A Miraculous Birth

Luke 1:26-34
Richard Spencer | Sunday, December 24, 2023
Copyright © 2023, Richard Spencer

Tomorrow is Christmas. The day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth over 2,000 years ago. The birth of any child is usually an occasion for great joy. And when a baby is born people often say something like, “Isn’t it a miracle?” And, although we all agree it is a wonderous event, the answer of course, is “No, it isn’t a miracle at all, it is a completely normal and natural part of everyday life in this world.”

Now, admittedly, there are different definitions for what constitutes a true miracle, but biblically, a miracle is a sign or a wonder, which is used by God to communicate an important truth to his people. And, in order for it to be a sign or wonder, it must be something that is outside our normal realm of experience, something that will cause us to wonder or stand in awe. I like John Frame’s definition best, he says “Miracles are extraordinary manifestations of God’s covenant lordship.”[1]

God is the Lord of his creation and he has freely established a covenant relationship with his people. As the covenant Lord, he does, on occasion, do things that are outside of our normal experience, some of them are even outside of the normal laws of physics by which our universe is usually governed. But God always does them for a purpose. Miracles are not a circus side show to provide God’s people with entertainment.

And, although birth is not normally a miracle in the proper sense of that term, there was one birth in the history of the world that was truly a miracle– the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And I want to examine his miraculous birth this morning; so this sermon is entitled A Miraculous Birth. I have four points to make this morning, so let’s begin by looking at the first point, which is the fact of Jesus’ miraculous birth.

I.             The fact of Jesus’ miraculous birth

And let me start by being a bit more careful. I am referring to Jesus’ birth as miraculous, but that is not, strictly speaking, accurate. His birth was entirely natural. He was born just like every other human child after Adam and Eve was born. It was, to be exact, his conception that was a miracle. Jesus’ mother, Mary, was a virgin. And that was the reason she was puzzled by the angel’s proclamation that she would give birth to a child. In Luke 1:34 we read that she said, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Mary understood basic biology well enough to know that she could not possibly be pregnant in the normal way. And so the angel explained to her, in Verse 35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” And then he added, in Verse 37, “For nothing is impossible with God.” We will come back to this last verse several times; it is very important!

And the fact that Mary was a virgin is further proved by the reaction of Joseph, to whom she was engaged, and then the resulting revelation given to him by an angel. But before I read the next passage, you need to know that being engaged at that time was a very formal arrangement and breaking off an engagement could be called getting divorced. With that in mind, we are told in Matthew 1:19-20 that “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

We see from this passage that Joseph also understood basic biology and so he at first assumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him. But the angel’s message was clear, Mary was faithful. She was still a virgin and Joseph should go through with the marriage. The Bible is absolutely clear and unambiguous about this fact; Mary was a virgin. Jesus’ conception and, therefore, we can say his birth, was a true miracle. As J. Greshem Machen said, “it is perfectly clear that the New Testament teaches the virgin birth of Christ; about that there can be no manner of doubt.”[2]

But that then leads us straight to my second point, we must ask what is the reason for Jesus’ miraculous birth?

II.           The reason for Jesus’ miraculous birth

To answer this question, we must remember that miracles are always signs. Jesus’ miraculous birth was a clear sign and the angel told Mary the meaning of this sign. In Luke 1:32-33 we read that the angel told Mary that this child, “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” And, as we saw earlier, in Vere 35, the angel said, “the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” In other words, the child was to be the Son of God in a unique way. And he was to be the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, the promised son of King David, the Ruler of his people, whose kingdom would go on forever.

But the reason for Jesus’ miraculous conception goes even deeper than just being a sign that he had a special role to fulfil in God’s plan of redemption. His miraculous birth was also necessary for him to fulfil that role. And to understand that role, we must take a few minutes to review what the Bible tells us about ourselves, because Jesus’ birth was a critical part of God’s eternal plan for his people.

In the book of Genesis we read that God created the heavens and the earth. And we are told that initially, the creation was all very good. But then Satan, who was one of the angels God had created, rebelled against God. We aren’t told a great deal about that, but we know that Satan, like all of creation, was initially very good. And yet, he rebelled against God.

And, when Satan sinned, other angels sinned along with him. We are told in Jude 6 that “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these [God] has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” The fact that these angels “did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home” tells us that their sin was pride. They wanted better positions than God had assigned them. Isaiah 14:12-15 almost certainly tells us about the fall of Satan. And in Verses 13 and 14 we are told that Satan said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

And then Satan later tempted Eve with the same idea. In Genesis 3:1 we read, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman,” that is, to Eve, “‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’” And Eve then said that God had forbidden them to eat of one tree, which is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying that they would die if they ate its fruit. And, in Verses 4 and 5 Satan calls God a liar and replies, “You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” In other words, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the same exact thing that tempted him; a desire to be God, which is rebellion against the Creator and Lord of the universe. Satan became a rebel, and then Adam and Eve became rebels.

And what is rebellion? It is an inward opposition, a determination to oppose the one against whom you rebel. In other words, it is enmity. You are enemies. Adam was the best possible, God-chosen representative of the human race and when he became a rebel, an enemy of God, all those who descended from him by the ordinary means also became rebels. We are all born enemies of God. And as the perfectly just and holy Lord of the universe, God must punish his enemies.

Therefore, the Bible says that while we were rebels, we were dead, meaning spiritually dead and destined for eternal death. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-2, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The ruler of the kingdom of the air is, of course, Satan, and we have followed him in his rebellion. Therefore, we have a serious problem. We stand guilty before the holy and just God and subject to his just wrath. We are told in Psalm 14:2-3 that “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” And the apostle Paul made the same critically important point in Romans 3:23, where he wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and he wrote in Romans 6:23, that “the wages of sin is death”, which refers to eternal death, which means eternal hell.

And as if our guilt weren’t bad enough, we also inherit Adam’s sinful nature. As God’s enemies, our fundamental nature is in opposition to him. That is why we continue in our rebellion, sinning every day. Therefore, there is nothing we can or will do to save ourselves. We are what theologians call “totally depraved”. That does not mean that we are as bad as we can possibly be, rather it means that there is no part of our nature that is unaffected by sin. This sin of rebellion has affected the totality of our being. There is no little corner left that is willing and able to repent of our sins and seek God’s forgiveness. Everything we do, no matter how good it may look from the outside, is tainted by sin – sinful motives if nothing else. Therefore, all we can do is sin. In other words, there is, as I said, absolutely nothing that we can do to save ourselves. But, praise God, as we read in Luke 1:37, “nothing is impossible with God.” Remember I told you that verse is important. And we will see it yet again later. And, in fact, Jesus himself told us the same thing in Luke 18:27, where we read that he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

And this is where the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ comes into play. I said earlier that everyone who is descended from Adam by the ordinary means inherits both his guilt and his sinful nature. The miraculous conception of Jesus breaks this chain of cause and effect. The fact that he was conceived by the direct action of the Holy Spirit allowed him to be conceived without sin, even though his mother was a sinner. The fact that Mary was a virgin is not a complete answer, God still had to keep Jesus from inheriting his mother’s sin, but it is a partial answer and a clear sign that something unique had occurred.

At this point, I should briefly point out that the Roman Catholic doctrine of the immaculate conception, meaning that Mary herself was sinless, is completely unbiblical and illogical. It is unbiblical because absolutely nothing in the Bible even hints at Mary being sinless. And it is illogical because it doesn’t solve the problem of how a sinless child can come from a sinful parent; in fact, it makes the problem worse! Rather than having to explain how Christ could be sinless even though his mother was a sinner, with the Roman Catholic doctrine you have to explain how Mary was sinless even though both her mother and father were sinners. The true, biblical doctrine, that Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary by the action of the Holy Spirit, is, on the other hand, perfectly logical, and, most importantly, biblical.

But, getting back to the fact that Jesus was born without sin, this was necessary for him to be able to be our perfect, sinless, substitute. Just as Adam was the representative of the human race, so God made Jesus the representative for his people, that portion of the human race whom God has chosen to save. The apostle Paul refers to Christ as the second Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49.

And it isn’t just that Jesus was born without sin, he also lived a perfect sinless life in obedience to God’s law. He was, and will remain, the only human being to ever do so. And that was a necessary condition for him to redeem his people. But, while it was a necessary condition, it was not, in and of itself, sufficient. If Jesus had just been a sinless human being, he could save himself, but no one else.

But, praise God, Jesus’ miraculous birth accomplished more. Remember what the angel said to Mary in Luke 1:32? He said that her Son, Jesus, would “be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus is not just a sinless human being, he is also the eternal Son of God, the second person of the holy Trinity. He is God. He is the Creator of all things. As I said earlier, the virgin birth does not fully explain Jesus’ sinless nature, let alone his being God, but, nevertheless, it is clear that his miraculous birth was a sign that Jesus was no ordinary child; he was, in fact, God incarnate.

This is impossible for us to fully understand, but it is the truth, and it is not a violation of any logical principle as some people assume. There is only one God, but he exists in three persons; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have no other examples of a tri-personal being, but that does not mean it is a logical impossibility. It is simply one of the ways in which God is unique. And the fact that God is unique should not be a surprise to anyone. And the Bible is again clear about this fact, so we must accept it as true.

