WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:06.000 If you would grab uh your Bibles now and uh turn them to Luke chapter one. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:07.759 Luke chapter one. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Now, uh you a movie person at all? 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:11.679 I think most people I think are. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.160 Nobody, apparently, uh, right here in this room. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.000 There we go, a couple of people waving here. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:17.120 We got some movie people here. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:39.600 Now, I think it's uh probably uh pretty common that people are drawn to uh the types of movies, or maybe you're more of a reader and you like kind of literature about these things, but maybe the types of movies uh that reveal um within their plot uh this great master plan uh that the characters have been following all along. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:40.159 Right? 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.560 You you maybe you know are familiar with some of those you know critically acclaimed movies. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.560 By the way, I'm gonna list a few here, and that doesn't mean I'm necessarily uh approving of every single element of their con uh content. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:55.200 But you know, you think of films, I even just mentioned Shawshank Redemption last uh last week, right? 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:56.320 That's one for sure. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:58.799 Uh I think of uh Oceans 11, maybe. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.319 Someone reminded me this week of uh of the Great Escape, kind of that uh older classic movie. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:28.560 Uh but you see in examples like this, and I'm sure you have your favorites, you know, as the as the plot kind of plays out and the movie uh goes on, uh they reveal there that there was this kind of strategy, there was this plan of action in place uh the entire time that we as the audience are slowly or or maybe all at once at the end uh let in on. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:42.239 You know, where we kind of realize something like, oh, okay, well that's why that you know that character did that seemingly unimportant thing way back in the movie, because it was it was all part of, you know, uh all part of the plan, right? 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:51.120 It was all by design, this this plan getting pulled off uh without a hitch to a T by the end uh of the flick. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:59.760 Okay, now I mention all of that because one of the things that I love about the Bible is that it basically does that, right? 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:00.560 It really does. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.480 Okay, but of course, in the most ultimate way uh ever. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:05.040 Right? 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:14.400 See, it's it's just so easy for us to you know read some of the earlier pages in our Bible, some of the Old Testament, and uh not really grasp. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:24.639 Maybe you've read certain parts of it and and and kind of you know glazed over it, not really grasp in the moment there the significance of some of the things happening earlier in the story. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:30.240 I often think of Genesis chapter 3, right, and the fall of man. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.280 You know, when God tells the serpent, you remember what he says? 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:38.800 He says, He uh shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:39.360 Right? 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:47.120 And we kind of read over that, and maybe you're you know you're not really paying attention to it or not really understanding the significance, but that's really uh pointing ahead, right? 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.280 Pointing ahead to the cross. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:54.479 Right, and how how Satan would appear to defeat Jesus there. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:01.919 But in the end, it was really nothing more than a bruising of the heel, okay, meaning it it wasn't a fatal blow. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:11.759 Christ would rise again, he would defeat death, he would defeat Satan, bruising, or as some of your translations might say, crushing uh his head. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:12.240 Right? 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.319 And we realize, oh, that was that was foreshadowing something that was to come. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:26.479 Or maybe you've read about the institution of the Passover in Exodus uh chapter 12 and in Egypt. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:44.719 And you know, it's very natural for us to kind of read that and understand that that was all about you know, remembering how God spared the firstborn children, the firstborn sons rather, of Israel, uh, when he passed over their homes, the the angel of death did in Egypt there. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.759 Uh and he would pass over them as long as they did what? 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.360 As long as they spread lamb's blood over the the board uh the doorposts. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:58.639 Okay, and we think about it as that, and we think about Egypt, but of course it was it was pointing ahead to even more. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:04.960 There's even more significance than that, because it points to what Jesus would come and do for you and I. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:05.439 Right? 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:11.680 He was the He was the ultimate perfect Lamb of God who shed his blood for us, right? 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:13.439 We are sons of God. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:13.919 Right? 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:32.000 It points to how God would pass over or or forgive us our sins as long as we trust in the you know the sacrificial, God's sacrificial lamb and what he did, what what Jesus accomplished through the shedding of his blood. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.360 There's a couple of examples that we gave right there. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:42.639 It shows us that that God absolutely had this master plan, right? 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:52.959 This this great scheme that he was slowly revealing and bringing to fruition and completion all throughout biblical history. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:05:00.240 Okay, well, but it but it was way more epic than any Hollywood movie that you and I have seen or ever will see. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:00.800 Why? 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.079 Well, because it was about humanity's redemption, right? 