In 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, we read about God’s grace given to a troubled first century church. It reminds us just how amazing God’s grace really is. Paul addressed them as “the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.” In v. 4, he thanked God regularly for them and in particular, he thanked God “for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.” God gave grace to them. The grace of God is his favor which he gives to the undeserving. Paul thanked God for his grace that “was given you in Christ Jesus.” God’s grace is given, is not earned. It is simply “given.” He freely bestows it. It is this grace that saves us, keeps us, gifts us, sanctifies us, and will one day glorify us. God was not obligated to give grace in the circumstances the Corinthian church was facing. He gives it to whom he wishes and he is never obligated to give it. He is the same God who gives grace to us. What a gracious God!
Merry Christmas! Christians and even non-Christians around the world celebrate Christmas as the day when Jesus, the Messiah, was born in the town of Bethlehem. It all happened in a glorious moment.
Christmas is a time of excitement and a time of connection. Let us always remember that it is a time of the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We may have a very cluttered life and forget what the purpose of life is all about. Christmas itself can even be a distraction from worshiping the Christ-child. Let us always remember that Jesus really is the reason for the season.
At the time of the First Coming or Advent, the eternal Son of God took to himself full humanity. This means that he became a man without ceasing to be God. John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The eternal Son of God became a human being. The Son is uniquely the God-man. That is why the Son of God is unique and the very heart of Christmas.
This is the climax of the storyline of the Bible. Adam and Eve disobeyed God; God promised a descendent who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is that descendent.
Matthew opens his Gospel by boldly declaring Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 1:1). Paul writes, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4–5).
Christ took “the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:7). He was called Immanuel or “God with us” (Matt 1:23). God himself, in the Christ-child, condescended and entered into our hopelessness to rescue people from their sins.
Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Savior of the world and his birth is the most important arrival in the history of the world. God has provided a rescue plan through Jesus’s death for our sins and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Make this a special Christmas day by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness.
Christmas means hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings. Merry Christmas to you, and all glory to Immanuel, the God who is with us, and will be with us forever.
Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
-Pastor Seboe
In our sophisticated, fast-moving, pressurized world, some have arrived where they are and accomplished what they did by knocking people down and using them along the way. They arrived at “greatness” by stepping on people like a staircase. Other greats showed their strength and ability not by using people but by serving. We need rediscover “greatness” from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Born in humble circumstances, he came to serve and give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). No one could possibly stoop lower than Jesus in his service. Christians are exhorted to follow the attitude of humility displayed in his incarnation and death in their relationships with one another:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:3-11).
During the incarnation Jesus possessed the form of God and was equal with God. How did he make himself nothing or empty himself? “By taking the form of a servant [and] by becoming in the likeness of humanity.” In the condition of “form of a servant” he did not manifest the form of God outwardly. The form of a servant served as a temporary veil cloaking the form of God. Later as an adult, Jesus was transfigured. During the transfiguration the cloaking veil was removed, and his glory shown demonstrating Jesus still possessed the form of God (Matthew 17:1-13). D.A. Carson remarks, “He became a “nobody” so that God would exalt him above everybody.”
is time to end the dead-end journey of personal greatness and affluence and look to the “nobody” who has been exalted above “everybody.” In the cross of Christ, you can find forgiveness. Believe in him and his death for your sin and be forgiven. In Christ you will find hope this Christmas.
-Pastor
Who hasn't struggled with those demoralizing seasons of dark sadness? Everyone suffers from grief and sorrow from time to time. There is hope this Christmas! The English traditional Christmas carol, "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" reminds us to remember Christ the Savior was born on Christmas day! Also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy”, the carol gained attention in the mid-18th century and was included in Charles Dickens’s classic, A Christmas Carol. When Scrooge heard the opening lines of the song, he had no patience for the song:
God rest you merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray
Have a tendency toward discouragement? There is comfort and joy. Experience seasonal depression? There is comfort and joy. Feel marginalized? There is comfort and joy. Burdened or experience guilt? There is comfort and joy. "Tidings of comfort and joy" are found in Christ the Savior. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). There is hope in this broken world. We can find comfort and joy in a broken world:
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
God can forgive and comfort the weak and the desperate. He can forgive and comfort the discouraged and the despairing. He has forgiven sinners like me. He will forgive you if you turn to the Savior and his death and resurrection for sin in faith.
