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THE NNOUNCEMENT OF THE
INCARNATION
OF
CHRIST
TO IHE
VIRGIN MARY
Luke 1:26-38 Introduction
I.
The Distinctive Perspective of Luke
Regarding
the
Birth ofJesus
A careful reading of the birth
narratives
of
Matthew and
of
Luke will
reveal that each evangelist presents his
material from a different perspective,
making the accounts supplementary
but not contradictory. Both give clear
witness
to the
virginbirthofjesus
in
Bethlehem,
but
it
appears that
Matthew does so
from the perspec
tive of oseph, and
Luke does so from
the perspective
of
Mary. In Luke's
narrative
Mary's
inmost
thoughts
are revealed,
and
the whole narrative
seems to be pre-
sented from her
point
of
view, which would not be
unexpected for Luke because of his
high
regard for
women
evidenced
throughout
his
book. It appears that
Luke obtained
his
information
concerning the birth of esus ditecdy
from Mary, the mother
of
esus. The
womanly touch
in
the narrative is
perhaps adequately explained by the
supposition that the information carne
ultimately from Mary, whether or not
it passed through other lips before it
was finallyput litoliterary form. What
really stands firm is that the narrative
is
writ ten from Mary's poin t
of
view,
and
therefore
in
some sort claims to
corne from her. -j. Gresham Machen,
The Virgin
Birth oj Christ, pg. 201.
2. The OrderoJEvents Relating to Christ s
Birth According to
Matthew
and Luke
a. The announcement to Zacharias of
the birth
ofjohn
the Forerunner
b. The announcement to Mary of the
miraculous conception of the Messiah
c. The visit of Mary to Elizabeth
d. The return of Mary to Nazareth
e. The discovery by Joseph of Mary's
pregnancy
f The announcement
of
Jesus' virgin
birth through Mary to Joseph
g. The marriage of oseph and Mary
h. The journey of Mary and Joseph to
Bethlehem
for
the census
i. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
j. The visit
of
the shepherds to Mary
and the baby
k.
The circumcision
of
Jesus at
Bethlehem eight days after his birth
1
The presentation of the infant Jesus
in the Temple in jerusalem forty days
after his birth
m. The visit of the Magi to see the
infant Jesus
n. The l1ight of Mary, Joseph, and
Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod
o. The return
of
the holy family to
Nazareth
3. The
Role
of
Mary
in the Gospel
ofChrist
a. The
View
of Roman Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church can
be justly accused of
MARIOLATRY,
i.e. THE DEIFICATION OF MARY
1 T nrn COUNSEL of Chalcedoo t June, 993
althoughsome within that church deny
it. In Romanisrn she is elevated to
Mediator and Dispenser of Divine
Grace. Roman Catholics are taught to
pray to her according to the weU-
known song, Ave Marta, which says,
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners. This ponion of the song
was declared by Pope Pius V to be
authoritative. Through the centuries
Roman
Catholicism has
greatly
developed its theology of Mary. It
asserts:
(1).
her perpetual virginity;
(2). her immacu
late
conception,
I.e., she was con
ceived without
sin;
(3) . her glorious
assumption, i.e,
her resurrection
and aScension, and
her enthronement
at Christ's
right
handas the Queen
cf b::yen; (4). her
present position as
'Co-Redeemer
with Christ.
umerous
Churches, shrines and festivals have
been dedicated to her-honor. Sacred
offices designed for public and private
worsbip have been introducedinwhich
she is solemnly invoked. Furthermore,
no limit was placed to the tides of
honor by which her worshipers
address her, nor to the prerogatives '
and powers wbich are attributed to
her. Sheisdec1aredtobeDEIFICATA,
Queen of Heaven, Queen of queens,
etc. The Litanies of the Virgin Mary
give additional proofof the idolatrous
worship of which she is the object.
She is given such names and such
powers that more
than
this cannot be
sought at the hands of God. The
Virgin Mary is to her worshipers what
Christ is to us. She is the object of all
religious affections; the ground of
confidence; and the source whence all
the blessings of salvation are expected
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and sought. -Charles Hodge,
Systematic Theology Vol. III, pg. 288.
For a thorough discussion on what
Roman Catholicism teaches about
Mary, see omanCatholictsmbyLoraine
Boettner, pgs. 132-168, Presbyterian
and
Reformed Publishing Co.,
Philadelphia, Pa., 1976.
b. The View of Luke
(1). The highest honor every
given
to
a woman
was
conferred upon her by
God, the crown and glory of all
motherhoodwas bestowed
uponher-
to become the mother of the Son of
God. Although she was a sinner in
need of a Savior,
as
she herself admits
in Luke 1:47, nevertheless no other
woman in history was honored by
God as Mary. Therefore, we should
give
her
that love and respect worthy
of one so honored by God.
We are, indeed,
as
far
as
anyone
from accepting the Roman Catholic
picture of the Blessed Virgin. But we
also think Protestants,in theirreaction
against that picrure, have sometimes
failed to do justice to the mother of our
Lord. Few and simple, indeed, are the
touches with which the Evangelist
(Luke) draws the picture; fleeting only
are the glimpses which he allows us
into the virgin's heart. And yet how
lifelike is
the
figure
there depicted;
how profound are the mysteriesin that
pure and meditative soul In the
narrative of the Third Gospel the virgin
Mary is no lifeless automaton, but a
person who livesandmoves-a person
who from that day
to
this had power to
touch
aU
simple and childlike hearts.
- ...one thing is
clear an
integral
part of that picture (of Mary n Luke)
is found in
the
mention
of the
supernatural conception in the virgin's
womb. Without that supreme wonder,
everything that is here said of Mary is
comparatively meaningless and ejune,
(Le., lacking significance). The
bewilderment in Mary's heart, her
meditation upon the great things that
happened to het
son
all this, far . and source of all life,
vs. 4;
and the
from being contradictory to the virgin source of light and knowledge,
vs.
4.
birth, really presupposes thatsupreme The Word is the Self-expression of
manifestation of God's power. That God, Le., the Second Person of the
supreme miracle itwas which rendered Trinity, God the Son.
worth while the glimpses which the b. The
Word became flesh, and
narrator grants into Mary's soul."- dwelt among us." "Flesh" refers to
Machen, pg. 135. man's acrual physical substance, his
(2) .
Mary, along with Elizabeth, created human life
on
this earth, I Cor.
Zacharias, and John the Baptist, are 15:39; I Pet. 1:24. THE WORD
included in Luke's narrative "only BECAME A
MAN
WITHOUT
because of the light that is focused
by
CEASING
TO
BE THE WORD, for in
their actions and words upon Him His flesh, "we beheld His glory, glory
who is acknowledged as having the as of the only-begotten of the Father,"
right to bearthe incomparably exalted 1: 14. s a man.Jesus possessed a fully
name of
LORD,
which in the Greek human nature , a created physical
Old Testament
was
used far and away spiritual uni t, without losing His full
most frequently
as
the name of God, Deity.
the great Jehovah." - Stonehouse, pg. The Incarnation is by addition not
62.
by subtraction. When God the Son,
4. The
Meaning oj Incarnation took on our humanity, He lost none of
The incarnation is best defined by His Deity. Be did not "empty"Himself
the Westminster Shoner Catechism: of His Deity-in
orderto
become a man.
"Christ, the Son of God, became man, Rather, as the Council
of
Chalcedon of
by taking to Himself a true body and a 451, A.D. declared: Jesus Christ is
reasonable soul, being conceived by fully God and fully man in one person
the power of the Holy Spirit, in the forever without confusion or
womb of the VirginMary, and born of separation. "The assumption of flesh
her, yet without sin." by the Son of God involved a unity
Themiraculousconceptionofjesus with sinful man suffiCient for the
in the womb of the virgin, Mary,
was
bearing and destruction
of
sin, and
the incarnation of the Second Person able to do justice to such verses as
of the Trinity. This word does not Rom. 8:3;HCor. 5:21;andGaI.3: 13."
occur in the
Bible,
although the idea T.H.L. Parker, in
Baker's Dictionary oj
behinditcertainlydoes. "Incarnation" Theology, pg. 283.
is composed of two parts "in came," s the great]. Gresham Machen
which is Latin for the Greek phrase, wrote in
The
Presbyterian Guardian,
"ensarki," meaning "in the flesh." This "The doctrine of the Deity of Christ is
phrase occurs several times in the N T.,
pan
of he Biblical teaching about God.
I ]n. 4:
2;
III In.
7; Rom.
8:3; I Tim. This person whom we know as Jesus
3:16; I Pet. 4:1; 3:18;
Col.
1:21-22. Christ would have been Godevenifno
Most particularly, John 1:14 says that universe had been created and even if
the
Word
became
flesh.
there had been no fallen man
to
save.
a."The Word" is the Logos in He was God from everlasting. His
Greek.
In the beginning was the Word,
Deity is quite independent of any
and the
Word
was with
God,
and
the
relation of His to a created world. The
Word was God: In. l :lf. This Word, doctrine of the incarnation, on the
identified as God, yet distinct from other hand, is pan of the doctrine of
God, is also identified
as
the One who salvation. He
WAS
from everlasting,
createdeverything,vs.3;thepossessor but He BECAME
man at
a definite
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moment in the world's history, and in
order that
fallen
man might
be saved.
That
He
became man was not at all
necessary to the unfolding
of His own
'
being.
He was
infinite, eternal and
unchangeable God when He became
man and after
He
became man. But He
would have been infinite, eternal and
unchangeable
God, even
if
He
had
never become
man
......
His
becoming
man was a free act of His love.
Ultimately its purpose,
as the
purpose
of all things, was the
glory of God;
that purpose does not conflict at all
with the fact that it was a free act of
mercy to undeserving sinners. He
became man in order that '
He
might
die on the cross to
redeem
sinners
from
the guilt and power
of sin.
Exposition
I THE SENDING OF
THE
ANGEL
FROM
GOD TO THE
VILLAGE
OF NAZARETH
In Gabriel,
The
.AD.gel
of the Lord,
the Word of God, the
Second
Person
of the Trinity in a pre-incarnate
appearance, CHRIST
ANNOUNCES
HIS
OWN
BIRTH to Mary. Sixth
months into Elizabeth's pregnancy,
Gabriel is sent by
God
the Father to
the
little
village
of Nazareth with news of
the long-awaited binh ofthe
Messiah.
Nazareth was a Galilean village about
70 miles nonheast of jerusalem in a
valley surrounded by
hills
except on
its southern side. This
village
is
stilI
in
existence today, knownasEn-Nasirah.
Itismhabitedbyapproximately 10,000
people, two-thirds of whom are
Christians, one third are
Muslims,
but
no jews, who purposely
avoid the
village.
jesus spent
his
childhood
growing
up
here.
II THE
IDENTITY
OF THE
WOM N
TO WHOM
THE
ANGEL
W S
SENT
A Th, Virgin
The woman
to whom
the
Angel
came would very soon experience
an
intimate and personal mother-child
relation with that Angel, as well as a
believer-Savior relationship. That
Angelic, (and
DlvIne),
voice
she
would
hear again in the cries and squeals of
her infant.
1 The
Virginity
ofMary
This
woman was a virgin at the
time of Gabriel's
announcement about
her
pregnancy.
She
had
never
had
any
sexual relations
with
a
man.
n verse
27
luke
clearly says
that
Gabriel was
sent to "a
virgin,"
PARTHENON in
Greek. And
in
verse 34
Mary
testifies
to her virginity by
asking,
"How
can
this be,
since
I am a virgin?" In
Greek
Mary
did not
say
"I
am
a
virgin," she
said
the eqUivalent,
"I
know no
man."
The Greek
word,
PARTHENON,
'
as used in
Luke
1:27,
means
"virgin,"
a woman
who
has not had sexual
relations
with a
man. Some would
argue that the word can
also
be
translated,
"young maiden," which is
true; however, Mary was
both
unmanied and
good,
and "when this
fact
isunderstood,itbecomes apparent
that in all history
there
is
only
one of
whom
this can
be
predicated, namely,
Mary, the mother of the
Lord."-EJ.
Young,
Isaiah.
IfMary was unmanied
and
good,
then
she
.
was
a
virgin,
When
Mary
said, Iknownoman,
she
used the
Greek
word,
GNOSKO,
which is here used in the
sense
of the
Hebrew word,
YADA, denotiIi.g
the
loving
affection expressed between two
married people in sexual intercourse, .
Gen, 4:1; 19:8. The
verb
in verse 34
is in
the
present tense, not in
the future
teuse, as though
she was taking an
oath of perpetual virginity, as Rome
maintains.
"The words are the avowal
.
of
a maiden conscious of her own
purity; and they aredrawn from herby
the strange declaration that
she
is to
have
a son before she ismarried,
(without the intervention
of
a man).
Plummer in Geldenhuys. Notice that
Mary is not talking m ~ r l y ofJoseph, .
butofallmen. "Apparently, therefore,
she felt
intuitively that
the angel means
12 f TIlE COUNSEL of
Chalcedon June,
1993
a conception without the n t r v n t i o ~
of
a
man,
and
now she
utters her
amazement
at this and asks the.angel
how such
a miraculous event
is
to
take
place."
- GeldenhUys
2:
The
Fulfillment
of
Prophecy
(Isaiah
7: 14)
The virgin
binh
of
Jesus
is
the
fulfillment of
the prophecy of
Isaiah
7:
14- Thmfore
th,
wrdHimseifwill
give
you
a sign:
Behold,
a iiirgi'nwiU be
with child andbeara son, vul she will call
His name Immanuel. Matthews
Gospel
makes
the link for us inMatthew 1:23.
It is logical for
him
to
do
so. The
Hebrew
word
for
"virgin"
in lsaiah
7:14, ALMAl:: , is translated, as
PAR1HENOS
in Matthew'S
Greek
Old
Testament. For him the
"virgin"
of
Isaiah
1: 14
is
the godly,
unmanied,
virgin
Mary,
the
mother
of
Jesus; and
for him Jesus is Immanuel, i.e., God
with
us.