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.279 Saving us from judgment, saving us from eternal separation from God. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:10.480 That's what it was about. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:10.879 Right? 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:24.959 It was him taking our judgment on himself and uniting us with him and and reigning and and and ruling over us in in love and in justice and and in peace for all eternity. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:25.519 Right? 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.160 That was that was always God's plan. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:37.680 Okay, and the and the virgin birth, okay, what we're gonna be looking at here this morning, uh, was no small component of all of that. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:38.000 Right? 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:48.800 It was just such a a key moment in God's storyline, in the great plot line that he was uh making known, right? 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.759 Where where we're given insight here into what his plan entailed. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.240 And so this is what we're gonna look at here this morning. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.120 We're gonna look at the virgin birth from Luke chapter one. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:00.639 And so hopefully your turn there. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:05.120 I want to pray right now and give these things to the Lord and ask him to move in power this morning. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:07.199 So join me uh as we pray, Lord. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:18.959 We thank you for uh this grew this time that we have together to sing and to worship and to praise you, to give, Lord, and and just remind our souls again that you are God and we are not. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:39.279 And so, Lord, I pray that as we work our way through some verses here today in in Luke's gospel, I pray that you would show us uh that you have this amazing plan that's been in place since before the foundation of the world, uh, that you are working and you are bringing to fruition and you are bringing to completion all of these things, Lord. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:54.639 I pray that as we um look at this and as we uh see the the virgin birth and as we unpack that story and look to apply it to our hearts, Lord, I pray that uh we would be stirred and we would be moved by how great you are. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:07.680 Lord, I pray that we would uh just accept and worship you for uh the fact that you do rule and you do reign over all, and there will be no end of your to your kingdom. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.240 And so, God, uh speak to us here this morning. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.920 Move in your spirit, we pray. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:13.360 In Jesus' name. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:14.319 Amen. 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:15.040 Amen. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:15.439 All right. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:25.600 Well, first thing uh here this morning, it's this the virgin birth was God's master plan to enter his creation and rule it forever. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:31.120 Okay, through which we see the astonishing favor he's shown us. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:48.319 All right, we see this here, and uh this passage is where uh we see God reveal uh to Mary both his his plan, all right, his plan to send the Messiah, and uh the overarching purpose of that plan, which is pretty amazing. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:52.800 This is uh no insignificant passage that we're looking at here uh this morning. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.720 So let's pick it up in verse 26 in Luke uh chapter one. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:58.639 Follow along with me. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.639 The first part there says, in the sixth month. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:06.319 Now you might be thinking, well, sixth month of what? 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:06.959 Yeah, that's right. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:12.959 It's a good question to ask because we are certainly picking it up here, kind of in the part in the you know, partway through a narrative here. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:19.600 And and really this is referring to uh the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:26.639 Okay, we learn about that in uh the verses prior to ours, in uh verses five uh to twenty five. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:28.560 Now I know you're thinking, like, who's Elizabeth? 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:34.159 It's been a while since I've read this and I've you know I've kind of studied this, or maybe I've never you know heard any of this before. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:40.399 Well, uh, we learn in these verses here that Elizabeth uh was the mother of John the Baptist. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:45.440 All right, and so she was in her sixth month of being pregnant with John. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:53.519 And so we see in these verses here that uh an angel, the angel Gabriel actually, uh, visits Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:12.639 Okay, he was uh he was a priest, and him and his wife Elizabeth, they were they were on in age, let's put it that way, and they had been praying for years that God would bless them uh with a son, but uh up until that point uh they were unable to, and they were even beyond uh the child uh bearing years uh at this point. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:21.440 But but uh uh Gabriel, forgetting his name here, Gabriel uh reaches out to them, he meets them and says, Hey, you're gonna have you're gonna have a baby. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:33.759 And we even looked at that a little bit at that passage last week, and how he would come and the spirit, the power of of Elijah, and he would turn uh people away from their sins, and he would be great, and and uh it would be an amazing thing. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.799 He would be the precursor of the Messiah coming. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.840 All right, so that's what that is all referring to here. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:40.960 Let's keep going here. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:52.399 It says the angel uh Gabriel, okay, in the sixth month, was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:10:02.240 Okay, now betrothal uh was basically uh a more intense version of what you and I would know as engagement, right? 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:10.000 The engagement uh period of time in a relationship uh between uh right before uh a husband and a wife get married. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:16.399 And uh now I know some of you you've gone through the engagement period, and you're like, I can't imagine anything more intense uh than the engagement period. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.879 But basically, uh betrothal was just that. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:27.519 It was more intense in terms of a legal arrangement, it was a legally binding agreement uh that Jews uh commonly practiced. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:33.840 All right, and because it was legally binding, it actually required a divorce uh to break it. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.559 So even before uh the actual wedding. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:50.320 And so here's what it says says that she was betrothed, okay, verse 27, uh, to a man whose name was Joseph, a Joseph of the house or the lineage of David, okay, that being, of course, uh King David. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:11:08.159 And you would know just two weeks ago we looked at Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 1, and the genealogy that he laid out, and we see here that Joseph uh was in fact from uh David's royal line, okay, from whom the promised Messiah would uh come, would be born. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:21.360 All right, so through um through Jesus' legal connection to Joseph, in the sense that he was essentially his his adopted son, Jesus obtains the legal right uh to the throne. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.279 All right, now we see here, okay, end of verse 27, take a look. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.799 We see that the virgin's name was was Mary. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:37.759 Okay, and he, this is Gabriel now, uh the angel, came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.480 Okay, that word favored there, just kind of make a mental note of that. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.480 We're gonna come uh back to it. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:47.919 All right, he says, Greetings, uh, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.840 But look at her response. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:57.919 Uh, but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting uh this might be. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:06.639 Okay, that she that she was greatly uh troubled uh literally means that she was kind of thrown into confusion. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:07.120 Right? 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.159 Literally, this this also means that she was disturbed. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.240 Okay, she was disturbed by by what Gabriel uh said. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:14.799 Right? 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:18.879 She was, I mean, she was just trying to figure out like what is this? 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:20.720 Like, what does this mean? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.919 What is what is happening right now? 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:37.600 And I can imagine that, yeah, that's exactly how she would feel uh seeing this like wild archangel Gabriel uh appear before her at her doorstep uh in this kind of random small town, uh, Nazareth. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:40.559 Okay, but look what he says to her here, verse 30. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.720 It says, and the angel said to her, uh, do not be afraid, Mary. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:45.679 Do not be afraid. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:55.600 Okay, so on top of her confusion, on top of her, you know, being disturbed by what he actually said, uh, she was clearly terrified by all of this as well. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:03.840 Now, if you've you know read the you know throughout the Bible, you would see that this is like the response whenever uh somebody saw an angel. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:17.519 I know this time of year, you know, maybe some of you on your on your Christmas trees, you've got like those precious moment, little like angels, you know, uh ornament type things with like the little diaper and they're adorable and they're kind of you know squishy and these little babies. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.639 That's not what biblical angels uh look like at all. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:25.120 These guys were fearsome, uh terrifying uh individuals. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.840 And so she is, she she doesn't even know how to handle this really right now. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:38.000 Okay, but literally, uh he says to her, he says, for you have found, he says, Do not be afraid, for you have found uh favor. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:39.440 Okay, favor with God. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:40.240 There's that word again. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:43.120 Remember, I said we would come back to it, second time it's been used. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:47.200 Okay, that literally that word favor uh means grace. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:48.879 Okay, great means grace. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:14:04.399 So uh God's uh favor and grace towards her is that behold, this is verse 31 now, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:13.600 Okay, Jesus is uh the Hebrew name for Joshua, which is literally translated as the Lord is salvation. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:14.960 The Lord is salvation. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:19.200 Now, uh verse 31 here is an amazing fulfillment. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.480 Okay, it's a fulfillment of Isaiah uh chapter 7, verse 14, and what Isaiah said. 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:31.840 Now he said this, uh believe it or not, 700 years uh before this moment here between the angel and before Mary. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.080 Just to kind of give you a uh a reference there of the time that had surpassed since this was first said. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.799 But here's what it says in Isaiah 7, verse 14. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:44.240 It says, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:52.000 It says, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:57.440 Emmanuel meaning God with us, which is one of the titles that was given to Jesus. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:09.679 Okay, so so uh in Luke now, we're we are seeing here in this verse, in verse 31, this this kind of long-awaited achievement of Isaiah's prophecy. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.720 I mean, seven centuries later, right? 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:19.360 We see the unveiling now, uh the dawn of redeeming grace is a line that someone just shared with me before this service started. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:24.480 This is what we see coming to fruition, God's master plan coming into effect. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:26.720 You know, verse 32, keep going. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.720 It says, He will be great. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:30.960 Does that seem like a bit of an understatement to you? 