Today in the second and the penultimate part of our series of drawing lessons from Christ's birth, we shall focus on the following subjects...
Project...
Ever wondered why the good Lord had the narrative of Christ's birth shown from Mary's perspective in Luke's Gospel only, and not in any other Gospels? In Matthew, we seen the story from Joseph's persepective. If there was any person who would have logically objected to a virgin birth, it would have been a doctor and who was Luke? A doctor (See Col. 4:13), of course!
Provide...
Now, why a virgin birth? No one before Jesus, or after for that matter, has ever been born to a virgin. For a divinely foreordained, spotless and sinless sacrifice for the sins of all mankind (See Rev. 13:8/1 Peter 1:19), a virgin birth would provide a unique "Lamb" which was not only sinless from it's birth, but right at the start of its conception onwards. This would also work as a perfect mediator between God and mankind (See 1 Tim. 2:5-6), as He would be a Son of Man (of Mary), representing human interests before the Almighty, and a Son of God, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, representing the interests of the Almighty before men: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35 NLT)
Also, because it was Eve (See 2 Cor. 11:3/1 Tim. 2:14) who was first deceived by the crafty serpent, a certain divine "poetic justice" required that only the "Seed of the Woman" -- not the seed of Adam and Eve, but only "Eve" (See Gen. 3:15/Gal. 4:4) -- could trample the head of the serpent.
Props...
Before I take even one proverbial step, allow me to share with you a quote from Galatians 4:4 which reads as follows: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law." (Galatians 4:4 ESV)
The key operative words in the above Scripture are "when the fullness of time had come". The all-wise Heavenly Father, who had set the "stage" before the "First Adam" arrived (see Gen. 1:1-28) was then bound to keep that "stage" ready before the advent of the "Final Adam", another name for our Lord (See 1 Cor. 15:45). By the time our Saviour arrived, the world was ready to speak--to facilitate the Gospel by its unification of not just a single language (Greek at that time), but also by excellent roads connecting most of the vast and ever-growing Roman Empire together. Without these factors, Apostle Paul's three missionary journeys would probably not have ever come to fruition!
All glory be to our Heavenly Father, whose wisdom can never be measured; who kept everything in its place all for the arrival of His Son; for the Good News of salvation had to travel to the ends of the Earth.
Proposition...
If not for Christ's birth, there would be no opportunity for us to live life solely for the Father's glory: "For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will." (John 6:38). Because our Lord "fleshed out" obedience in a complete contrast to the First Adam, we can now make the call to live as Christ lived (See 1 Peter 2:23/1 John 2:6). And it's only possible because He is indwelling in us--giving us the required strength to obey and follow the righteous path; the love and joy that should be burning within every Christian's heart: "You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." (1 John 4:4 NLT; see also Neh 8:10)!
Prayer: Father, we thank you for the indescribable gift that was given to us on the first Christmas; a gift that gives us the necessities to live life with glory, joy, strength, and salvation! We glorify you and thank you in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Suresh Manoharan
An unworthy servant
J and SM Ministries
Please join us on Saturday for the conclusion of Lessons From Christ's Birth!
