Experience Your Virgin Birth
There are many people in the bible that had the opportunity to play major roles in history. What an honor it must have been to be named the first man and the first woman; Adam and Eve. It must have been a pleasure to be able to walk and talk with God himself. What an honor it must have been to be able to be chosen to lead the children out of captivity and introduce the Ten Commandments, laws we still abide by to this day; Moses. Yet there is one honor I would like for us to shift our focus to. What an honor it is to be chosen to birth God in human form. What an honor to be the mother of Jesus; Mary.
Many people know the story of Jesus’ birth, the true Christmas Story. Then again there are those who do not know. Then there are those who choose not to even recognize it importance. Many times the story begins with Joseph and Mary on their way to Bethlehem while Mary was near her due date. They arrive and find there are not vacancies in the whole city so they find this one inn keeper who allows them to stay in the stable in the back with the animals. Mary gives birth to Jesus and lays him in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothing. They receive visits from Sheppards and wise men. Though that may be a good place to start with this particular story, I personal believe the story really cannot be told leaving out the part about Mary being with child and she just so happen to be a virgin.
Luke 1:26-35
26 -28In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
29 -33She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
He will be great,
be called 'Son of the Highest.'
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob's house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom."
34Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."
35The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
What we find here is a young woman who God favored greatly. He had to have favored her and saw something special in her because he chooses her to bear his son. To people of that day, she probably was just an average young girl, but God saw something great in her. He sent his angel Gabriel to give her a message and let her know that she will be giving birth to a son. Mary asked in verse 34, "But how? I've never slept with a man." To break this down, she is asking how can I do this when I have never had sex.
At the time Mary was due to marry a young man named Joseph. He was under the impression that she had never slept with a man before. When he found out that Mary was pregnant, he began making arrangements to leave her. That is when he was paid a visit from Gabriel.
Matthew 1:18-23
18 -19The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
20 -23While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
God used Mary and Joseph to bring forth the Son of God, Jesus. This was a tremendous honor on so many levels. A woman who had never had sex or been with a man a day in her life was impregnated by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to the greatest man that walked the Earth. Many of us look at that and think we could never match that, or God will never visit me with such a gift. If this is how you are thinking, you are wrong.
Mary’s honor was to carry Jesus, and be the woman who would birth the man who would change the world as they knew it. God places inside us spiritual gifts and places ministries inside us. God can come to a man with a speak impediment his whole life and tells him you will go evangelize too many nations. “But how? I can’t speak well”. Virgin birth.
God can come to man who has never had formal theatre training or even been to college, let alone have the money to finance such a venture and tell him he will minister through stage plays and movies. “But how? I don’t have the training and I don’t have the money”. Virgin birth
God even came to Mary’s cousin named Elizabeth who was old and she too was going to give birth to a man who would lead many men to Christ. “But how? I am old”. Virgin Birth.
If God chooses you to do something, it will get done. No matter your experiences. He will make it happen. He will send the Holy Spirit to hover over your life and birth in you a ministry. He will make those around you understand what’s going on and support the cause. Joseph was going to leave Mary, but sent Gabriel to let him know what was going on.
Do not fight giving birth, allows God to use you. It may seem impossible, but that’s what make the story all the more great. God shows his true power when things seem impossible. Experience your virgin birth.
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