How God Stepped Into Chage Oure World

How God stepped into change our world

The Angel Appears to Mary

Luke 1:26-38 Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. [27] The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. [28] When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, "You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you." [29] She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant. [30] The angel told her, "Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. [31] You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. [32] He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. [33] Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever, and his kingdom will never end." [34] Mary said to the angel, "But how? I’ve never slept with a man." [35] The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God. [36] "Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn’t have a child. [37] But nothing is impossible for God." [38] Mary answered, "I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me." Then the angel left her.

We hear first of the promise that God gave for Jesus to be born way back in Genesis 3:15

“He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel." All through the Old Testament the people were looking for One who could defeat the evil one we know as the Devil. Many things were foretold about this One who would come. Then there were 400 years when there was no voice or writing from God. Mary was a young girl who was pledged to a man named Joseph. It would seem that she was making preparations for that big day when she would officially become his wife. God had different plans for Mary. God is like that for I know that myself and perhaps many of you had our lives planned as to what we were going to do until God entered and changed our lives for His divine purposes. Mary was visited by an angel. Remember no one had received a word from God for over 400 years and so I am sure Mary was startled when this heavenly being appeared to her. Think of being in her place when the angel told her she would be the mother of the Son of God.

We want to go back a few verses to see how God was setting all this up so let us look at Luke 1:20-25 But because you didn’t believe what I said, you will be unable to talk until the day this happens. Everything will come true at the right time." [21] Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah. They were amazed that he was staying in the temple so long. [22] When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. So they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He motioned to them but remained unable to talk. [23] When the days of his service were over, he went home. [24] Later, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and didn’t go out in public for five months. She said, [25] "The Lord has done this for me now. He has removed my public disgrace."

1. HIS FABULOUS DISPLAY. Zechariah did not believe what the angel had told him so he all of a sudden could not talk. His doubt caused God to show He wanted faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God. He was in the temple longer than he stayed most of the time and the people wondered what was going on. There is excitement when God starts moving in the way He has planned. The people realized that God had come to him when he could not talk. Causes one to wonder if God could do a lot more if some people would be quiet? After he returned home his wife conceived and they were going to have a son. Unusual things happen when God has His way and is about to do something great.

Beautiful in its own way: Out in Kansas they have opened Christmas tree farms. Farms that grow Christmas trees. It has been done for years in Wisconsin and Michigan . . . but in Kansas it’s a new business. It was the first year that the trees were ready. The farmer did not have any connections with the big tree cutters, so he decided to open the fields to the local people. The people could pick their very own tree, cut it, and get it a lot cheaper than buying it at the Christmas tree lots in town. So one Sunday afternoon, a family went to the farm. Twenty acres of firs. The father told his daughter to go out and look at the trees, and the tree she wanted, she could have. It took a long time to look at 5 acres of trees. Many there were very nice, but there was one tree, about as tall as the girl, and the tree was ugly. There were missing branches. It was gangly . . . and that was the tree the little girl chose. The father said, "Honey, are you sure? Look, you can have any tree you want, I don’t care what it cost, and I want you to have the tree you want." The girl went back up the hill and looked at all the trees. Another 30 minutes passed when the little girl came back. She said, "Yes, this is the tree I want." So the farmer gave the man a saw and they cut the tree and put it in the car. On the way home the father asked the girl why she had chosen that tree. She replied, "I chose it because I knew no one else would choose it. No one else would want that tree. I didn’t want that tree having people say, "Look, isn’t that an ugly tree, isn’t that a scrawny tree?" And then she added, "I know that tree will be beautiful when I decorate it . . . and I love it because it is beautiful in its own way." -- Dan Horden, Miami, FL.