In the first chapter of the gospel of John Jesus is referred to as the Word, the λόγος (logos). John wrote that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Verses 1-14) Jesus was the Word of God. He was with the Father in the act of creation, and everything that has been made – in other words, the entire universe and everything in it – was made through him. And he became flesh and lived among us. In other words, the eternal God, the Creator of all things, became a human being and lived among his people. He was both fully God and fully man. And, as the Chalcedonian definition correctly states, Jesus is “acknowledged in two natures”, that is, God and man, “unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the difference of the natures being in no way removed because of the union, but rather the properties of each nature being preserved”.[3] Think about that statement as you celebrate the birth of Jesus tomorrow.

The apostle John also wrote about Jesus in his first epistle. In 1 John 1:1-4 we read, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” In this passage, John makes it clear that this Word of Life from the first paragraph of his gospel is Jesus and that Jesus is the unique, eternal Son of God the Father, and that he became incarnate.

I could go on and give many more scriptures to prove that Jesus Christ is the eternal God. But that isn’t my main point today and the Bible is very clear on that point, so I will leave that proof for another time. My main point now is that although Jesus is truly a man, he is far more. He is the unique God-man, and because of that, he is able to save his people. For he not only lived a perfect life in obedience to God’s law, he also offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to pay for the sins of all those who will trust in him. And, as the unique God-man, his sacrificial death had sufficient merit to pay for the sins of all of his people.

We are told about this sacrificial death in many places in the scriptures. For example, in 1 Peter 3:18 we read that “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” And in Romans 5:6 and 8, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” And, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And, in the book of Hebrews, the writer tells us in Chapter 7, verse 27, that “Unlike the other high priests, [Jesus] does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

And so we see that Jesus’ miraculous birth was a part of what was needed to ensure that he be the sinless, unique God-man in order to fulfill God’s law perfectly and for his sacrifice to be efficacious in paying the penalty owed by all those whom he came to save. This miracle was a sign to us; to point us to the fact that our salvation required God to perform a miracle; and so we see again the importance of that statement in Luke 1:37, “nothing is impossible with God.”

Our salvation required the miracle of the unique God-man because God is the perfectly holy and just Judge of the universe and he must punish sin. He would be untrue to his own nature if he allowed our rebellion to go unpunished, and God cannot be untrue to his own perfect nature. Therefore, Jesus had to become a man [RRS]. It was man who sinned and so it had to be a man that paid the penalty. And yet, it had to the perfect God-man as I have argued in order to fulfill the law and to have his sacrifice be of sufficient value.

God’s perfect plan of redemption simultaneously satisfies his perfect eternal justice and his merciful plan to save some people. As Paul put it in Romans 3:26, God did this so that he could, “be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” That last phrase is important; God “justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” God does not justify everyone. He justifies only those who place their faith, that is their trust, in Jesus Christ.

Faith is the instrumental cause of our justification, or you could say of our salvation. In other words, it is the instrument God uses to unite us to Christ so that his sacrifice becomes efficacious for us. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest gift anyone can ever be given. And it clearly is a gift as we read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” As this passage tells us, this gift comes from God himself. He chooses whom to save and he accomplishes the miracle of new birth to enable a sinful rebel to repent and believe.

And now, having seen that the miraculous birth of Jesus is a fact and having seen why it was necessary, let’s go on to my third point and examine the significance of Jesus’ miraculous birth.

III.          The significance of Jesus’ miraculous birth

Jesus’ miraculous birth was necessary for God’s plan of salvation, but there is more to the story. I already said that Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and that his death was a sacrificial death. But we also know that God accepted this sacrifice. The resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first Easter Sunday proves that fact. And the main significance of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection should be clear from what I have already said. It is the means that God chose to use to save his people!

We must stop and think about that staggering truth. By causing us to be born again and thereby granting us the gift of saving faith, God has taken away the hell we deserve and given us heaven instead! How is that for a Christmas present?

The apostle Paul speaks about this in a number of places. In Romans 5:8-11 he wrote, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Praise God! We, who were born enemies God, have been reconciled to him.

Jesus paid the penalty we owed for our sins and, in so doing, he reconciled us to God. But even more than that can be said. The Bible speaks of a glorious double transaction. Our sins are given to Christ so that his death paid the penalty we owed, but in addition, his perfect righteousness is given to us so that we are righteous in God’s sight. We are told in Romans 13:14 to, “clothe [ourselves] with the Lord Jesus Christ”. In other words, when God looks at us, he sees the righteousness of Christ, in which we are clothed, rather than our sins, which have been taken away.

This double transaction is most clearly presented in two places in the Bible. It was illustrated in the Old Testament by the prophet Zechariah in the 6^th-century before Christ. He was prophesying to the Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem after their captivity in Babylon. In Zecharaih 3:1-5 we read that he was given a vision by an angel, who showed him, “Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’ Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.”