“God rest you merry, gentlemen.”
-Pastor Seboe
We must have God’s forgiveness, or we have nothing. The incarnation leads to the cross of Christ, and the cross is where forgiveness can be found. In the book of Hebrews, the author writes, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4).
The writer continues noting that it was God’s will that a body be prepared for the Son for a better sacrifice for sin:
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:6-10).
Because of the incarnation, Jesus was able “by one sacrifice make perfect forever those who are being made holy.” That sacrifice was himself.
The writer continues:
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (10:15-18).
Christ died once for all for sin. Anyone who puts their faith in Christ and his death and resurrection will be forgiven. The superiority of his bodily sacrifice is demonstrated in that when sins are forgiven based on HIS sacrifice. Are your sins forgiven? Have you turned from whatever you are trusting to Jesus Christ and his bodily death and resurrection for sin? God’s will for forgiving our sins is found in Jesus Christ and his bodily sacrifice for sin. If you have God’s forgiveness, you have hope.
-Pastor
The apostle John employs vivid descriptions about Jesus to encourage belief in him. Jesus is the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (1:29). He is the gate by which men enter and find life (10:9). He is the good shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep (10:11).
Although betrayed and abandoned by the disciples and condemned by liars, Jesus was the truth. While he spoke the truth, he himself is the truth incarnate.
When Jesus Christ was on trial for his life, John recorded this exchange, “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “you say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37).
In the next verse Pilate then responded, “What is truth?”
The eternal Son of God became a man and was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). In Jesus, truth came into this world from outside of this world. Jesus was born not to hide truth about God, but to testify about it in a world of spiritual darkness. In a world of unbelief.
In his book Hitler’s Cross, Erwin Lutzer made this observation:
“Since the Germans for centuries had celebrated Christmas and Easter, Hitler had to reinterpret their meaning. Christmas was turned into a totally pagan festival. For the SS troops, its date was changed to December 21st, the date of the winter solstice. Carols and nativity plays were banned from the schools in 1938, and even the name Christmas was changed to “Yuletide.” Crucifixes were eliminated from the classrooms and Easter was turned into a holiday that heralded the arrival of spring.”
Hitler changed Christmas to suite his ideology. Christmas carols were modified to reflect Nazi beliefs and ideology including references to the “Savior” pointing to Hitler himself, “Savior Führer.” These were among some of the steps taken to hide the truth of Christianity because it was dangerous to Nazi ideology. This is unbelief.
Jesus challenges this by testifying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The real problem is our sin and unbelief. Unbelief that results in seeing ourselves as our own judge and sin as a social construct and not our worst problem. Unbelief fails to see who Jesus Christ is, what he has done, and what he is doing. John provokes belief, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Turn to Jesus and his death and resurrection for forgiveness of sin and believe. He gives real hope. This changes everything.
Pastor
We sing about joy and hope every year in the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Charles Wesley zeroed in on the centerpiece of Christmas when he wrote, "Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity." What is the centerpiece? It is the Incarnation of the Son of God. The eternal Son of God took on flesh and manifested in visible form the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) such that in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form (Col 2:9). This is truly quite wonderful and glorious. God entering our time and space. We need to think about how important it is. We can’t miss this.
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
When the shepherds found Mary and Joseph and the baby exactly as they were told, the angelic announcement of the Messiah’s birth was confirmed. Luke then reveals Mary’s reflective moment, Mary “treasured” up everything and “pondered” them in her heart. In contrast to the shepherds' public proclamation, Mary meditated on the significance of these events. In many ways, “to treasure” means to purposefully keep near thoughts and remembrances. The second verb “ponder,” means to weigh mentally, to consider carefully, to meditate, to reflect, and to think deeply about something, usually in terms of its significance.
