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This morning we’re going to focus briefly on some of the miracles surrounding God’s supreme gift of His Son.
- The virgin conceived and the “Word who was in the beginning” came to earth as a baby.
- In Christ’s birth God is with us.
- Christ’s self-sacrifice can transform us into humble servants.
John 1:1-2 – The “in the beginning” eternal Word became a baby.
According to John 1:1-2 – In the beginning, the Word already existed. This statement defies human comprehension and sounds like a miracle. It refers to a beginning as if it is a starting point, but then it says that someone already existed at that starting point, affirming that both God the Father and Christ the Son who is the Word (the ultimate revolution of God the Father) have no beginning and are eternal.
John 1:3-14 – God created everything through this Word, and then the divine eternal Word became enfleshed in a baby’s body and entered into the world He had created. Here is another miracle, how could the eternal “Word that was God” become a human?
Matthew 1 – Joseph was contemplating how to dismiss his wife quietly because she became pregnant during their engagement. The angel of the Lord came to Joseph and told him that what was in Mary was conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 2 – Jesus divested himself of the “form of God” and took on himself the “form of a servant.” This is in the context of Paul talking about the need for us to be humble and divest ourselves of high-mindedness and thinking too highly of ourselves. Although Christ was equal with God, He didn’t cling to the things of heaven that were His, he voluntarily relinquishes these heavenly privileges and was born as a human, for the purpose of suffering and dying for the people He had created.
- Genesis 1 and John 1 teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existed (were) “in the beginning” this is a miracle.
- This same Word who in the beginning was God and was with God became a human.
- Christ’s human birth is a miracle because he had no human father. The eternal Son of God became enfleshed in a human mother by the miraculous action of the Holy Spirit.
- The miraculous birth of Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit allowed God to be with us. In the same way that the eternal Word was enfleshed in Mary by the miraculous activity of the Holy Spirit, the eternal Word is infested in us, living inside us, ministering to us, relating to us through the miraculous and mysterious action of the Holy Spirit.
- Humility and service require relinquishing supposed glory and honor and advantages or self-enrichment and self-exaltation that a person might desire or enjoy. Relinquishing one’s supposed advantages requires surrounding to and suffering under the Lordship of Christ in order to fulfill the Father’s purpose for your life.
- In through surrender to the Lordship of Christ we are transformed into the humble mind of Christ, God will work in us both “to will and to do His good pleasure.”
- According to Luke 2, when the heavenly angelic army appeared to the lowly shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, the shepherds were frightened by the glory of the Lord shining around them, but then one of the Angeles told them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” Then the whole army of Angeles praised God by saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is well-pleased.” The announcement of Jesus’ miraculous birth was a promise of joy and hope and peace.
- In this time of uncertainty and anxiety (2020), God is still offering us joy, hope, and peace through his gift, Jesus Christ.