do we just drive by the statement, or do we search to understand how this could be possible. Why a virgin and how is that possible.? How could a virgin be with a child? If we ask those things, we are trying to rationalize in human terms. What about in God's reality? To begin to understand this, we have to look at what is written about the virgin girl, Mary, and what she was told. We often just look at this as just the Christmas Story, but in this story are the keys of understanding how Jesus is God.
First we are going to look at what Mary was told. This was recorded in Luke's gospel in the 1st Chapter, verses 26-38;
"(26) Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in
Galilee, called Nazareth, (27) to a virgin engaged to a man whose name is Joseph,
of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name is Mary. (28) And coming in,
he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." (29) But she was greatly
troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation 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 name Him Jesus. (32) He will be great, and will be called the son of the
Most High; and the Lord God will give Him throne of His father David; (33) and
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end."
(34) And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be since I am a virgin?' (35) And
the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy
offspring shall be called the Son of God. (36) And behold, even your relative
Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now
in her sixth month. (37) for nothing is impossible with God.' (38) And Mary said,
'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.' And
the angel departed from her."
There are a few things to point out from this passage of scripture. We read earlier, in the gospel of John, that God would become flesh. This is how He was going to do it. He was going to come into this world through the virgin woman, Mary. The reason why God had to come into this world through a virgin, was because it had to be a Holy place. Mary's womb would prove to be a Holy place because not only was Mary a virgin, but she was a woman who accepted the atonement for the forgiveness of her sins during the Passover and the sacrifice that was made in the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was beyond the veil, in the temple in Jerusalem, that separated God from man. Mary's womb would become that holy place where God could dwell. A virgin has a veil that is broken when a man comes into her. Mary's veil was not broken. It was still unbroken when Jesus was conceived. In Mary's womb would be the very presence of God that would form to be a child.
We look at things on human terms and we know that from a man comes a seed that enters the egg of a woman and from that point is bought forth a child. Even we know now that every human being has a different DNA. No two humans have the same DNA makeup. Every seed of man has its own DNA makeup. When we hear that Jesus was the Son of God, we most likely look at it relative to human terms. We tend to look at is God having a Son that has a different DNA as His. This absolutely is not the case. It said that Holy Spirit would come upon Mary and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. Now I am about to turn conventional wisdom on its head. I will ask this question and the answer is obvious but overlooked. If Jesus was conceived when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, then who is the Father? Of course the answer is the Holy Spirit. So it is logical to assume that the One who caused the conception would be the Father. Therefore, we have the Holy Spirit being the One who Fathered Jesus. I didn't say it. It is what is written.
So if the Holy Spirit is the One who caused Jesus to be conceived, then what was the seed that caused the conception, since God is a Spirit. I'll answer it. It was the very Spirit of God that fertilized, as you might say, the egg in Mary's womb. It was the very essence of God Almighty Himself. It was a essence of the Holy Spirit that makes up who God is, that was planted into Mary and grew to be a Child that was 100% God as a human being. God became flesh. Immanuel, God with us. The Mighty God and the full extension of the Holy Spirit.
If we look at what Matthew wrote in his gospel about the birth of Jesus from Joseph's experience, we see that it confirms what we just learn. Matthew wrote this in his 1st Chapter, verses 18-25;
"(18) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with a child by
the Holy Spirit. (19) And Joseph her husband, being found a righteous man, and not
wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. (20) But when he had
considered this, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her
is of the Holy Spirit.(21) And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus,
for it is He who will save His people from their sins."(22) Now all this took place that
what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,(23)
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name
Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."(24) And Joseph arose from his
sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife,(25)
and kept her as a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."
Again, we see that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Both Joseph and Mary were instructed to name the child Jesus, which means, 'The Lord our Salvation.' This is why Joseph was instructed by God Himself to call the child Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins. This is why He is called Savior. God Himself would come into this world in the form of a man, to be the very sacrifice that would be offered up for the forgiveness of the sins of all who would desire to be His people. God chose for Himself this name, which we will see is a name above all names. Also, we see at the end this passage, that Joseph kept Mary as a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus. The womb of Mary remained the Holy of Holies until Jesus came forth in his birth and tore down the veil in the virgin that separated God from man. God was now with man, Immanuel.
Small pieces and still some good things to see.
May Jesus peace, grace and understanding be with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment