The God of the Impossible Pt 2

TITLE: The God of the Impossible pt 2
TEXT: Lk 1:26-46

INTRODUCTION:

This morning’s message is a continuation of what I began two weeks ago with the impossible conception by Elizabeth and Zacharias. It’s not a special emphasis for Mother’s Day, but an appropriate one since the past message and this one has to do with mother’s.

Impossibility #1 Gabriel’s appearance to Zacharias with news that Elizabeth would bear a child who would be the forerunner to the Messiah.

Impossibility #2 Gabriel’s Appearance to Mary 1:26-46

Go back in chapter one to verse 26. About six months after Gabriel’s visit to Zacharias he appears to a young girl, a virgin named Mary with the announcement that she will bear a child. Not only will she bear a child but she will bear the Christ child. God moves from a woman who is past childbearing years and who was unable to conceive physically to a young girl who is a virgin and announces to Mary that she will conceive the Christ Child.

The Virgin Birth

In the first Impossible situation Elizabeth was too old to have children and unable to conceive children. But God did the impossible and she had a child. God goes a step further now and does the same with a virgin. The virgin birth is an important doctrine in Christianity. It is not essential to salvation in that you don’t have to know and understand and believe it to trust Christ to save you. It is essential in understanding the nature of the Christ who saves us. And it is true!

There are many today even within Christianity who deny the virgin birth and don’t teach it. Which affects how they understand and teach who Jesus was. This is one of those places where just word meaning alone doesn’t help our understanding. Many people point out the Hebrew word translated virgin in Isaiah and the Greek word in verse 27 can simply mean a young girl, and that’s true it can mean that. However, as we have seen words have usage as well as meaning and you have to take this in context in both Old and New Testament. I’m not going to spend a lot of time with all the dynamics but in the context of a sign in Isa 7:14 the Hebrew word is understood as referring to a virgin. Matthew of course ties this to Mary in Matt 1:23. In this passage from Luke Mary’s response in verse 34 indicates the word is used to mean virgin. In the NASB the phrase is simply translated by meaning as virgin.

I know not a man? KJV Luke 1:34 I do not know a man?” NKJV The key is the Greek verb ‘to know’ or know which is used to indicate intimate relations. So as the (HCSB) translates it Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” Which by definition means virgin.

Luke who said he was writing to an accurate historical account so we could be sure of the things we have been taught is a Dr and obviously understands reproduction. By what he writes then in this passage he helps us understand this is the sign prophesied by Isaiah. The sign is that a virgin shall be with child. The impossible made possible by God.

This is different from Greek and Roman mythological accounts where the gods or immortals desired and had sexual relationships with humans and produced individuals who were half human/half god. For instance, Achilles was the son of an immortal mother and human father. Hercules was the son of Zeus, the king of gods, and a mortal mother.

In contrast to the mythological accounts the New Testament narrative mentions nothing like that. God is not described or pictured as desiring Mary. The virgin birth is the creative work of God through His Holy Spirit. Also in contrast to mythology Luke and Matthew are rather matter of fact in their narratives about the conception and birth of Jesus. They don’t add unnecessary facts or additional narrative to embellish the story they simply state it as fact and only 2 their combined 52 chapters mentions it. And it is not mentioned anywhere in the rest of Scripture.

The other thing to consider is Jewish antagonism toward Christianity would have made the truth known if Jesus’ birth had happened otherwise. We see some indication that this wasn’t as well known outside Christian belief in Matt 13:53-56
53 And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 And coming to His home town He began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” NASB

Later second-century Jewish arguments against the virgin birth shows, there was no independent piece of tradition or evidence to appeal to; the arguments at that time are simply a reaction to the widely accepted tradition of the virgin birth.

What we have through the virgin birth is the invisible God, who could not be held nor touched nor seen was made visible. God became flesh (Jn 1:18). As John wrote 1 Jn 1:1 what was from the beginning our eyes have seen and our hands have handled. The invisible God became not only visible but also knowable on a personal level in Jesus Christ.