According to A.N. Wilson in his
book.]esus, the AlMAH
oflsaiah
7:14
means "young
woman," not "Virgin,"
period. l:: e then rebukes Christians
for using
this text
from Isaiahas proor
that
Jesus
was born of a virgin, pg.
79.
But, when A.N . Wilson was only
15
years old,
(he
was
born in 1950),
the great E,J. Young wrote
a smashing
refutation of this groundless, .but
dogmaticassertion
thatALMAH
means
"young
wOlllaTl" not "virgin."
He
did
so
on pages283-291 ofhiscommentary
on
the book of
Isaiah as a
part
of The
New International
Commentary
on
the
Old Testament,
published by
Wm.
B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company,
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Young points out thilt
the
anicle,
"the,"
used
with the
'word ALMAH
in
Isaiah 7: 14 serves to distinguish the
ALMAH from some other kind of
woman. ALMAH
is never used
of
a
married woman. In the O.T. it is used
of
virgins,
Gen. 24:43. If the woman
mentioned in Isaiah 7: 14 is an
unmarried
woman,
a question
arises
.
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Was the child illegitimateor not? f
the child were illegitimate, would such
a birth be a sign? The whole context,
indeed, the whole Biblical context,
rules this out.
On
the other hand, if
the mother were a good woman, then
the birth
was
out
of
the ordinary, an
unusual birth. The mother is both
unmarried and a good woman. When
this
tact is understood, it becomes
apparent that
in
all history there is
only
one of whom this can be
predicated, namely, Mary, the mother
of the Lord. -Young.
Inhis prophecy, Isaiah issaying: I
see a wonderful child . , a wonderful
child whose birth shall bring salvation
to his people; and before such a period
of ime shall elapse
aswould ie between
the conception of the child in the
mother'S womb and his coming to
years of discrerion, the land of Israel
and ofSyria shall be forsaken. -Machen
in Young. The presence of
God will
appear, not in the deliverance
from
Syria and Israel, but in the birth of the
Child Himself. The four points which
must be stressed are:
(1).
The virgin
birth is a sign; (2). The mother of the
Child is one who is
both
unmarried
and a good woman; and (3). The very
presence of
Ihe
Child brings God to
His people; (4). The name, Immanuel,
cannot be applied to anyone who is
not God,lherefore the human child of
the virgin is also God.
3.
The hnportance
of the Virgin Birth
Asmyoldprofessor, William Childs
Robinson, said, as quoted by Loraine
Boettner in The Person
o
Christ:
As
our Lord's divine
nature
had no
mother,
so
His
human
nature has no
father. The SonofManisnoman'sson.
The virgin birth
has
guided the Church
in her
efforts to understand and state
the union of Gpd and man, and this
break
in
the ordinary generations
descending from Adam
has
presented
One unstained by otiginal sin to be the
sinner's substitute. The virgin birth is
integral to the virgin life and the
vicarious death, to the full truthfulness
of the Gospels, and to the Church's
faith in the incarnation
of
the pre
existing Lord.
B
The
Woman
Engaged
to
Joseph
o the House o
David
his
divine bestowal of the highest
honor ever received by any woman
also put
her reputation
and
her
life
at
stake, for although she was engaged,
she was unmarried, and pregnant.
Adultery
was a capital offense,
according to the Torah, i.e., the Law of
Moses.
Betrothal was more bindingon
theJews of Mary's day than engagement
is
to
us. It was a solemn promise to
marry, a promise of mutual faith
fulness; and its violation was looked
upon as adultery, Dt. 22: 13f, 23f.
Mary's betrothed was Joseph, of
the houseofDavid He was ofDavidic
descent. TItisisimportantinformation
essential to understanding the mission
of the Messiah in the world. In II
Samuel 7 God enters into a covenant
with King David promising him that:
(1). Through David's descendant God
would establish His
KINGDOM
on
earth which would be superior to and
triumphant over all other kingdoms;
(2). Through David's descendant God
would build His HOUSE on earth,
where He
would
live
and
enjoy
fellowship with His people; and (3).
his Messiah who would accomplish
all this would be the
son of
David and
the Son of God, i.e. Human and Divine.
Therefore,
it
is important to
Luke
to make clear that Joseph was ofthe
lineage of King David. Mary was also
of Davidic descent. Luke 1:32 and 69
make no sense unless she is also a
descendant of David. Of course it
might
be supposed without
inconsistency that Mary was in reality
ofDavidic descent on her father's side
and was related to Elizabeth by her
mother ..Creed
in
Geldenhuys
Why, then, since Mary was
of
Davidic descent, and sinceJoseph was
notthe biological fatherofJesus, whose
father was God, did Luke point out
thatJoseph was
of
he Davidic lineage?
To com plicate matters, in 2 :33 Joseph
is spoken of as Jesus' father, and in
2:41Josephand Mary are spoken of as
Jesus' parents.
sit
possibleforJesus
to be considered the descendant of
David,
if
He was virgin- born? And
does referringtoJoseph asJesus' father
contradict the fact that God was is
Father?
Or
was Joseph the actual
father
of Jesus by ordinary sexual
intercourse with his wife,
Mary?
Two
things must
be
said to c1earup this
complicated matter:
1. The Significance ofjewish
Adoptive Fatherhood
The
Jewish people
considered
adoptive fatherhood in a much more
realistic way than does
modem
man.
We learn this from the divinely.
ordained institution of Levirate
marriage, Deut. 25:5f. According to
Mosaic Law, when a
man
died without
an heir, his brother was to take his
widow
and
produce an heir for his
brother, with his brother's name. The
child would
be
regarded as belonging
to the dead
man
to a degree that is
foreign to
our
ideas. A child
born
to a
man'swife,and acknowledged
by
him,
was
to aU
intents
and
purposes his
son
.
The truth is that in the N.T. Jesus is
presented
in
the narratives of the virgin
binh as belonging to the house of
David (throughJ oseph) just as truly as
ifhe werein a physical sense the son of
Joseph. He was a gift of God to the
Davidic house,
not
less truly, but on
the contrary in a more wonderful way,
than
if he had
been descended from
David by ordinary generation (through
Joseph). -Machen, pg. 129.
2. The Virgin Birth and
Adoptive Fatherhood
Because
of the virginbirth, the
relation in whichJesus stood to Joseph
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was much closer than is the
case
in
ordinaryadoption. By thevirgin birth
the whole sitnation was raised beyond
ordinary analogies. In an ordinary
instance of adoption there is another
humanbeing--theactual father-who
disputes with the father by adoption
the paternal relation
to
the child. Such
was
not the
case
with Joseph in his
relationship to Jesus, according
to
the
New
Testament narratives.
He alone and no other
htirnanbeingcouldassume
the rights and dudes
of
a
father with respect to
this
child. And the child Jesus
could
be regarded as
Joseph's son and heir with
a completeness ofpropriety
whichno ordinaryadoptive
relationship would in
volve. -Machen,
pg.
129-
130.
C. The
Woman
Named Mary
"kept all
these
words, pondeTing them In
her heart. And when Simeon saw the
haby
Jesus, andsawinhim
the
salvation
of the Lord
for
the nations, she stood
there in speechless wonder and
amazement.
