God gave us many road signs which, if we follow them, will
lead us to a manger in Bethlehem. These, along with many others, reveal to us the identity of the Messiah.
Yet, humanity is too blind to be able to see them. Only by God’s grace do any
of us realize that the Messiah is the Lord Jesus.
Previously we saw that the Messiah would be of the seed of the
woman, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of the seed of David.[i] [ii]
We find many other signs in the bible as well. We will focus
on three of those road signs in this series. The first one is perhaps the most
amazing.
The Sign of the Virgin Birth.
In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the bible tells us:
Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel.[iii]
This was fulfilled when the angel messenger appeared to
Joseph to explain to him how the girl he is engaged to (espoused) is expecting
a child. The gospel writer Matthew tells us that this is the fulfillment of
this prophecy.[iv]
An angel had also appeared to Mary to tell her that she would
be the mother of the child who would be the “Son of the Highest.” The word
“virgin” is repeated here.
Do you believe in miracles? There is no denying that the
bible records many miracles which confirm the great prophecies they
accompanied. It is true that it is scientifically impossible that a virgin (a
woman who had never experienced sexual intercourse) could conceive a child. But
it is not Spiritually impossible, because “with God, nothing shall be
impossible.” This was the exact answer the angel gave Mary after she asked him the
question, “How shall this be seeing I know not a man.”[v]
Creation was miraculous. God created a man (Adam) out of dust
with no father or mother.
He created a woman (Eve) out of a rib.
Don’t laugh, doctors
graft bones, including ribs, from dead people and sleeping people all the time.
Natural conception is miraculous too, in a sense. How can two
people of the opposite sex come together in a love relationship and produce a
child? Oh, I know there is a lot we know scientifically about this but that doesn’t remove the wonder of life and how it transpires. God is the
one who put all of this into motion.
The virgin birth of Jesus is miraculous in every way. This
doesn’t mean that it cannot happen but this is why I asked, “Do you believe in
miracles?” If so, realize that Jesus was conceived inside of a virgin and that
she gave birth to him, our Messiah.
No comments:
Post a Comment