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.840 And everything that we know about Jesus, yeah, he will be great. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:35.440 Well, he expands on that. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:41.519 Okay, he says here, and and will be called the Son of the Most High, meaning the Son of God. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:50.960 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign, meaning he will rule over the house of Jacob. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:54.080 This is over Israel, for how long? 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:55.679 Forever, right? 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:56.080 Forever. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:00.000 And of his kingdom there will be no end. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:14.320 Okay, Jesus would not be born to just be some you know earthly king over a temporal kingdom where he would have, you know, uh just a human lifespan, just like you know, any other king die and be forgotten. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:15.200 That's not it. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:15.679 Right? 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:33.519 We know uh as as as students of the New Testament that Jesus in in time throughout the gospels, and this would be you know explained even in even more fully through the writers of the New Testament, how Jesus would would reveal that he would be the king over absolutely all, over all uh earthly creation. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:34.159 Right? 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:45.679 He would be the the the promised Messiah, he was the fulfillment over all the Old Testament prophecies, he would rule over the kingdom of God forever, for all eternity. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:54.320 Now, can you just imagine yourself for a second being in Mary's shoes and hearing all this? 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:04.480 Like I think for so many of us who have grown up in the church, you know, we've heard this story, we've read this text so many times, we're like, yeah, yeah, that's what the that's what the angel said. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:05.119 Right? 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.480 But just try and imagine being where she is. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.279 You know, she doesn't know what's gonna happen after this. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.279 She's trying, she's just trying to absorb this. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:21.599 I can just imagine, you know, Mary just kind of being like, I need to kind of just take a seat for a second and and just kind of let this, let this kind of settle, right? 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:22.400 Let this sink in. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.000 This was this was some epic news. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.839 This was this was a big deal. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:26.480 Okay? 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:34.079 And we'll get to her ultimate response here in just a moment, but but again, I want to want us to focus on and go back to that word favor, right? 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:35.759 That word that I said that we would come back to. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:38.559 The angel calls her, you know, oh favored one. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.519 God's God's favor is is towards you. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.160 And again, that word means means grace. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:57.759 Okay, and again, I just want to be you know candid about this and and and speak carefully, but but this is this is really where you know we've seen the the Roman Catholic Church really mishandle these verses. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:08.160 Okay, and in in general, they've they've kind of elevated Mary uh and and see her as a as a giver of grace uh to us. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:14.240 Whereas we see here in these verses that she's simply a recipient of grace. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:22.640 If you have an ESV uh study Bible, you'll see a little note in there that's that's pretty helpful and explains all of that uh in there yourself. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:23.920 You can read that. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:29.279 Okay, God's grace, God's favor uh is shown to her. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:30.960 Okay, which again is what? 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.839 That's just a picture of of what the gospel is. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:34.480 Right? 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:39.359 The gospel is God's favor, it is God's grace shown to you and I. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:47.440 Because at the end of the day, you know, the the hard truth is that you and I, we're just we're just wicked people. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:48.319 Right? 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:49.039 Do we know that? 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:52.160 Have we you know admitted that? 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:53.519 Do we understand that? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:54.880 We we really are. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.839 That's that's what that's what the truth is, right? 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:06.240 We deserve judgment, we deserve uh death, even, we deserve uh separation from God when you strip it right down. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:18.240 Okay, but the astonishing news of of the gospel is that you know, despite all of that reality, which is all true, you and I, we we've somehow found found favor uh with God. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:20.240 And you know, like why? 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.319 Like, why why is that? 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:33.200 Well, well, simply because he is a he is a gracious God who has decided, has chosen to bestow favor upon us. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:34.160 Right? 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:41.599 It is not because uh of something that you and I have done to earn his favor, to earn his grace. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:42.720 That's not how it works. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.480 I mean, if you even think about uh Mary, right? 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:58.960 She didn't do anything to position herself, to you know, to be in the right, in the right path, to ultimately become the virgin mother of the Messiah, right? 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:00.000 She didn't do anything. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:01.519 God simply chose her. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.319 He chose to show her his favor in this way. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:06.880 Right? 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:16.799 And through the virgin birth, God's favor, God's grace is shown, it's a it's extended uh to all of us, to you and I as well. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:23.440 And this, of course, speaks to the very nature of our salvation. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:24.000 Right? 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:29.119 It's about favor, it's it's about grace in its DNA. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:29.920 Right? 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:41.680 Getting saved is is not about you know doing a bunch of of good deeds, you know, for God to show him that you are worthy of his favor. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:42.319 Right? 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:43.759 It's not about that. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:51.680 Okay, the the the good news of of the gospel is is entirely about what Christ has done for you and I. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:53.839 It's not about what we can do for him. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.039 He paid our sin debt. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:57.440 Right? 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:07.359 He did that by dying as a perfect sacrifice, as a substitute that that satisfied the righteous requirements of God's law. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:07.599 Right? 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:15.920 We read the Old Testament, which is you know God's law, we read the Ten Commandments, we read you know all the details of all of that, we realize that God's standards are high. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:17.119 We fall short of them. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:23.039 God or Jesus fulfilled them uh for us, he fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.720 And we receive salvation as a gift. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:30.799 That's it, as a gift of his unmerited favor. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:48.480 So getting saved, if if if someone needs to do that here this morning, it really means that you've received and and and you've accepted God's God's favor, God's grace that He has extended to you through Christ Jesus. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:59.759 It means that you're no longer trusting in your own moral, you know, or or religious efforts and behavior to try and somehow make you right in God's eyes. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.640 Maybe he'll approve of me if I just behave properly. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:03.680 It doesn't work that way. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:04.799 It can't work that way. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:06.880 It's a lost cause. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:22.400 Okay, and the reality and the reason for all of that is because you know, all of our efforts, as good as they might be, are somewhere deep down flawed and tainted by sin and therefore insufficient, unable to please God. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:33.599 Okay, so salvation is no longer trusting in me because I'm insufficient, it's trusting in Christ because he is sufficient, he was sufficient. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:41.519 It's trusting in everything that he accomplished through his perfect life and his wrath-satisfying death. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:49.759 God's favor towards you and I, as you start to comprehend these things, I mean it's it's astonishing. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:53.359 It's so unearned by us. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:55.839 It's been earned by Jesus for us. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:59.119 It's freely given to those who repent. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:22:59.759 Right? 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.319 When we humble ourselves and recognize our need and cry out to the Lord, Lord, would you save me? 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:05.839 Would you forgive me? 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:06.480 Right? 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:08.799 That is God's master plan. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:09.519 That's it. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:16.079 And it was set into motion and revealed through what we see here in the virgin birth. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:34.319 Listen, as we are marching our way towards Christmas here, towards the 25th, and I'm sure we've got you know lots of plans, and it's office Christmas parties, and it's gathering with family, and it's you know lots of shopping and it's eating all kinds of chocolate and all of that kind of thing. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:42.319 Don't forget to take the opportunity here to just remind your soul of all of these things, right? 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:48.960 Of the astonishing favor that God has shown you through the virgin birth of Jesus. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:54.000 Have you noticed how our hearts just remind uh need this reminder constantly? 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:54.559 Right? 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:55.200 They need it. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.759 We we so easily forget it. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:10.240 And it becomes so important, and I would urge you and encourage you to do this, just even identify the different ways that you instinctively try to earn the favor that God has, that Christ has earned for you. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:10.880 Right? 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:14.319 Have you sensed in your soul the different ways that you do that? 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:21.279 Maybe it's in something like your approach to and your or your attitude towards obedience. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:21.839 Right? 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:28.640 You understand that obedience is important, but for you, you're trying to obey God to get him to approve of you. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:33.759 You're trying to obey God to get him to forgive you. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:41.680 You're obeying him to try so so that he is now in your debt and he owes you answers to your prayers, that type of thing. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:43.440 That's not what it is. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:44.400 Right? 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:47.519 Perhaps you you treat your your service that way. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:52.960 I'm gonna serve the Lord so that hopefully, you know, hopefully he'll be okay with me and he won't strike me down. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:54.000 Right? 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:59.680 The gospel tells us that he's already showered us with his favor, with his grace, with his love. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:01.200 You you've already got that. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:05.279 Even if you behave horribly this week, that's already on you. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.440 He's already given it to you. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:13.759 And as we remind ourselves that Christ has earned it and I cannot, it starts to transform our hearts. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:18.799 It starts, it starts to change us, and now we want to start obeying him because we love him. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:24.559 I see what he's done, and and it means so much to me, and it and it's so astonishing to me. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.079 Of course, I want to obey him. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:27.599 Of course I want to serve him. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.039 I want to obey him, I want to serve him, I want to serve other people as well. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:34.640 I want to I want to share the love of Jesus Christ with everybody. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.319 This is what I want to do. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:40.960 I'm I'm the servant of the king who rules forever. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:44.880 My church marvel in this this week. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.079 As sin comes up in your life, and it will, it will daily. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:53.359 Just repent of it, repent of it quickly, repent of it earnestly because of what Christ has done for you. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:55.759 Allow that to motivate you. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:01.119 Talk about these things with loved ones, husbands, talk about this with your wives. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:06.640 Work through the favor of God that He has He has shown to you through Jesus Christ. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:14.240 Talk about this with your kids, disciple them, talk about this with your friends, with family, with co-workers, with with anybody. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:20.400 Seize every opportunity that you can to think about these and speak about the glories of the gospel. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:27.759 As you revel in just in God's master plan and how amazing He is, what it was and what it's all about. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.440 Second thing here this morning, just two things, by the way. 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:46.400 The virgin birth was God's master plan to enter his creation and rule it forever, revealing that literally nothing would stop him from saving us. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.720 That's an amazing truth. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:27:02.799 Now, unsurprisingly, perhaps, um, Mary, as you know, she's trying to uh discern these things and kind of make sense of Gabriel's announcement and just allow that to kind of settle on her. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.720 She she asks him a question, okay, and we see it here in verse 34. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:07.599 Take a look. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:15.599 It says, And Mary said to the angel, uh, how will this be that I will give birth, since I am a virgin? 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:31.680 Okay, now at face value, uh this seems to be or appears to be kind of a similar line of questioning that uh Zechariah himself asked when Gabriel told him that his wife Elizabeth would give birth to John. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:42.400 Okay, and if you've you know read that passage at all, uh you would understand that in that case, in Zechariah's case, uh he is actually chastised for asking his question, right? 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:47.680 Because his question uh is coming from uh from a place of a different attitude. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:48.079 Right? 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.480 His place, his question is coming from a place of just flat out unbelief. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:54.559 Okay, he's like, no, it can't happen. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.799 Uh can't uh possibly be the case. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:01.039 My wife is barren and and she's far too old. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:10.000 Okay, here, Mary, uh she's simply trying to understand all of this because all of it just seems to her to be physically impossible. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:14.400 And she's like, you know, well, hey, wait a second, I'm I'm a virgin, right? 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:15.839 How will this be? 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:18.160 How is this gonna work? 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:18.640 Right? 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:29.279 And we can be confident here that her question to Gabriel isn't rooted in the same stubborn unbelief as Zechariah's because of what follows here. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:36.720 Hey, Gabriel, he doesn't he doesn't chastise her, rather, he explains uh more of God's plan. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.519 And then she accepts this as the word of God and she believes. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:43.119 Okay, she trusts. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:47.200 Let's see this here, picking it up in verse 35. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:29:01.279 It says, and the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow or or will envelop you. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:08.160 Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:33.359 All right, so Jesus would not merely be a human son uh adopted by God, but he would he would actually be uh God's son, okay, immaculate immaculately conceived by by the Holy Spirit, by the by the power of the Most High, as opposed to conceived through uh human sexual relations. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:50.400 Okay, so this this completely unique, never, never been seen, never been done before, a pregnancy would be the result of, as Leon Morris, who's a theologian, says, is the result of divine activity. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:53.519 Okay, achieved in the womb of a virgin. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:59.839 Okay, make no mistake, this is this is the miracle of miracles that takes place here. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:06.240 Okay, now if you keep going there, that the child uh to be born will be called holy. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:07.039 We read that. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:11.920 Okay, it means more than he would be uh morally upright. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:14.480 Okay, it means more than that, though he would certainly be that as well. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:21.519 We know that he would be, he would be sinless, but it's it's referring to the fact that that Jesus would actually be uh divine. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:26.640 He would be divine, meaning that he would be sharing in God's uh very nature. 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:40.799 Okay, so so born of God, right, the Holy Spirit, uh thereby having the divine uh nature, okay, and born of a woman, okay, also having a human nature. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.559 Now, verse 36, take a look at that now. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:52.079 It says, And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:53.519 Of course, we know that's John. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:59.920 And he and this is the sixth month with her who was called Baron. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:01.519 All right, so why does he say that? 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:04.400 Well, well, to give Mary confidence. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:08.240 To give Mary confidence in what had been promised to her. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:08.799 Right? 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:13.039 Gabriel, he he lets her in on this other miracle taking place. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:13.440 Right? 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:30.400 If she was, you know, uh beyond her her years, beyond her age, if he has if she has been, you know, barren from the bare, very beginning, but now she is pregnant, that is a miracle, suggesting you can have confidence in the miracle that is about to happen uh within your own womb. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:30.880 Right? 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:31.920 Amazing. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:40.640 Okay, and this is really highlighting what verse 37 proclaims that nothing, okay, nothing will be impossible with God. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:48.559 Hey, no obstacle is too great that the Lord cannot overcome it. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:32:04.559 Hey, no, no impossibility from our you know, kind of limited vantage point, what we can see, you know, kind of limited by by time and space here and all of that, uh, will stand in the way of what God purposes to accomplish. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:04.960 Right? 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:09.359 And what it was here was to save humanity uh from its sin. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:16.400 A plan masterfully orchestrated from the very beginning of time, right? 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:34.400 A plan that was hinted at throughout human history, throughout biblical history, and then executed to perfection in something as unexpected and so kind of under the radar and low-key and unique as a savior born to a virgin. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:36.799 Isn't that incredible? 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:41.519 Now just notice Mary's response here to all of this. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:42.640 I said that we would get to it. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:44.240 I mean, just so full of faith. 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:45.759 Look at verse 38. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:50.480 Mary said, I mean, just keep in mind the magnitude of what she's just been revealed to her. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:53.839 She says, Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:57.440 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.839 And the angel departed from her. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:20.559 You know, as we kind of look at this here and as we read this, and as we see, you know, Mary's response to the angel's visit and all these wonderful things that he shared with her, I think it should get us thinking about what our own response should be to all of this. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:31.519 You know, especially when you think about it, you know, considering the fact that we have the benefit of seeing God's master plan uh rolled out and established even further than she did. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:32.079 Right? 00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:37.119 At this point in the story, again, you know, Mary doesn't know more than what she's been told. 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:37.519 Right? 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:38.319 She hasn't seen it yet. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:44.559 At this point in the story, Jesus hasn't even been born yet, let alone go to the cross, let alone rise from the dead. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:46.000 But we know all of those things, right? 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:47.519 We know that he would be born. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:52.160 We know that he, you know, he would go on to live a sinless life. 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:52.640 Right? 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.039 You and I know that that he would die. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:57.519 We we we look at that on Good Friday. 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:01.200 We know that he would rise again three days later. 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:01.920 Right? 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:15.199 And we know that that after he rose, he would reveal himself to his disciples, and he would teach them, he would, he would instruct them and show them how he was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament, all the scriptures. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:23.840 And after that, he would ascend to the Father and then he would send his Holy Spirit to us, which would begin the church building program, right? 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:42.639 And he would he would give us strength and he would be our power, and all of that would be built on the foundation of the gospel, where the Lord would do this, he would redeem sinners, he would, he would heal the sick, he would, he would save, he would save those who were lost, he would rescue prodigals. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:55.679 Listen, the the virgin birth, okay, all of what was to happen in in Mary's lifetime, and what is still yet to come. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:35:00.559 Okay, none of it, think about it, none of it impossible with God. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:02.480 That's what the verse says there. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:11.039 Nothing is, literally, literally nothing could or or would or will stop his plan to save us. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:15.840 He rules, he reigns, he does this forever, period. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:16.159 Right? 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:17.679 End of story. 00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:25.280 Now, and now as you hear that, as you receive that, how how does that strike you? 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:29.599 Does that have an impact on your hearts right now? 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:33.760 Does that have an impact on your on your life? 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:36.960 What does that fill you with today? 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.079 Well, I can tell you a few things that that should fill us with. 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:42.960