While Mary was like any mother who has given birth, she had so much more to consider. God revealed what he wanted us to know about the significance of the birth of our Savior. The incarnation is absolutely unique. Only once did God become a man. He remains God and man forever (Col. 2:9, Heb. 7:24). He became man once, that we might be saved from sin once for all.
Joseph named the baby Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). It was the Father’s love (John 3:16) that sent his Son, “that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The Son of God took on humanity so that we who deserve death can have life without limit, forever with God. He died in our place, that we might never die.
This is Christmas. It is time to reflect and consider the incarnation and its significance. It’s worth our time.
-Pastor Seboe
We fill our lives with stuff that is meant to produce joy, but the Bible tells us that we can fill our lives with a true hope in God. Romans 12:12 reads, “Rejoice in hope!” this means something like, “Let your joy be the joy that comes from hope!” There is a firm relationship between joy and hope.
On the all-important night when it was revealed to the shepherds that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, the shepherds immediately went to the city of David to verify the news. Luke tells us that Caesar Augustus had required a census (Luke 2:1–3) and through God’s sovereignty, Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4–5). Jesus was born, wrapped in cloths, and placed in a manger (Luke 2:6–7).
A powerful moment occurred on that night in Luke’s Gospel because an angel of the Lord also appeared and proclaimed good news for all people (Luke 2:8–12): “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” A multitude of angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest” (2:14).
The shepherds immediately verified the news and found the baby Jesus lying in a manger (2:15–16). They found the baby just as God had said through the angels. God is always faithful and keeps His Word. The shepherds experienced a holy moment.
After gazing upon the unique and holy God-man, a baby, God incarnate, lying in a feeding trough, “they spread the word (2:17). The hope of the world has come. Joy to the world! The Lord has come!
-Pastor
Feeling anxious about these difficult days? Political corruption, rising crime, economic crises—these will always be on the front page. Because so many lives have been turned upside down this year for one reason or another, we need to reflect on what God is doing in our lives. Times were no different when Jesus was born. God promises to accomplish His bigger and better purposes all around our world and deep within our lives.
Luke records an uplifting focus in his record with Mary’s Song of Praise (1:46-56). Mary’s Song interrupts Gabriel’s announcement to Mary (1:26-38) and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (1:39-45). Mary bursts out with praise of God’s gracious work. Mary is with child, the Messiah. Elizabeth, full of the Holy Spirit, discerns that Mary is blessed among women.
Mary proclaims God is great and He is her Savior (1:46-47). She recognizes in God’s sovereignty and holiness that she is being used to bear the child through God’s love and care. Mary also proclaims that God is merciful and righteousness (1:50-33). God's mercy extends to those who fear or acknowledge God’s rule over them. God is righteous. He exalts the humble. Lastly, Mary praises God for his loyal love (1:54-55). God is loyal to those who have a relationship with him. God’s work of salvation begins with Jesus, the baby she will deliver. She praises God and celebrates.
God and his act of salvation is precisely the point. He shows grace and faithfulness and his salvation is worthy of praise and worth celebrating.
As they were in Jesus’ day, so our times are difficult. Difficult times are often a distraction from the bigger picture. God sovereignly accomplishes His divine will. Times are hard, but they never surprise God. He is still sovereign.
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13).
-Pastor Seboe
No one can go back to the starting line in the race of life. Many have struggled with the pain. Others have put their past behind them. We can be freed from the weight of guilt, regret, and bitter heartache. There is hope.
Genesis 1-2 makes the point that human beings were made to function originally as God’s vice-regents over the entire creation. Psalm 8 reiterated this same point. In the New Testament, Psalm 8 is recited by the author of Hebrews in Heb. 2:6-8 and points out, “we do not yet see everything under our feet”, as Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 envisage. Why? The Fall has taken place, sin and death has taken a toll.
But what do we see? “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). By Christ’s identification with us and by his death, he becomes the first human being to be crowned with such glory and honor, as he brings many sons—a new humanity—to glory. Both the one who makes human beings holy—Jesus himself—and the human beings who are made holy are of the same family. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers (Heb. 2:11).