As
Luke portrays her,
Mary is not a modem liberated
woman, but a Jewish maiden of the
first
century, nurtured in the
covenant
promises of Jehovah- the recipient,
indeed, of a wonderful
experience,
but
A careful reader
of Luke's
birth despite that experience still
narratives will appredate
one
of the .of
some
capaCity
for
wonder in her
most beautiful literary touches in the . devoutandmeditativesoul. -Machen,
narrative and at the
same time
an
important indication of essential pg. 132.
historical trustworthiness.
We
reCerto Luke portrays Mary, not asaperfect
the delicate depiction
of
the character
woman,
but as a
real woman,
a godly
of
Mary.
-Machen, pg.
131.
What a woman offaith, a unique and superior
magnificent picture of the mother of
woman,
yet a youngJewish woman of
J e s u s w e h a v e i n t h i s n a r r a t i v e ~
Mary
the
first
century. AndOh,thebeautiful
was possessed of a simple and
glimpses
which Luke gives us into
meditative-we do not say dull or
Mary's soul.
rustic-soul. -Machen. She responds
to Gabriel's announcement with fear m.
THE
MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL
and a desire for more infonnation.
FROM
GOD
TO
THE VIRGIN M RY
When she is told that the Holy Spirit A
The
Angelic Greeting of Mary
will cause her to
conceive
and be the
mother of the Son of God, she says GabrielapproachedMarywithgreat
simply, Behold
the handmaiden
of
the
respect. He addressed her
with
the
Lord;
be
t
unto me
according
to
thy
words:
"Hail, favored
one
The
Lord
is
word."
She immediately
travels
to see
with
you : 1:28. Humble Mary
was
her dear and sympathetic friend, understandably troubled at the
Elizabeth, before whom she sings a encounter with
Gabriel
and
with
the
beautiful hymn ofpraise to God. When words he spoke to her.
Therefore,
the
her baby is born, and shepherds tell Angel, reassuring her, said: ~ D o
not be
her of the announcement of
angelic afraid, Mary; for you have found favor
host, others are
amazed,
but Mary
with
God, 1:30.
4 f
THE OUNSELof halcedon
June, 1993
Gabriel refets to
Mary as
"the highly
favored one,
who has 10und avorwith
God. ' Roman Catholicism tranSlates
the
greeting
as the one
Full of Divine
favor,
in the
sense
that
Mary is
able to
confer or mediate the favor ofGod to
sinners. But the phrase indicates that
she has RECEIVED God's favor,not
thatshenowisina position
to
CONFER
it . God had
given
her is free and
uncaused gracein a uhique
measure
bY'
choosing
her
as mother of His Son. -
Geldenhuys
B The Angelic Message
to
Mary
1. (1:31a)
''Behold,youwill
conceiveinyourwomb,
and
bear a
o n ~
Here we are
face
to
face
with the divine announce
ment that
this young
virgin,
Mary, will conceive a child
in her womb, while still a virgin,
engaged, but unmarried.
See notes
above
on Mary
the Virgin.
2. (1:31b)
"Youshall
name
himJesus
God Himself named
Mary's
son,
because He
alone
would
define
the
character
of His life
and
mission;
and
so that the world would know that in
THE LORD IS SALVATION, which
is the meaning of the
Hebrew word
for
the
Greek, Jesus,
which isJoshua, or
Yeshua.
Matthew 1:21
states:
"And
she
will
bear
Son;
and you shall
call His
namejesus,joritis He
who will save His
people
from their
sins.
a.
The Preciousness ofthe Name,Jesus
No name is all history is more
identified with the unfolding of
God's
redemptive purposes in history than
the name, Jews. When He came into
the world,
God
insured thatHe would
forever
beJesus, the Savior.
His name
is more than asymboL
It
.speaks ofHis
character, position, function, purpose,
and
prerogative.
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b .The Exclusivenessofthe Name,Jesus
Matthew 1 21 says,
It is HE, that
w ll save
...
It
is
EXCLUSIVELY
HE
that will save,
sa.
43:11; 45:21; Hos.
13:4;
Psa.
3:8.
All
of these
O.T.
texts
emphasize the
significance
of his
name
as
it applied
to
Christ. It assigns
to
him a prerogative and office that
belongs to
God
alone and therefore
witnesses to the srupendous
fuct
that
this
child, conceived by the virgin and
born of her, performs a task and is
accorded a title that belong
to
God
alone. Howmajesticthe announcement
toJoseph, 'Thousha tca1lhisnameJesus.'
t invests Jesus with attributes and
prerogatives
that
are peculiarly
divine. -
John
Murray, Collected
Writings
ofJohn Murray, Vol. III, pg .
180.
c.
The
Efficacy
of the Name, Jesus
"He shall save His people from their
sins." It would be hard to find in
Scripture words so simple in
form
and
so
few
in number with greater fullness
ofmeaning. -Murray. Christ's coming
and missionare meaningless apan
from
sin: he came into the world to deal
with sin, more specifically,
to
save
His
people
from
their sins.
(1).
The
Focus on
"Save"
Jesus came into the world to
SAYE.
"He did not come simply to make it
possible
for
is people to be saved, nor
merely to provide the opporrunity of
salvation for his people. It is not as if
he
made salvation for his people
available and that theacrual enjoyment
of
this salvation waits for the
contribution which they themselves
supply. The case is that HE
SHAll
SA
YE.
There is no uncertainty or
contingency. There is definiteness. -
Jesus saves
PROM
sins. It is not
salvation
in
sin, not even salvation in
spite of sin, but salvation from sins.
The salvationJesus secured is of such
a character that it breaks the ties that
bind
us
to sin. It
frees
from the guilt of
sin, Psa.
103:
12. - It delivers from
the ruling power ofsin, Rom.
6:14.
And it is salvation that will not rest
until the redeemed will be released
from all
the defilement, love, and
misery of sin, Psa. 130:7,8. -John
Murray,pg. 183.
(2). The Significance of Their Sins"
That
from
whichJesus saves is very
concrete and
personal-
"He
shall
save
HIS PEOPLE PROM THEIR SINS."
Understand that it is not
from
sin in
the abstract thatJesus saves, but from
OUR SINS, from sin
in
all the
particularity of thought, word, and
deed by which sin is registered in us. -
Jesus saves
from
sins
in
theirindividual
aggravations and complications; and
He
does
all
this in the hearts and lives
of the elect of
God- My
people.
3. (1:32a)
"He
will
be great
Gabriel told Zacharias that John
the Baptist would be
"great in the
sight
ofGod ,
1:15. Gabriel
tells
Mary that
Jesus will be "grea
t,
but His greatness
will be a very different character. Jesus
will be great in that
He will
be
"called
the Son
of
the Most
High."
Christ's
greatness will be
incomparably
superior to everything.
The
GREATNESS
of Jesus as the
Son of the Most High God
"is
all
the
more pronounced because it is going
to be combined with humility and the
eagerness of this Exalted One to
sacrifice himself for the salvation of
sinners. -Wm.Hendriksen,
MatUlew.
