What does this mean? It means . . .
(1) Before He was born into this world, Jesus existed as God. From all eternity till the Creation of this world and from the Creation of this world till His birth into this world, He is God, fully God! Unless this is true, Jesus would not be able to say these words: And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (John 17:5)
(2) At a certain point in time, He came into this world as Man. This is called the incarnation — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) God the Son took on human flesh and walk this earth. During His 33 years, He wasn’t just a man. He wasn’t just God. He was both God and Man in One Person.
(3) His birth was unique. As the Creed puts it, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Since the time of Adam and Eve, every human born into this world was conceived as a result of a sexual union between a man and a woman. That was not true for Jesus. He had no human father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the womb of Mary who was a virgin then. After the normal period of gestation, Jesus was born. The baby in the manger was fully God and fully man at one and the same time. His conception and birth was hence a miracle!
(4) While He was fully Man (human), yet He had no sin. He had no human father, hence He does not inherit sinful nature from Adam. His manhood was untainted, and his acts, attitudes, motives, and desires were consequently faultless. So He was like all men, a man; but He was unlike all men, He was sinless.
So what?
- Each time you celebrated the birth of Jesus (did they call it Christmas?), you are affirming (1)-(4) above. In case you haven’t realized, that’s the message conveyed by most Christmas carols. Consider “O Come All Ye Faithful”, stanza 2:
God of God, Light of Light,
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
To celebrate the birth of Jesus and be totally oblivious of (1)-(4) is just plain self-centeredness! It is like attending a birthday party, just interested in the food and fun but don’t know whose birthday it was, how old that person is and having no relationship with that person!
(B) Essential to our salvation is the truth that Jesus is both God and Man. As the sinless Man, He could go to the Cross and die for His people! As a sinless Man, He can die in the place of another sinner else He will have to die for His own sins. But if He was just a Man, then He could only be a substitute for just another person. As God, He can be the substitute for many sinners.
Speaking of Jesus, Isaiah the Old Testament prophet says: And He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12) If Jesus is not who He is – God and Man in One Person, then I can never be saved!
“I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary” says the Apostle Creed.
Questions for Further Thought:
• Can someone who rejects the Virgin Birth be a real Christian?
• How can I make the truth of the Virgin Birth affect my daily life?
WEI En Yi