Monday, December 16, 2024
Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:31-35
Hope in Jesus as Son of Man and Son of God
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was just a young teenage girl when she was visited by Gabriel, the angel of the Lord. Gabriel had the most surprising message for this young teenage girl. He told her she was going to have a very special baby, the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world. Gabriel told her that even though she was not married, the Holy Spirit would make all this possible, and she would give birth to a son and call Him Jesus. It was a miracle of God and Mary was a willing servant.
Pastor Jim told us yesterday that the concept of Jesus being both fully human and fully God is called the hypostatic union. Jesus is the only one who could ever cross between the boundaries of human existence and God, revealing His dual nature. He has always been God since the very beginning of time, and when He came to earth as a baby, He did not stop being God.
The Son of Man…
The hypostatic union meant that Jesus would be the son of Mary but would also be the Son of God. He would not be like any other baby ever born. He would be both man and human, resulting in the incarnation – God the Son became a man.
Jesus had to be both God and man to fulfill the Gospel. He had to be like us, fully human in every way. Hebrews 2:17 tells us Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. He came as a man to be our perfect example and sacrifice. He modeled for us exactly how we are to walk like Him and share the Gospel message with the world – both in words and actions.
The Son of God…
The angel told Mary that her Son would also be the Son of God, which means that He is the same as God. In John 14:9 Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” And in John 10:30 He said, “I and the Father are one.”
If Jesus was not the Son of God, His death on the cross would not have been enough to pay the penalty for the sins of the world. A human could not pay the infinite penalty required for sin against an infinite God. Only Jesus who is both man and God could pay the debt. Only He could take on the sins of the world, die, and be resurrected, having victory over sin and death - giving us freedom from sin and providing the gift of eternal life.
The true miracle of Christmas – and every other day – is that we have a God who loved us so much that He sent His Son as a baby (God and man all wrapped in swaddling clothes) in a manger to save us. He gave His life so we could personally know the depth of His love for us through His sacrifice on the cross. He exchanged our sin for His mercy, grace, forgiveness, and eternal life. Every single day of our lives is Christmas as He gives new mercies every morning. Celebrate His birth, and His death and resurrection. Share the miracle of Jesus – God and man in one – with others so they can know the depth of His love, mercy and forgiveness this season and every day.