4.
(l:32b)
"He
will
be called
the Son of the
Most High"
Jesus will be, literally in Greek,
Son of Highest, without articles,
indicating the absoluteuniqueness and
highness ofjesus'Divine Sonship. Luke
uses this title several times,
Luke
1:32,
35, 76; 6:35; 8:28;
Acts
7:48; 16:17.
The
title, MostHighGod, Gen.14:18,
stresses Jehovah's majesty
and
sovereignty,
Dt.
32:8; II
Sam
. 22:14;
Psa. 7:17; 9:2; 21:7, etc.
Jesus is called the
"Son"
of God
several times in Luke's Gospel, 3:22;
9:35; 20:13,14; 2:49; 10:2lf; 24:49.
Most imponantly in Luke 10:21, 22,
we find that itisunlimitedly'all things'
that are said to have been delivered by
the 'Pather' to the 'Son: so that God is
affirmed to hold back nothing, but to
share all that He has with the 'Son.' In
both the intimate knowledge of the
'Pather' and 'Son' of each other is
affirmed
to
be alike complete,
exhaustive, and unbrokenly
continuous. In both the 'Son' is
represented
to
be the sole source of
knowledge of God. But in Luke it is
said, not that the 'Father' and 'Son'
know each other, but that each knows
'what the otheris:
that is to say, all that
each is.
It
would be difficult
to
frame a
statement which could more sharply
assen the essential deity of the 'Son.'
B.B. warfield,
The
Lord oj Glory, pg.
118-119. The point is that although
such titles as, Son of the Most High,
are
connected with ] esus' Messianic
office
and mission, nevenheless, they
are not limited to that office in their
implications. The title, "Son of the
MostHigh is a Messianic designation,
but it is not only
a Messianic
designation. As the Son.]esus moves
in the sphere of the divine
life.
- The
meaning is that the Son stands out
among all others who may be called
sons
as
in aunique and unapproached
sense the Son of God. -Warfield.
When Luke 1 32 and 35 tellus that
in virrue of the overshadowing of the
Holy Spirit,
which
effected the
conception ofjesusin the virgin Mary,
Jesus is designated the Son of God,
those verses
are not
saying that the
supernatural conception of Jesus, as
an isolated fact, establishes the deity of
Christ.
"He
was divine from alletemity;
He cOllld
not become more
so
because
of the virgin binh. And it would be
appropriate to regard the titles, the
Son of God and Son of the
Highest"
in this context
as
appropriately given
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in
view of
His
supernatural conception
rather than as precise intimations of
deity. On the other hand, it
is
evident
that Luke is wimessing
to
one who did
not have to await any transformation
of character to become Son of the
Highest, Lk.
6:35,
or even His
appoinrment to, or entrance upon,
His
office to be designated in this manner,
but
who from the very outset
of His
entrance into the world sustained a
unique
n;lationship
to God.
Stonehouse, pg . 167.
What Stonehouse, and
Warfield
for
that matter, is
saying is that
it
all depends
on the biblical context of
the phrase, the Son of
God,
in the
Gospel
narratives, as to whether it
refers to Jesus,
in
his whole
person, ' as
the
Messiah
supernaturally born, or to
Jesus as God, the Second
Person of the Trinity. However, the
two cannot be separated in
thisphrase.
Por, although the Son of
God"
may
have a messianic reference, this
Messiah, truly human, is also,
as God
the Son, equal with the Patherin power
and glory. AsStonehouse writes: "And
without
t
thesignifldmce of
h
phrase
as indicating the
full
deity ofjesus)
all
the rest (the messianic significance)
would remain inexplicable inasmuch
as
it
is only
on
the background of a
full
acknowledgment ofHis deity that His
supernatural entrance into the world
and His appointment to perform
transcendent
religious functions
become intelligible. - pg.
167.
Jesus
is the Son of God in that He, as the
Messiah;was supernaturally born into
the world; and in that
He
is God the
Son
in
human
flesh.
5.
(l:32c-33) The Lordwillgtve Him
the throne o His father David;
He
will reign over the
house oj
Jacob
forever; andHis kingdom
will
haveno
end J
Luke defines Jesus' Messianic
person and mission in terms of THE
COMING OF
THE KINGDOM
OF
GOD IN THE LIPE AND
MINISTRY
OPjESUSCHRIST. Thecoming of he
Messiah is the manifestation of
th
Kingdom . The eternal
Kingdom
of
God-God's Rule
and God's
Gift-
is
inaugurated by the appearance of the
Messiah. This
Kingdom
is
described
to Mary in terms of the covenant
promise of the Old Testament,
Sam.
7:12f;
Dan.
7:13f. Most
particularly,
the
Angel
emphasizes to
Mary
four
aspects of Christ's
Kingdom:
a.
He would be
given
DAVID'S
THRONE, i.e., He would be
given
the
royal authority, power and
sovereignty
promised in the Old Testament to the
Messiah-king of the
Hneage
of David ,
II Sam. 7:14;
Psa.
2:7; 89:26,27,
in
fulfillment of the Davidic
Covenant.
b. His reign would be over
THE
HOUSE OF JACOB, Le.,
the covenant
people of God, those who belong to
Christ by faith regardless
of
ethniC
origin,
Gal. 3:29,
those who
are
lost in
sin and found by the sovereign
grace
of
. the seeking and saving Savior, Jesus
Christ.
c.
His Kingdom
is
eternal. Jesus
Christ will reign to all eternity.
d. The coming of the Eternal
Kingdom promised in God's Covenant
is inseparably bound up with and
manifested in the
life
and ministry of
Jesus Christ.
As
we shall
see
, Christ's
16
TIlE COUNSEL
of
ChaIcedon
Jnile,
1993
presence on eanh, and
His victory
over the works of Satan,
signalizes
. hat
the Kingdom
has actually come' into
human history, and will continue to
come
in
all
its saving power, until it
comes in total perfection at the second
physical coming ofJesus Christ at the
very
end of history.
The Kingdom of Christ is the
realization of
th
rule of
God in
the
heans and sodeties of men, enabling
them
to hallow
His
Name, and
do His
will on eanh
as
it is in
heaven. the
Kingdom
of
God'is not
His
destiny nor
His
abstract right
to
ntle
His
sovereignty- it
is
the
actual realization of His
s w a y . ; ~ G . Vos, BIBLICAL
THEOWGY. TbeKingdom
of Christ is the actual
exerdse of divine supre
macy in the manifestation
of power, grace, righteous
ness and blessedness, in the interest of
the
divine
glory Mat
6: 10,
33;
Mk.
12:34.
OnlythencanitbeaREALMin
which people who .eriter it, when
it
"comes into their lives, enjoy divine
blessings of. God's covenant,
especially personal fellowship with
God
in
Christ.
God's
Kingdom
is not
only
.God's
redemptive. rule
in
Christ, it is also
God's
gift
in Christ. ItS realization and
its manifestation of saving power,
righteousness and blessedness depend
totally upon the sovereign grace of
God. fGod's
rule is to be established
in man's heart
IUd
sodety, God must
merdfully bring it to pass in the life
and ministry of the
Messiah, Lk.
