WE BELIEVE: CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Text: Lk. 1:26-38
Introduction
1. “The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of the earth – the very thing the whole story has been about.” — C. S. Lewis
2. It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this series on the Apostle’s Creed. But even more so, I hope that you are learning from it, because I am.
3. Honestly, as I began preparing for this message, I asked myself the question, “why did the early church, and the apostle’s themselves, think this was so important?” I mean, I can understand the other things in the creed, but why the birth of Christ?
4. Well, I hope that you will see, as I did, the rest of the story of redemption leads to this central event. Without the birth of Christ, there would have been no crucifixion or resurrection. As C.S. Lewis so correctly stated, “the birth of Christ is the central event of the history of the earth.”
5. Lk. 1:26-38
Transition: So, let’s look at…
I. Why the Birth of Jesus is So Important?
A. In talking about the birth of Jesus, the Apostle’s Creed begins with, “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.”
1. This brings us back to the creation of the universe. In Gen. 1: 2 it says, “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
2. It was the Holy Spirit, hovering over a formless and empty planet, that brings life out of nothing.
3. Now, if we look into the second chapter of Genesis, and look into the creation of man, it says, “Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Gen. 2:7).
4. The word “breathe” comes from the Hebrew word Ruach, which means “breath or wind,” and is the same word that is used for the Holy Spirit in the OT.
5. So, without the Holy Spirit, man is just a lump of clay, but the Spirit brings life.
B. So, how does this apply to the birth of Jesus? As the story goes, the Angel Gabriel appears to a virgin named Mary (we’ll get to that part of the story in a little bit), and he told her she would give birth to a son. But Mary was a little confused by this because she was still a virgin. So, this is what Gabiel tells her. “The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.”
1. He tells her this was going to be possible because “the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
2. These words show the powerful presence of God would come upon her. It says that Mary is quite correct, this was going to be a miracle birth.
3. This baby would be holy. Jesus was born without sin that had entered the world through Adam. He was born holy, just as Adam had been created sinless.
4. Now, we need to understand Jesus was not sinless because he didn’t have a human father for that would mean that Mary was sinless too, which she wasn’t.
5. Jesus’ sinlessness rests not on his miraculous birth to a virgin, but on the basis of his position with God. Through the birth of Jesus, God himself came into the world in human form.
6. The title “Son of God,” shows that Jesus had a special place in God’s plan, and that he is the expected Messiah.
7. The fact that the Holy Spirit played a part in this, shows that God, through the Holy Spirit, has a special role in creating this child, and shows Jesus' divinity.
8. The first Adam disobeyed God, but the second Adam would obey Him completely.
9. This was also an aspect of Jesus that was prophesied by Isaiah. In Isaiah 11:2 it says, “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”
C. Now, the next line in the creed says Jesus was “born of the Virgin Mary.” Why is this so important?
1. If you read through the OT, you’ll see that God loves miracle babies.
2. He promised Abram in Gen. 12 that he would be the father of a great nation and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand of the seashore.
3. But there were a few issues with this promise; Abram was childless and he was 75 years old. On top of that, Sarai his wife was also old and beyond the age of having children. In fact, when God told them she would bear a son, she laughed! So, about a year later she had a son and named him Isaac, which means, “laughter!”
4. Another woman, named Hannah, who was childless, asked for God to give her a son.
a. So, God kept His promise, and gave her son named Samuel.
b. He led Israel for over forty years, and there are two books in the OT that are about this miracle baby.
5. There was famous judge in the OT named Sampson, and guess what, his mother was also unable to conceive children. But God gave her a miracle baby too.
6. Are you getting the picture that God likes miracle babies?
7. You know what, God still likes miracle babies. There was a young lady that I pastored in Arkansas, who was told she couldn’t have babies. So, we prayed for her to conceive. The oldest of her two children, a daughter, holds the record at her high school for the most rebounds in a basketball game, male or female!
D. There was another miracle baby promised in the OT.
1. “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” (Is. 7:14).
2. So, in answer to the question as to why Jesus being born to a virgin is so important is because God said He would be!
3. In fact, there are at least 300, and some say, as many as 450 prophecies concerning the Messiah that were fulfilled by Jesus. This is one of them.
E. Now, let’s get back to Mary. Put yourself in her shoes, if an angel came and told you that you would conceive a child, but you were still a virgin, what would you think?
F. So, “Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
1. Mary may have been a young girl, but she was pretty smart. So, she asks, “how can I be pregnant and a virgin?”
2. Mary’s question doesn’t show doubt but rather faith. She just asked how this miraculous event could happen because she was still a virgin.
3. Keep in mind, she was engaged to be married and probably planned on having children. It’s very likely that she only about thirteen years old when this took place.
4. Her question shows her spiritual sharpness; she understood that Gabiel was talking about a miracle child, but she wanted to know how this was going to happen considering the circumstances.
5. This is when Gabriel tells her about the Holy Spirit’s role in the birth. Like in the OT, this baby was going to be miraculous.
G. Mary shows her faith in v. 38, “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.”
1. Now, God telling people about miraculous births was met with varying responses in the Bible.
2. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, laughed (and then lied about it).
3. Zechariah earlier in this chapter doubted.
4. But not Mary! She said, “I am the Lord’s servant.” She agreed with what the angel was telling her and agreed to bear the child, even under incredibly difficult human circumstances and social consequences.
5. Mary would risk losing Joseph, her family, her reputation, and even her life.
6. And you could imagine how telling people it was the Holy Spirit would go over.
7. But Mary said, “let everything you said about me come true.”
8. She took a risk of faith, because she knew God was asking her to do it.
Transition: Now, let’s talk about…
II. Why the Birth of Jesus is So Important Now?
A. It shows us what it means to love.
1. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (Jn. 3:16-17).
2. This is probably the most quoted verse in all of the Bible.
3. It tells us that the Father loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world to save us from our sin and give us eternal life.
4. The Bible is clear that we couldn’t save ourselves; that someone totally sinless had to stand in our place. The only one that could do that was Jesus, the Son of God.
5. The reason this shows God’s love for us, is not just His sending Jesus into the world to be like us, but rather to do so knowing that Jesus had to die.
6. However, it also shows us what it means to really love someone.
7. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” (1 Jn. 4:9-11).
8. We wouldn’t know what love is if it wasn’t for Jesus!
B. It shows us the power of sacrifice.
1. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.” (Rom. 5:8-10).
2. God showed us the power of sacrifice in sending Jesus to die for our sins.
3. The true meaning of His sacrifice is that we didn’t deserve it! He did it while we were still sinners!
4. It was before we repented, and before we gave our lives to Him.
5. It was while we were still living in rebellion and disobedience.
6. You are going to meet people in your life that don’t deserve your love. But the sacrifice of Jesus shows us that we should love them anyway!
7. In sending Jesus, God showed us how to love the unlovable.
8. Augustine wrote, “In loving me, you made me lovable!”
9. So, let’s love others the way that Jesus loves us.
Conclusion
What’s the point preacher? The birth of Jesus shows us that we should love and sacrifice for the unlovable, because that is what He did for us.