Isn’t that a glorious vision! It is a representation of what God does for each of his chosen children. He takes away the filthy rags of our sinful rebellion and pride and gives us the unimpeachable righteousness of Jesus Christ in their place. The apostle Paul gives us a beautifully succinct statement of this double transaction in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The one who “had no sin” is, of course, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of Jesus’ miraculous birth. It marks the beginning of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The beginning of God’s coming down to man, in the flesh, for the purpose of saving him from his sins.

We are told in Hebrews 1:1-3 that “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Jesus shows us God’s glory. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, meaning God, Jesus responded, in John 14:9, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Philip saw Jesus face to face, while we, of course, can only see him by faith. But we can have a real relationship with him as Lord and Savior. He has done everything necessary for our salvation. And even now he helps us. I just read from Hebrews 1:3, which says that “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” But we must not think that he is inactive, as if his work is completely done. Yes, he has finished the work of redemption in one sense, as he himself declared from the cross, “It is finished!” But he still has work to do to apply that salvation to each of us. We are told in Romans 8:33-34 that “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

Therefore, we see that Jesus is still at work saving his people, sanctifying them and, ultimately, glorifying them. And even though he no longer walks among us, the life he lived is an example to us. He showed us how to obey the Father fully. We are commanded in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” This is a high calling and none of us ever live up to it perfectly, but it is what we are called to do. We are to become more and more like Jesus, who is our older brother. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 wrote, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” We are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

And we still aren’t through discussing God’s great gifts to us. In addition to taking away our sins, giving us the righteousness of Christ, and working in us to transform us into his likeness, God also adopts us as his children and gives us the right to call him Abba, Father. And when Christ returns, he will glorify all of his children. We will be given glorious eternal bodies and will see our God and Father face to face. We will have the closest relationship it is possible for a creature to have with its Creator. Hallelujah!

And now let’s move on to my fourth and final point; our miraculous rebirth.

IV.          Our miraculous rebirth

Friends, if you are a Christian, you have already received the greatest gift a human being can possibly be given. You have been born again, which is also a true miracle. I now I refer to Luke 1:37 one last time, the angel told Mary that “nothing is impossible with God.” God is able to change our hearts so that we are turned from being his enemies into being his loving subjects. If we could save ourselves, Jesus would not have had to come and no miracle would have been required. We need to see that our salvation required a miracle! And that should cause us to live in grateful obedience all of life.

If you are a Christian, then Jesus Christ is your Savior, your Lord, your Example, your Helper, your Friend, your older Brother. He is your all in all. We should remember this as we gather tomorrow to celebrate his birth. He has given us the greatest present of all. In John 11:25-26, Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” And that question applies to each one of us. If we believe it, then it applies to us. We will never die. We will never suffer the just punishment we deserve. Rather, we will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and with all of the other saints who have ever lived. We will be made perfect and will enjoy perfect peace.

And if you are not a Christian, then I offer this greatest of all gifts to you today. As Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, Verses 3 and 5, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” You cannot cause yourself to be born again, but when Jesus said you must be born of water and the Spirit, the water represents the water used for ritual purification, which represents the word of God. And the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, who must work in you.

You have heard the word of God this morning. I have told you about your need for salvation and I have told you how Jesus Christ came to make it possible. Because our corruption is radical, the change required to cure us is also radical. Just as Jesus’ birth had to be a miracle, so must we experience a miraculous rebirth. If you see your need, then cry out to God for help. Ask him to enable you to repent, believe and be saved. God will never turn away anyone who turns to him in true humility. There is no other way. You can’t do anything other than see your need, see God, and cry out for mercy. He caused Mary to conceive, and he can also change our hearts to make us new creations in Christ Jesus.

And just as Jesus had to live a perfect life to satisfy God’s law and then sacrifice himself for us, so we must, as new creations go on and prove our new natures by our obedience; not yet perfect, but nonetheless radically different. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” And, as new creations, our lives will be different. None of us obey perfectly as Christ did because we still have sin in us. But our new nature must show up in an obedient life or we have not been born again. So examine yourself and see if you are in Christ. If not, then repent and cry out for mercy. And if you are born again, then have great hope and give God all the glory. For just as it was a foregone conclusion that Jesus would succeed in accomplishing our redemption, so it is a foregone conclusion that all those who have been born again will succeed. God guarantees it. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 that he was, “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Therefore, let us go forth and celebrate all that Jesus Christ has done for us this Christmas and every day after that.

[1] John Frame, The Doctrine of God, P&R Publishing, 2002, pg. 258

[2] Quoted in Robert Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, Zondervan, 1998, pg. 547; Reymond then lists the biblical data backing up that statement.

[3] Taken from https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/the-chalcedonian-definition-of-the-faith