12
:32;
22:29f.
Hence,it is clear that
Luke
ets
fonh the gospel of the kingdom in
absolute termsas God'sruleand God's
gift in Jesus Christ That this eternal
kingdom
is
inaugurated by
the
binh of
Christ
is also
made clear
by
Luke's
infancy
narratives. Well
say
more
CONTINUED ON PG. 19
8/12/2019 1993 Issue 5 - Sermon on Luke 1:26-38 - The Announcement of the Incarnation of Christ to the Virgin Mary - Cou
8/11
n next month's issue, I will dem
onstrate
the
necessity of adopting
Van
Til's presupposition. I will explain
why
this presupposition is the most
faithful
to
God's word. I will explain why the
RPCUS (the denomination to which
ChaIcedon Presbyterian Church be
longs and which sponsors The Coun
of Chakedon) insists that all
of
its
teaching and ruling elders and deacons
subscribe
to
a presuppositional
apologetic
for
this is what the
West
minster Confession ofPaith teaches.a
THE ANNUNOATION,
aNT FROM PG 16
about the Kingdom as
we
study jesus'
preaching on the subject.
7.(1:35a) The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power o the Most
High will overshadow
you
Mary asks Gabriel how it can be
that she, a virgin, should conceive. In
the reply of the angel
we
notice the
parallelism which among the Hebrews
always indicates the expression of
sublime sentiments and poeticalstyle.
The angel
in
his reply deals with one of
the deepest and holiest mysteries, and
for
this reason his words
are
here
exalted
to
a song. -Geldenhuys. In a
tender, delicate and chaste manner he
tells Mary
that
her
impending
pregnancy will be effected by divine
influence.
The
Holy Spirit Himself
will come upon
Mary
and overshadow
her with His power, through which
she will become pregnant. Uke the
Glory-Cloud of the O.T., the sytnbol
and visualization of the Divine
Glory
and Divine Presence, Exod. 40:34;
Num. 9: 15, the power and presence of
the Most
High God,
ofjehovah
Himself,
will overshadow her.
The overshadowing or
covering
of which Luke speaks is active not
static. t is creative and productive. It
causes Mary to conceive a child. It
reminds
us
of the Spirit
of
God
creatively hovering over the waters at
creation,
Gen.
1:2. Thy Spirit, 0 God,
makes life to abound, Psa. 104:30.
These delicate expressions rule out
crude ideas of a mating of the Spirit
and
Mary.
a.
How did it happen?
All the angel tells Mary is that the
Spirit shall
come
upon you, and t11e
power oj 11e Most High will overshadow
you.
Panher than this the miracle
could not be revealed, for the human
mind could not
follow
fanher. The
points are these: the conception shall
be caused by the Third Person of the
Trinity; He shall not operate from a
distance but shall Himself come upon
Mary;
He shall work the conception by
His almighty power; and this shall
occurwhen,like the Shekinah, (Glory
Cloud), the power shall overshadow
Mary.
- Beyond this
we
cannot
go.
All
else is impenetrable
.
-Lenski,
Interpretation
of Luke.
b. Why the
Holy
Spirit?
Three times the
Bible
tells us that
the Holy Spirit was the Author of the
conceptionofjesusinMary, Mat.
1:
18,
20;
Lk.
1:35. Why dld the Holy Spirit
effect this conception, and not the
Pather or the
Son?
Every
pan
ofJesus'
eanbly lifeis intimately connected with
the Holy Spirit. He was conceived by
the Holy Sphit in the virgin
Mary.
He
was equipped by the Spirit at His
baptism for his redemptive mission
to
the world. He was full of the Spirit
without measure. The Spirit guided
His life and actions. The Spirit
empowered jesus
to
cast out demons.
As
the resurrected Christ, He baptized
His
church with
His
Spirit.
The work of the
Holy
Spirit
in
the
incarnation of jesus resulted in: (1).
the creation of the humanity of Jesus
from Mary,
His mother;
and
(2).
the
immaculate conceptionoOesus,
Le., His
humanitywas preserved free from sin.
(1). The Spirit's creation
of Christ's humanity
The Son of God existed from
eternity. In the incarnation He took
upon
Himself a
PULLY
HUMAN
NATURE. The Person of the Son
adopted our human nature, physically
and spiritually, whenHe was conceived
by the Holy Spirit in the virgin. Jesus
was born, taken from and nourished
with Mary's own blood -the very
blood which through her parents s,l .e
had
received from fallen Adam.
Because of the work
of
the Holy Spirit
Christ was born a trueman, thinking,
willing, and feeling like other men,
susceptible to all the human emotions
and sensations that cause the countless
thrills
and throbsofhumanlife.
-Kuyper,
-
The
Work oj
e
Holy S p r I ~
pg. 83.
(2). The preservation
of
Christ's humanity from sin
jesus, not Mary, was immaculately
conceived; and
t
was the work of the
Spirit preserving Him
free
from sin in
His humanity, vs. 35b. Prom His
conception throughout
His
life, Jesus
was holy.
harmless,
undefiled,
separate from sinners, because of the
work of the Spirit. As the Son
of
God
He was eternally holy and without
moral blemish. In the incarnation the
Holy Spirit worked upon His human
nature keeping it immaculately holy
from
conception. Therefore it can be
said, that whereas Christ was made
SIN for us, He was never a SINNER.
Why did it take the work
of
the
Spirit
to
preserve Christ's humanity
free from sin? Answer: Because of one
very hnponant point-God sent His
Son in he likenessofSlNPULPLESH,
Rom . 8:3. Throughout the ages the
Church has confessed that Christ took
upon Himself real human nalure from
the virgin Mary, not as it was before
the
fall,
but such as it had become
BY
and
APTER
the Pall, Heb. 2:14,17.
Kuyper. The Son of
God
became man
in our fallen nature, with all
its
weaknesses,
bUt
the Holy Spirit keptit
free
from sinfulness. By saying, 'The
Mediator is conceived and born in
our
nature, as it was
BEPORE
the Pail,' we
Juue,
1993
m
COUNSEL
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sever
the
fellowship between Him
and
l1S; and by
allowing tbat He
bad
the
least personal pan of our
u i l ~ n d sin
we sever His fellowship :ynth
the
DIVINE
NATURE
. -Kuyper .
(3). The work of God the Father and
God the Son
in
the incamationofChrist.
The
Holy Spirit effected the
conception
of
JesuS. ThiS is not to say
thatHe is the Father of esus,or that the
.other Persons of the Trinity had no
pan
in the mcarnation. Justas n the creation '
of the universe, so in the incarnation all
Three Persons of the Trinitywere active.
Funhermore,
itis
Biblical to say that the .
Two Persons of tlie Trinity, the Father
and the Son, worked through the Third
Person of Trinity, the Jioly Spirit.