Since we have flesh and blood, he shared in our humanity (Heb. 2:14). His humanity was not intrinsically his, but something he had to take on (the eternal Word “became flesh,” John 1:14). He did this so that by his death (something he could never have experienced if he had not taken on flesh and blood) “he might destroy him who holds the power of death … and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14, 15).
Jesus did not take on the nature of angels (Heb. 2:16) He became a human being with a human ancestry, ancestry of Abraham (Heb. 2:16). He was to serve as mediator between God and human beings, “he had to be made like his brothers in every way” (Heb. 2:17). He already was like God in every way.
What is entirely “fitting,” for Jesus is that God should make the author (Jesus) of our salvation “perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10).
There is hope. Notice how "hope" occurs in Hebrews:
3:6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
6:11-12 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
6:18-20 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
7:18-19 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
What hope! The Son became a man to suffer death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). By his identification with us and by his death, he becomes the first human being to be crowned with such glory and honor, as he brings many sons to glory. Seize Hope this Christmas.
-Pastor Seboe
For each of us, the past year came with unexpected news, significant changes, and an uncertain future. Christmas is an opportunity to renew our hope in God what he did in the incarnation for the world.
Early in Luke, an angel is sent by God to a priest serving in the temple. As he burned incense, an angel appeared to him and announced that his previously barren wife, Elizabeth, would soon give birth to a son. Zechariah responded with skepticism: “How shall I know this?” (Luke 1:18). Instead of rejoicing in what God promised to do, Zechariah focused on the impossibility of the situation. Consequently, the angel silenced Zechariah until John’s birth.
After some time, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and expressed her joy that the reproach of barrenness has been lifted from her. Again, she rejoices when she meets Mary, “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:24–25, 41–45). Elizabeth’s reaction tells us she honors God.
Then God sends the angel Gabriel to Mary who is betrothed to Joseph. Gabriel reveals that Mary would carry and birth the Son of God, the long-expected Davidic King. Mary responded with wonder: “How will this be?” (1:34). Mary’s question was full of possibility—Almighty God was going to do great things through her. The important detail is that Mary would conceive by the Holy Spirit, and her cousin Elizabeth was also with child. The angel concluded with a stirring statement of God’s power: “Nothing will be impossible with God” (1:37). Mary reflects on what God is doing in her hymn, the Magnificat, and describes herself as God’s “servant” (the repetition of servant, connects Luke 1:48 to 1:38) and of “humble state.”
Mary praises God her Savior because he looked upon her low social state and yet in love let her bear the Messiah. What God did for her is like what he does for others in the same state (Luke 1:52). God has given her a special place by having her bear the Messiah. Generations of all time will bless her, perceive her fortune in receiving this special role. Elizabeth’s blessing in Luke 1:45 is the first blessing that Mary receives as an exemplary servant touched by grace (11:28–29 is another). Luke presents Mary as an example of faith in God and a humble servant who is willing to do what God asks. Mary’s hymn, the Magnificat, is an initial characterization of God whose purpose shapes the rest of Luke’s story. Mary knows and trusts in God and what he is doing through the Son’s incarnation. Clinging to God and his promises renews hope. Do you need your hope in God renewed? Cling to his promises.
The mood of Christmas is reflected in the “playlists” that include everything from “Joy to the World” to “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas,” and from “Silent Night” to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band-Aid.
But why do we celebrate Christmas? Why did the Son of God come to the earth? What was driving him? Even before Jesus’s birth, many expectations of the Messiah circulated. Probably the most prominent was for a military-type figure, a strong man like David or Judah Maccabee, who would free the Jews from their Roman oppressors.
The Jews wanted a victorious military leader and God’s judgment on their enemies. Today, people are on a quest for power, wealth, comfort, gratification, the self, etc.