Godly Character

Luke doesn’t give us a description of Mary’s character as he did with Zacharias and Elizabeth except to record Gabriel’s words that she found favor with God and that she was a virgin, certainly both suggesting she was a young woman of godly character. We are also told that Joseph was a righteous man (Matt 1:19) which again suggests that Mary’s character was virtuous.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, Christian character has always been important but character is an especially important issue for the church today. I recently read an interview with Gina Welch. Gina wrote a book: In The Land Of Believers: An Outsider’s Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church.” According to her she went “undercover” at Thomas Rd BC in VA, faking a conversion experience and even going on a mission trip with the church. I haven’t read the book only the interview, but several things caught my attention. Her observation as a nonbeliever and one she said fascinated her was that many people in the church didn’t really know what they believed or why they believed it. Her observation was they had only an emotional attachment to the Christian faith. The second thing was the fact as a nonbeliever she observed many who professed to believe in the Bible and Christianity but whose lives showed nothing different, same moral standards, same lifestyles, same way of living as those outside the church. She also commented that though it was talked about a lot she never really understood what it meant to have a “relationship” with Christ. Did that mean she stayed up late talking to him about things or something like that? I hope I have made clear over the years that a relationship with Christ while by faith and not a relationship between equals is much the same as we would have with our spouses our children or even our friends. We have to get to know Christ and we do that through the Bible, prayer and the Holy Spirit. And we do indeed spend time talking to him and listening to Him late at night through these things. The last thing that caught my attention was her statement there were a lot of things about Christianity she liked and wished were true but she didn’t believe they were.

There are several things to be concerned with in what she observed. One is that we need to know what we believe and why. Though emotions play an important part in a faith experience as do family relationships and friendships but it has to be deeper than that. Just because mom and dad were saved or my friends are saved and I go to church all the time doesn’t mean I’m saved. Or, just because I get goose bumps when I listen to the music or emotional when certain hymns are sung doesn’t mean I know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. A relationship with Christ is based on my understanding and acknowledgment that I’m a sinner in need of savior, that Jesus Christ is that Savior which we understand by faith but as Luke told us it is faith based on historical fact and repenting of that sin and calling on Him to forgive me and save me.

The second thing is the fact that hypocrisy is rampant in today’s church. This has always been used as an excuse by some for rejecting the church or Christianity. What I am talking about is not the fact we are not perfect but the fact we simply don’t live out our faith. We always walk a fine line between being legalistic about what we do and don’t do and stressing the fact that we must live out of faith in the world. Legalism is the idea that what we do or don’t do determines our salvation. Living out our faith on the other hand means that the genuineness of our salvation depth of our relationship with Christ determines how we live our lives. That’s why Jesus says if you love me you will obey me (Jn 14:15), and obeying me is not burdensome or oppressive (1 Jn 5:3). Living out our faith does take effort on our part. That’s what Paul explains in Col 3 1-11 where he tells us to think about certain things and act in certain ways and in verse 9 and 10 tells us we have laid aside the old self and are to put on the new self. That’s willfully living righteous in response to our salvation not in order to gain it.

This kind of hypocrisy may be one reason she found that she couldn’t believe some of the claims of Christianity were really true. I just purchased a book I have started to read yet called The Christian Atheist which is about that same subject people claiming to be Christian but living lives that reveal a practical atheism that denies God by the way we live.

My point is this when someone sees us or knows us, especially nonbelievers, they need to see that Christ and Christianity make a difference in how we live, think and act. And, when the Lord looks at us like he did with Elizabeth, Zacharias, Mary and Joseph we will be people who because we trust Him live for Him.
What does this have to do with mother’s day? In the broadest sense of the word any woman who can have a child can be a mother. You don’t need to be saved to be a good mother. I’ve known good mother’s who weren’t saved. But, it takes the miraculous intervention of God to be a good and godly mother and God can make a godly mother out of any woman. Through God’s presence in your life you can be a good and godly mother, step mother, foster mother or grandmother. And the influence of a good and godly mother is of unestimatible value. In not only influencing her children but in influencing the world. We don’t often hear of Susanna Wesley her life was a struggle but by all indication she was a godly mother. How did she impact the world? Through her godly influence especially through two of her son’s John and Charles.

What I’m saying is that all mother’s especially godly mother’s, stepmother’s, foster mother’s and grandmother’s have the opportunity to touch the world through their influence on their children. That doesn’t mean women can’t influence the world outside of children don’t misunderstand that. I am simply saying you don’t have to be well known or be in politics or anything like that to influence the world. With God all things are possible and what our world needs now more than ever is the influence of godly mothers. Those of us who privileged to have both good and godly mothers should thank God everyday. And all of us who have mothers are to honor them in accordance with God’s command (particularly the 5th commandment) not only on Mother’s Day but every day. We can honor our mother’s in many tangible ways with gifts of appreciation and things like that but the best way to honor our mother’s is by living lives that honor God. Does your life honor your mother? It can and will if you surrender all to Jesus, every thought every action.