And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…”
Christians are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing from God. The grace we have in Christ should fuel our ongoing worship and love to our Savior, but far too often, our hearts grow cold, our zeal fades, and our service to God reduces to mere routine. As we delve deeper into today’s passage from Luke and see the significant implications of Jesus’ virgin conception, may our minds be renewed to continually obey and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
The virgin conception shows the humility of God. Gabriel the angel visited Mary in Galilee, a region that was largely despised due to its strong pagan culture and unrefined conditions. Even Jesus’ disciple Nathanael, when he first heard of Jesus the Nazarene, questioned, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46) God’s will for Jesus to come from a humble hometown is one of many instances throughout Scripture where God shows Himself humble. God chooses the lowly to bring down the proud. Only the humble can worship Him. Fallen man is naturally boastful, but God’s redeeming grace makes humility a permeating mark of every believer. (1Cor 1:26-27, Eph 2:8-9) Christians are saved because they utterly depend on Jesus for salvation- they don’t rely on themselves because they know they can do nothing apart from Christ. Pride is the greatest enemy of worship. We must be humble to obey and worship Christ in spirit and truth.
The virgin conception shows Jesus’ royalty. Joseph and Mary’s genealogy in the book of Matthew and Luke is traced back to King David, meaning that by lineage, Joseph and Mary ought be king and queen. By inheritance then, Jesus is a king. But Scripture shows that Jesus is not merely an earthly king- Jesus is the Messiah. From Jesus’ divine conception, He fulfilled every prophesy of the Christ in Scripture. He was the Son of David, born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah. He testified of Himself to be the Messiah, and He displayed His awesome power through many miracles. (Matt 1:1, Mic 5:2, Gen 49:10, Matt 22:42-46) As the Messiah, Jesus is the only Savior, who came from heaven to pay the ransom for many. By His virgin birth, he did not inherit Adam’s sin. Man’s guilt before God is real, because he have sinned against a holy God. Only Christ can remove all guilt, because He died on the cross for sinners, offering up a perfect sacrifice, acceptable to God. He paid the debt, and gave His righteousness to those who turn to Him in faith for salvation.
As the Messiah, Jesus is Lord. In the last days- whether a man believes in Him or not- every knee will bow to Jesus, and every tongue will confess He is Lord. He is Lord of all, the sovereign King who has saved us by dying on the cross and raising up from the dead. He is alive today, ruling with absolute dominion over all things. (Phil 2:8-11)
The virgin conception shows how Jesus is unique. Jesus’ virgin birth has no parallel. No other man has ever been born of a virgin; it is a divine conception, a miracle. God became man and came into the world. In Jesus, all the fullness of deity dwelt in bodily form. The virgin birth is an absolutely essential doctrine. It does not attribute any divinity to Mary, but Mary was simply used by God. She received God’s grace and favor to carry the Christ in her womb. To receive God’s grace in Jesus Christ is an inconceivable blessing. God has shown us that He keeps His promise of salvation. Since the Fall and throughout the Old Testament, God promised to send a Savior. The virgin birth shows us God’s faithfulness to His Word. It displays God’s love for the sinner, that He would send Jesus Christ, His only Son to be the sinless Savior who redeems us from our sin. Jesus gave us eternal life by dying in our place, and raising us up with Him through His resurrection. Let us worship and obey Jesus Christ- He is our Savior, Lord, and King.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
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