Mark 10:45 tells us what was driving Jesus, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The same point is made elsewhere in Scripture: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21), “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” (Luke 19:10), “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17), That was his goal and it could only be accomplished through death. The Son of Man’s miracles, teaching, and life must be seen in the light of this singular purpose, “to give his life as a ransom for many.” God sent His Son to die for our sins.
Jesus did not come to start a holiday; he came to serve you and me. He became a man to die on a cross. He gave up his life (10:45, 32). He drank the cup (10:38). He paid the ransom (10:45). Thank God for the exalted Son of Man who, for our sakes, humbled himself to become our Suffering Servant. The service of the Son leads to hope for us.
Christmas comes each year to draw people in from the chill of heartbreak, disappointment, and loneliness. God draws people in with his promises. When God promises, he will do it, but only in his time and in his way.
God delights to do the impossible, like the virginal conception, because “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). God became man in order to be God with us (Matthew 1:23).
When Mary heard the announcement that she would have a child, she had questions. She knows she cannot yet conceive a child since she is a virgin. She asks, "How will this be?" The answer comes from God and his overshadowing power. "Nothing is impossible with God." Mary simply responds in humble acceptance, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."
Consider the author of Hebrews 10:5-9:
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
It was possible! God the Son was born as a baby, grew as a human being, and walked this earth as a man. God provided the way for our sins to be forgiven: “a body you prepared for me.” God did the impossible! This is hope from Christmas.
Hope comes from God who keeps His word. This is the theme that surrounds the incarnation in Luke 1-2. Jesus’ birth is shown to be part of a divine plan that involves both John the Baptist and Jesus. Jesus’ birth is shown to be superior to John. John is a prophet, while Jesus is Son of God. “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Luke presents the virginal conception as part of “an orderly account” of actual history from eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4). It is important to note that while Christ’s birth was like other births, the reader can easily observe the significance of the virginal conception in the early chapters of Luke. In the first account (Luke 1:57-66, see also the prediction-1:5-25 and after birth response 1:67-80), Elizabeth’s is helped by the Holy Spirit because she was beyond childbearing years. In the second account (2:1-21, see also the prediction-1:26-56 and after birth response-2:22-40), Mary’s conception and birth of Jesus is significantly different from that of Elizabeth. In the account of Mary, Luke is describing the unique virginal conception and birth. It is not presented as a myth or having been borrowed from pagan birth stories.
Today some see in the virgin birth pagan mythologizing. What is the big deal for Christianity? There are significant differences in pagan mythology stories when compared to the Gospel writer’s accounts. A careful reading of the NT demonstrate that Christ’s birth was truly unique. Similarity does not mean sameness. Pagan mythologizing is profoundly different from what Gospel writers are asserting.
It should be noted that some so-called pagan virgin birth stories are not virgin birth stories. For example, Dionysus was born when a god (Zeus) disguised himself as a human and impregnated a human princess. This is not at all parallel to the role of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels. Mithra was born of a stone, not a virgin. The cult of Mithra in the Roman Empire dates to after the time of Christ. Mithraism is dependent on Christianity and not the other way around. The so-called pagan virgin birth stories are not even stories of virginal conceptions. They are not parallel to that of the New Testament
When evaluating these “parallel” texts, keep in mind that the New Testament was in circulation by the late first century. If the so called “parallel” accounts were written later than the first century AD, the New Testament writers could not have borrowed from them. It is also clearly necessary to read the actual ancient texts that describe pagan practices. These primary texts are the primary source on which to evaluate possible parallelisms. For the most part, they do not show parallels. In addition, there are patterns of Christian worship or Christian celebrations that developed later than the New Testament which have nothing to do with whether the New Testament accounts of the life of Jesus are historically accurate.
So, what is the big deal? The New Testament presents the virginal conception as true history and Jesus’ birth is part of God’s divine plan. Since God kept his Word, we have hope.
Jesus Christ is the promised hope. The most significant person ever, Jesus Christ, came come from the most insignificant place, Bethlehem.