The Bible teaches us
that
the .
incarnation
of
Christ was the work
of
the triune God. The Fatherwas the Co
Author of the incarnation according to
Clirist in Hebrews 10:5, when He said
to the Father:
"Sacrifice and offering
Thou dost not deSire, but a body didst
Thou
prepare for Me." In other words,
the Father prepared Clirist's human
nature. The Son was also Co-Authorof
HiS own incarnation. He was not
passively born, as weare, He was actively
QQrn. He willingly and sovereignly chose
io be o n c d v e d
n Mary,s womb. Christ
"existing in the form
of
God, counted
not
being on an equality with God.a
thing to be
grasped,. but emptied
Himself, taking the form of aservant .. :
Phil. 2:6,7. The moment of incarnation
the Son of God said: "Behold, I bave
come to do TIty will, 0 God," Heb.
10:5,7 .
'. Although all Three Persons were
active in Christ's Incarnation, it was
especially the work of the Holy Spirit.
He: and not the Father or the Son, was
the efficient cause by which Mary
conceived. Asthe Aposdes' Creed states,
Jesus was .conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus could becalled a child of the Holy
Spirit," Mat. 1:18. However, this does
not
mean tbat: he Holy Spirit was the
f ~ t h e r
ofJesus. "Fatherhood depends
upon more t\ an causing sqmething to
be. - The relation of the Holy Spirit to .
the human nature of Christ is that of
Creator and creature. It
is
the First
Person
of
the Trinity, not
the
Third,
who isChrist's Father, Eph. 1:3: Edwin
Palmer,
The
Holy Spirit, pg. 65-66. The
Holy Spirit is the executive of the
Godhead, the Agent of the will of God,
carrying out the will of the Father and
the Son.
8. (1:35b) For that reason the holy
offspring shall be called
the
Son of
God"
"This conceiving act of the Holy
Spirit was essential In order to secure
Christ's sinlessness, ( the holy
offspring") , which,
in
turn,
was
necessary
in
order for Him to become
our
Savior. It preserved Christ from
that original sin which is the lot
of
every
person born into
thiS
world. Through
man's conception and binh, he is
unholy, full of guile, defiled and one
with other sinners. Through Christ's
conception he was 'holy, guileless,
undefiled and separated from sinners:
Heb.7:26. Man is
conceived and born
in
sin, Psa. 51:5,
but
Christ was
conceived and born in holiness, Heb.
4:15; T Cor.;:21; I Pet. 2:22;
1:19;
Heb.
7:26."-Edwln Palmer, pg. 66.
There are two elements in original
sin trarismitted to the race through
ordinary generation: (1). the guilt which
we inherit from Adam the representative
head of the covenant of life; and (2). a
corrupt nature, which we also inherit
from Adam, which is inclined to all evil,
Rom. 5:12f. But because of His
conception by the Holy Spirit, Christ
w s preserVed [rom these two elements
in original sin. The two ways in which
man becomes a .sinner by birth, were
not
in
effect In Jesus, who
was
kept
sinless by the Holy
Spirit
from
conception. Jesus did not Inherit the
guilt of Adam's representative sin, nor
did he inherit a totally depraved human
nature. His human nature was morally
spodess and morally lovely.
And
this
spotless puriry of ChriSt was due to the
operation of the Holy Spirit whereby
20 '
TIlE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedoil
' June.
1993
Jesus was
immaculately
and
miraculously conceived .
without
Joseph's taking pan. Thus the Holy
Spiritw s necessary in Christ's life from
its very inception. He
w s
necessary for
two reasons: first, in order that Christ
might be born; and, second, in order
that his human nature might be
preserved from the guilt and corruption
of Adam's sin so that He could be our
Savior."-Palmer,
pg.66-67.
9, 0 :36) And behold. even your
relative Elizabeth has also conceiveda
son in her old
age;
and she
who
was
caUedbarrenl5nowinhersixthmonth.
Apparently Mary had not yet heard
of the pregnancy of Elizabeth withJohn
the Forerunner of the Messiah, so Gabriel
informs her. ThiS is an encouragement
to Mary to strengthen her faith and to
make her realize more diStincdy the
imminency of the impending miracle,
and with it the entrance of the long
awaited Savior into the world, and the
dawning of the Kingdom of God.
10.
(1:37) For nothing will be
impossible with Godl
Everything Gabriel announced will
come true exacdy as he said- even the
stupendous miracle of the virginbirth
because nothing is impossible for the
Almighty God. He accompliShes allHis
holy will. He does whatever He pleases,
Psalm 115; 135. Whatever He has
spoken, tbat He will do, Isa. 46.
C. The
SubmiSsive
Attitude
o ary
1. (1 :34) The Question of Awe
After Gabriel brought his message
that Marywould become pregnant with
the Messiah while still a virgin,
Mary
asked, How can this be,
since
I am a
vI'Ein? This message is overwhelming
and incomprehensible to Mary. Yet ,
like ZaCharias, she does not doubt its
truthfulness. She does not ask for a
confirming sign. Instead, she simply
asks forinforrnation. "According to the
original Greek, Mary's words do not
express doubt; but overwhelmed by
the incomprehensible grandeUr of the
8/12/2019 1993 Issue 5 - Sermon on Luke 1:26-38 - The Announcement of the Incarnation of Christ to the Virgin Mary - Cou
10/11
announcement, she merelyenquires
as
to
the manner in which that which has
been
promised
will take place.
Geldenhuys
2.
(1 :38)
The Submission to God
Mary submits herselfcompletely
to
God's will revealed in the angelic
annunciation. She says
in
effect: Lord,
I
belong to you totally as your willing
slave, do whatever you want with me.
I trust
in
you. Even if my husband
no
longer trusts me
or
I
am
executedbecause people think
I
have committed adultery,
I
will trust you and do what you
command. I am yours.
Abraham Kuyper, former
prime minister of Holland and
Reformed minister of
the
gospel, makes this important
pointabout Mary, in his book,
Women
o the New Testament
The faith to which Mary gave
expression has not always been
thought ofas having been freely
given herby grace. It is thought
by some that
Mary
partly
accomplished it herself.
Wherever
this
conception
prevails, these corollaries follow: the
incarnation of the Lord was made
possible only by Mary's assent; by
making that incarnation possible, MOlY
enabled Christ
to
offer the supreme
sacrifice of redemption; and that for
these reasons, Mary is partly
to
be
praised for the redemption of the
world..... - (However) Mary's faith,
too, was not of herself. Only by the
grace of God
did
she make that noble
confession. And this is a formulation of
a truth which diametrically opposes
thatwhichmaintains that Maryenabled
God to complete His determinate
counsel. We insist that God the Lord,
in order to fulfill that counsel, exerted
an influenceuponMary's soulandupon
her body. He influenced her soul by
giving
her
faith,
and her
body by
building up that of the Savior from her
flesh and blood.
CONCLUDING APPLICATIONS
1. The story of the virgin birth of
Jesus is the story of a stupendous
miracle. It is
far
from being incredible,
and an obstacle to faith. Instead it is
an
encouragementto faith. Itis an organic
part of that majestic picture of Jesus
which canbe acceptedmosteasilywhen
it is taken as a whole. -Machen
2. How important is it
for
a person to
believe that Jesus
was
bam of a virgin?
FIRST, it is imponant with reference
to the authority and trustworthiness of
the Bible. There can be
no
reasonable
doubt about
this fact: the New
Testament teaches the virgin birth of
Jesus. Now, the question is, is the N.
