Mary’s Message To Us Series

34. Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

35. And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

*God wants you to know about His kingdom, and we find much of this knowledge in the Christmas story.

*Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about Christmas. Most people do not understand that Christmas is about the Kingdom of God.

*James Fallows was a long-time correspondent in Asia for “The Atlantic Monthly”. He once saw an unusual Christmas display in a large Japanese department store. This bizarre display featured Santa Claus holding the baby Jesus in a sleigh pulled by the seven dwarfs. (1)

*Many people close to home are just as clueless about the true meaning of Christmas. Rodney Buchanan told about a friend who gave a Bible to someone who was going through a difficult time. This man was in real need. His life had been marked by one disastrous decision after another. And he had no idea how much he needed the Lord.

*Rodney said, “As my friend gave a Bible to this person, and encouraged him to read it, he suggested that he might start by reading the Christmas story, since it was that time of year.”

*The man looked at him with real surprise and said, ‘You mean the Christmas story is in the Bible?’” (2)

*I know that sounds ridiculous to us. But this is the world we live in today.

-People desperately need to know the true meaning of Christmas.

-People desperately need to know about God’s Kingdom.

*The angel Gabriel revealed this Kingdom knowledge to Mary. And here in His Word, God reveals it to us.

[1] In vs. 31 we learn that God wants to save your soul.

*We can see it in the Lord’s name. Gabriel told Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.” This name, His name “Jesus” means “Jehovah is salvation.”

-And Jesus wants to save your soul!

[2] Next in vs. 32 we learn that Jesus is the Son of the Highest. That is to say, He is the Son of God.

*God became a man:

-Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary.

-Born in Bethlehem to die on the cross for our sins.

-Risen from the dead to reign over an everlasting Kingdom.

*As we learn in vs. 33: “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

-Jesus Christ has an everlasting Kingdom, and He wants you to know about it.

*Knowledge of His Kingdom is the most important knowledge we can ever receive. If I had 20 degrees from LSU and 20 more from Harvard, I would never learn anything more important than what we see right here.

*Jesus wants you to know about His Kingdom, so you can be part of it.

-But the only way to really know about the Kingdom is to know the King!

-And you can know Him personally by opening your heart to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.

*God wants you to know about His kingdom.

3. And He wants you to believe in the possibility of His power.