About six miles south of Jerusalem in the hill country of Judea is Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born. Bethlehem means “the house of bread.” It was first called Ephrath (“fruitful). It was the burial place of Rachel (Gen 35:16) the home to Ruth and Boaz- “May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem” (Ruth 4:11). In Bethlehem David was anointed king over Israel by the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 16:1-13). Bethlehem became known as the “city of David” (Luke 2:4, 11).
Micah prophesied that from Bethlehem shall come forth “one who is to be ruler in Israel” (Mic 5:2). It connected the promised Messiah with the house and line of David. In the New Testament, King Herod attempted to squelch this threat to his rule (Matt. 2:1-4). Matthew quotes Micah 5:2, “For from [Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel” (2:6) alluding to 2 Samuel 5:2, which describes David’s rightful kinship over that of Saul. By implication, Jesus is set over Herod as the true king.
The Gospel of Luke explains that Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem to register for a census decreed by Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-5). Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4) and returned later to Nazareth where he was raised (Matt 2:23; Luke 2:39). After Jesus’ birth, Matthew tells us that “wise men from the east” came to Jerusalem to worship the one born as the king of the Jews (Matt 2:2-11).
The prediction of the location of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) is a clear pointer to the significance of the Messiah’s entry into this world. How will we respond to the news of Jesus’ birth? To busy? Is this just for kids? Does his authority alarm you? Don’t overlook the obvious. Jesus is the promised Davidic king AND the promised hope of blessing to all the nations.
Let’s miss the opportunity to learn about Jesus. Take the time. Jesus is the hope to all the nation.
December 11
Hope does not spring from a person’s mind; it is not snatched out of mid-air. Hope is grounded in God and his promises. The Christian finds hope on the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus that Christian.
The eternal Son of God became a human being (John 1:14). He is fully God and Man, a full human being. The virginal conception is necessary to obtain both a true human nature and a completely divine nature. Therefore, His death is superior and sufficient to forgive anyone who believes specifically in Christ and his death and resurrection for sin. Why? Because he died as a substitute for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Jesus was a human being. He was made like us in every way except for one: Jesus is perfectly Holy. This means he is like us in every way excerpt for sin. Hebrews 4:15 helps us understand: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 7:26-27 also clarifies: “such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”
Since the fall of man in Genesis 3, every human father produces a son or daughter with his sin nature. The Lord Jesus Christ does not have a sin nature. Because of the virginal conception, he did not inherit the curse of depravity of Adam’s race. The virginal conception is essential!
In the person of Jesus Christ, Christians have a mediator AND because Jesus is righteous and Holy, his righteousness is imputed to the believer when they believe in Jesus Christ. The simple but profound truth is that believers in Jesus have salvation: the forgiveness of sin. He is our hope!
Today, few words desperately need a clear definition than the word hope. Hope is reduced to wishful thinking, a positive attitude, or an optimistic outlook. But hope is an expectation and anticipation that relies on God and his promises. Paul writes, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). With God as the foundation, we can have expectant hope in a confusing world.
When Joseph was pledged to be married, he discovered that Mary was pregnant (Matthew 1:18). How did Joseph discover Mary was pregnant? Matthew doesn’t tell us but it is likely that Mary told him. Joseph knew the child was not his. What should he do? While he could have exposed Mary to disgrace, and even to death (Deuteronomy 22:20–21), he chose the merciful option of a quiet divorce (Matthew 1:19). However, as her pregnancy progressed, her condition would have been obvious, and probably his own reputation would be negatively affected because of their relationship.
Then God sent an angel who told Joseph that the child he and Mary would raise together was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be the Savior of the world; He would be Immanuel, God with us.
Joseph chose to fear God and despite the social shame, married Mary. Joseph gave the child the name, Jesus and embraced responsibility being a fathering to him (v. 25). God used Joseph’s actions to save the life of the Savior of the world. Joseph and Mary did not consummate their marriage until after Jesus was born, thus preserving her virginity. Mary conceived her Son as a virgin and gave birth to Him as a virgin (Matthew 1:23). When the child was born, Joseph named Him Jesus. He continued to obey God and went where God commanded to protect the child.