T.
correct on that issue?
f
t is not COlTect
at this point, how can i t be trusted on
any other point?
We Chlistians are interested not
merely in what God commands, but
also
in
what God did; the Christian
religion is couched not merely in the
imperative mood
but
also
in
a
triumphant indicative; our salvation
depends squarely upon history; the
Bible contains that history, and unless
that history is true the authority of the
Bible
is gone
and
we who have put our
trust in the Bible are without hope.
Machen, pg. 385
The Bible ..does not merely tell us
what God is,but it also tells US what
God did;
it
contains not merely
pennanent truths of religionandethics,
but also a gospel or a piece of good
news. n integral part of that piece of
news to the authors of the First
and
Third Gospels, was the fact that jesus
Christwas conceived
by
the Holy Spirit
andborn of the Virgin Mary.
f
hatfact
is rejected, then the wimess of these
writers-and
hence the witness of the
Bible-is in so
far
not
true.
Machen, pg.
386.
SECOND,
the
issue of the
virgin birth
of jesus is
important as a test for a
man
to
applyto himselfor to others
to determine whether one
holds a
naturalistic or
a
supernaturalistic
view
regardingJesus Christ. There
are two generically different
views about jesus and they
are rooted
in
two generically
different views about Godand
the world. According to one
view, God is immanentin the
universe
in the
sense that the
universe is the necessary
unfolding of His life; and Jesus of
Nazareth is a
part
of that unfolding, a
supreme product of the same divine
forces that are elsewhere operarive in
the world. According to the other
view, God is theCreator of he universe,
immanent
in
it but also eternally
separate from it
and
free;
and
Jesus of
Nazareth came into the universe from
outside the universe, to do what nature
could never do. Theformer view is the
view of modern naturalism
in
many
different forms; the lat ter view is the
view of the Bible
and
of
the Christian
Church. -Machen, pg.
387
THIRD, this issue is important
because it teaches us that the jesus of
History cannot be separated from the
Christ of Faith. A.N.Wilson fails
miserably
in
his well-written attempt
to make that distinction in his book,
June, 1993 l' TIlE
COUNSEL
of Chalcedon I 21
8/12/2019 1993 Issue 5 - Sermon on Luke 1:26-38 - The Announcement of the Incarnation of Christ to the Virgin Mary - Cou
11/11
Jesus
"The two elements of Christian
truth belong together; the supernatural
Person of our Lord belongs lOgically
with His redemptive work; the
Virgin
birth belongs logically with the Cross.
Where one aspect is given up, the other
will not logically remain; and where
one
is
accepted, the other
will
naturally
. be accepted, too. Thetemaybehalfway
positions
for
a time, but they
are
in
unstable equilibrium and will not long
e maintained." -Machen,
pg.
391.
FOUR1H, a person's knowledge of
the SaViorwould be incomplete without
faith that the
N.T.
passages on the
Virgin
birth
are
true. "Without the story of
the virgin birth our knowledge of our
Savior would be impoverished in a
very serious
way.
- Our knowledge
of
the
virgin
birth,
therefore, is
important because it fixes for us the
time of the incarnation. And what
comfort that gives to our souls - The
eternal Son of God, He through whom
the universe was made, did not despise
the
Virgin's
womb. What a wonder is
there
t
s not strange that it hasalways
given offense to the natural man.
But
in
that wonder we find God's redeeming
loire, and in that baby who lay in
Mary's
womb, we find our
SaVior;
who thus
became man
to
die
for
our sins and
bringusintopeacewithGod."-Machen,
pg.394.
FIFTIl, "the knowledge of the Virgin
birth s important because ofits bearing
upon
our
View of the solidarity of the
race in the guilt and power of sin. -
How, except by the
Virgin
birth, could
our Savior have livedacomplete human
life from
the
mothers womb, and yet
have been from the very beginning no
product of what had gone before, but a
supernatural Person come into the
world from the outside
to
redeem the
sinful race? - Deny or
give
up the
story of the virgin birth, and
ineVitably
you are led to evade either the high
Biblical doctrine ofsin or else the full
Biblical presentation of the supernatural
Person of oUt Lord."-Machen, pg. 395
THEREFORE, we hold that the
Virgin birth oUesus
isVitally
important
because: (1). ifit is rejected theauthority
of the
Bible
is denied; (2). because it
brings before a person the super
naturalness of the person
of
the Lord
Jesus; (3). without the Virgin birth,
there is something seriously lacking in
one's
View
of the person and work of
Jesus Christ. A personcannotrejectthe
diVine testimony of the NewTestament
without risking serious peril
to
his own
soul
3 ..... perhaps not one man out of a
hundred of those who deny
the Virgin
birth today gives any really clear
eVidence
of possessing saVing faith. A
man is not saved by good works, but by
faith;
and saving faith is acceptance of
Jesus Christ
'as
He is offered
to
us
in the
gospel,' .Part of that gospel in which
Jesus is offered
to
our
souls
is the
blessed story of the wracle
in
the
Virgin's womb. - One thing at least is
clear: even i f the belief in 'the Virgin
birthisnotnecessaryto every Chrisrian,
it is certainly necessary to Christianity.
And it is necessary to the corporate
witness of the Church. -
Let
it never be forgotten that the
Virgin birth is an integral pan
ofthe
New
Testament witness
about Christ, and that that
wimess is strongest when it is
taken as it stands.
womb
of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit.-
Machen,
pg. 397, The Yi1&inBirth, Ilaker
Book
House, Grand
Rapids,
Mich.,
1967,
first
published by Harper and
Rowin 1930.
4.lnGabriel'smessage to Marywehave
God's testimony to the incomparable
greamess of Jesus Christ, a greatness
totally different from and superior to
that
of
any human being.
His
existence
as a man s ofuniqUe origin, vs. 35. He
was born of the
Virgin
Mary through
the overshadowing of the power of the
Holy Spirit of
God.
He eternally is the
only-begotten Son of the Most High
God, vs . 32. His God-given name is
Jesus,
Le
., The Lord is salvation. He is
the only diVine-human Redeemer of
the covenant people ofGod . Unlike all
other
human beings, He
is
totally
withOut sin. He is the Holy One in an
absolute sense,
vs.
35.
He
is
the
divine
human
King
who will reigu over His
Kingdom
for
all
eternity, vs. 34. What
a SaVior Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ aild you will be saved
,
and your
family, Acts 16:31.0
The
Ma8nificat
The New Testament
presentation ofjesus is not an
agglomeration,
but an
organism,
and of that
organism
the virgin birth is an integral
pan.
Remove
the part, and
the whole becomes harder and
not easier to accept; the New
Testament account of]esus is
Mary s song
o
praise
for the
glob l
effects
o Christ s birth.
most
conVinCing
when it is
taken as a whole.
ONLYONE
JESUS IS PRESEN1ED
IN
THE
WORD
OF
GOD;
and that
Jesus did not come into the
world by ordinary generation,
but
was conceived
in
the
uke
1
46-55
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12 THE COUNSEL of Otalcedon
'"
June, 1993
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