“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
If you love a good story, Christmas is the time for you. Seasonal classics abound! There are perennial favorites:
Do you notice any similarities among the tales? I believe there is one: an element of the miraculous!
Christmas is a time of miracles. Just open the pages of Scripture:
The bright star appeared.
Prophecies were fulfilled.
Angels filled the sky.
Magi came and left like genies.
God was orchestrating miraculous events like a symphony conductor. But the greatest miracle of Christmas occurred when a young virgin gave birth to the Savior.
The virgin birth, more accurately termed the virgin conception, is the most important event at Christmas. Why? God entered our world. That seems simple, but the implications are profound. If Jesus were just an ordinary man with an ordinary birth than he may have been “an illegitimate child” as some charged (John 8:41, 48), or simply another good teacher (Matthew 16:13-17). But Jesus was not just an ordinary man! He was both God and man, as the name Immanuel implies.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:20-23 NLT
The virgin conception teaches us that Jesus is not the son of Joseph and Mary, but the Son of God.
Only the Son of God can live a perfect life.
Only the Son of God can say, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Only the Son of God can die as our substitute.
Only the Son of God has the power to forgive our sins, enter our lives, and change our world.
God entered the womb of a virgin. Miraculous? Yes! Amazing? Absolutely! But here is your takeaway:
“Because God entered Mary’s world, he can enter your world.”
Talk with him today! Lean on him, worship him, follow him, praise him!
————————
CHRISTMAS EVE AT SPANISH RIVER CHURCH: 12:00 P.M., 2:00 P.M., 4:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., 8:00 P.M.
Please join us for one of our five identical candlelight services. Childcare will be available at the 2p + 4p (Birth - 5year/old) services and Spanish + Portuguese translation will be available during the 4p + 6p services.