Joseph believed God’s explanation of Mary’s pregnancy. Joseph valued obedience to God, which cost him the right to value his own reputation. God is our expectant hope in a confusing world.
The Hope of Christmas springs forth from the virginal conception. The virginal conception (virgin birth) explains how God the Son adds to Himself a human nature, how the word became flesh. Simply stated, Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit apart from the cooperation of man. It means that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born.
How the virgin conception, resulting in the virgin birth, came about is found in Matthew and Luke: “before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:19); “for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:20); “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us”’ (Matt. 1:22-23); “he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son” (Matt. 1:25); in Luke 1:27, Mary is called a “virgin” twice; and in Mary’s own question in Luke 1:34, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Mary receives her answer in the next verse: “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
The virginal conception was the triune God’s supernatural means by which God the Son added to himself a human nature. The result is that in Jesus we truly meet God in full glory. It is essential because through it, God purposed to accomplish in Jesus Christ the nature, purpose, and significance of His work of salvation. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” At the heart of Christianity and the gospel is the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from the “Word becoming flesh” (John 1:14) and the incarnate Son of God living and dying in our place as our Savior, there is no salvation. Here is no hope for the world.
Jesus had to be fully human and truly sinless to be our perfect substitute and accomplish God’s work of salvation. Without the incarnation there is no death and resurrection for sin. Without Christmas there is no Easter! When the sinner puts his faith in Christ’s death and resurrection alone, he can be assured that God has accomplished in Christ, exclusively and sufficiently, all that the sinner needs for forgiveness. This is what God purposed (but not all!) through the incarnation which took place by the glorious and supernatural means of the virginal conception. This is the hope from Christmas
For many, this time of year is only a magnification of the hopelessness and despair that they feel inside. Whether this hopelessness comes from a loss of a loved one or a commercialized view of Christmas, the Scripture has the truth about this matter. God sent hope to rescue and reconcile us to himself.
Every year at this time when we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus to the virgin Mary we are really celebrating the incarnation. God became man. And through virginal conception, the man Jesus did not cease to be God. He came not just to serve but “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Philippians 2:8 tells us that “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
God himself came to die and live again. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The great extent of his people’s rebellion was met and surpassed by the sufficiency of his substitutionary death.
The meaning of Christmas is not just that God himself came from heaven as man. The meaning is that he came down to rescue us. Such was the promise of God’s messenger from the time of his announcement: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). He came down to rescue us from sin and reconcile sinners “to himself” (Colossians 1:20). He “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
This Christmas let’s marvel at the wonder of the incarnation of the Son and his death and resurrection. Is it time for you to transfer your faith to Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection for your sins? He came down to rescue us from sin and reconcile us to himself. Trust him! Christmas comes each year always with the message of hope that is found in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!
The Gospel of John describes this world as "dark". It is a spiritual darkness. Many have tried to conquer the darkness. Many try to light their own way or try to see through the darkness.
Hope begins with the eternal existence of the Son of God. John begins his Gospel not with the birth of Jesus or with his mission, but with his eternal existence. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was God” (John 1:1). In the beginning, the Son already was there. When he was born as a man, he always has been. He has always been with the Father. He has always been God. Everyone and everything has a beginning, but not the Son. When he was born as a man, he always has been God from eternity. And from before the beginning of time Jesus had always been the Light. John records that he came and shone in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome the Light (John 1:1-14).
Hope is embraced with the pivotal confession that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah, God’s promised one (John 6:66-71). The word messiah comes from Hebrew/Aramaic mashiach, meaning “anointed one.” The Greek equivalent is christos, which derives from the word “to anoint,” chri. In the first century, “Messiah” and “Christ” were virtually synonymous (John 1:41).
Hope is available to people through Jesus’s mission to rescue sinners (John 1:29, 36). This is for all people (John 3:16; 10:16; 11:51-52).
Jesus, the Light, came into the darkness, into our darkness. He conquered sin and death by his death and resurrection. May God grant us eyes to see and hearts to receive the Light that shines forth from before the beginning.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).