Born of a Virgin

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“If you could pick the ultimate boss, what would that person be like?” We’d want our boss to be smart, to have clout. Additionally, we’d like our boss to be “one of us,” to have worked the job we have so that he/she could understand our particular challenges. Certainly we’d want a boss who “had a heart” for the employees, so that our best interests would be served.

Then we had suggested: “Wouldn’t we want our Savior to have similar qualities?” Of course! Since Jesus is truly God, we know that he’s smart, incredibly so. And talk about clout, wow!

But what about those other qualities—being one of us, having a heart for us—does Jesus have those qualities? Well he would … if he’s one of us. If he’s a human being, like us, then he would completely understand us; he would understand our challenges, stresses, hopes, fears, dreams, and goals. All of that would be true … if Jesus is a real human being.

Listen! “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” (Luke 2:6,7). Jesus was BORN! Like you were born, like I was born—he was born. Which means what? It means that Jesus is a REAL human being—like you, like me. And that’s great! Since Jesus is a real human being, he understands what it’s like to be human. He understands what it’s like to get hungry and thirsty, to get tired and stressed. He understands what it’s like to have friends turn against you, to lose loved ones, etc. He understands, because as a human being, he has experienced all these things!

But remember, Jesus is also true God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. So put those two thoughts—that Jesus is both true man and true God—together. Since Jesus is truly human, he understands us. He has a heart for us because he’s one of us. But since Jesus is God, he can DO things for us! And since he’s God, he’s “really smart,” so the things he does will be the things which make sense for us. In Jesus we find exactly what we need—a Savior who is truly man, but also truly God. As a human being, he understands us. He “gets it.” But as true God, he can do something about it! Most importantly, he can do what we really need—he can save us from our sins!

Forgiveness through Jesus

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God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
– 2 Corinthians 5:19

The month of February holds the day that often makes or breaks relationships: Valentine’s Day! It’s a day of engagement rings, flowers, dinners, and the hope for returned affections. For all the happiness of Valentine’s Day, it’s also bittersweet. For every happy or newly engaged or blissfully married couple, you can find someone who is sadly alone, someone who longs to be loved, someone going through a devastating break-up. No wonder the game is, “He loves me…He loves me not.”

Imagine if the pressure of Valentine’s Day was off. Imagine there was no doubt about how that special someone felt about you. Imagine that person did what the Bible says, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”

We have to imagine, because our experience is that human love is conditional. It is usually based on how people look, or what they have, or how they treat us. As a result, we are led to think that God is the same. We think that he loves us if we’re lovable. We assume that he loves us if we show our love to him. The truth is that God loves us not because of who we are or what we do. The Bible clearly describes God’s amazing love by what he has done for us: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.”

Honestly, we have to admit that there are all kinds of sins on our record before God. Our attempts at love throughout life—failures, breakups, lies, adulteries, divorces—all are an astonishing record of wrong. God ought to oppose us. But in amazing love, God doesn’t count our sins against us. That means that he doesn’t keep a record of all our actions, thoughts and words that violate his holy will.

God doesn’t keep a record of our sins because of Jesus. God took all our sins, the sins of everyone, and charged them to his Son. In our place Jesus willingly and lovingly suffered the punishment of death that we and all people deserved. This is the great love that God has for us…for you! Through Jesus Christ, our relationship with God is restored and by faith in Jesus we will enjoy the blessing of his love forever.

In our relationship with God, it’s not “He loves me…He loves me not.” In Christ, it is always, “He loves me…He loves me…He loves me.”

Jesus in the Temple

Grew up in Nazareth

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The Bible tells us about Jesus’ miraculous conception and his birth in Bethlehem. We’re told that afterward, because of threats to Jesus’ life, Mary and Joseph had to take Jesus to Egypt for a time, then later the family returned to the land of Israel. (See Matthew 2.) Surprisingly, the Bible is silent about the rest of Jesus’ growing years—except for one incident when Jesus was 12 years old. His parents traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover (one of three important religious festivals devout Jews were required to observe each year). Jesus—and many others—traveled with them. After the Passover, they began the journey home.

Unknown to them, Jesus had remained in Jerusalem, where he was spending the time in the temple, learning. When his parents discovered he was missing, they rushed back to Jerusalem, anxiously searching for him. When they found him, Jesus, he gently reminded them that he wasn’t just an ordinary 12-year-old. He was also the Son of God: “Why were you searching for me? … Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).

But then comes the amazing part. He heads back to their home town, Nazareth, and we’re told that Jesus “was obedient to them” (Luke 2:51). Imagine! The true God, the all-powerful one, the wise one, gave obedience to human parents! He listened to—and obeyed—human beings! They should have been obeying him! Yet he obeyed them! WHY? Why would the true God give obedience to human parents?

Here’s why—it’s what we needed him to do. You see, God’s standard to enter heaven is perfection. God doesn’t say, “Do the best you can,” God doesn’t say, “Try hard, I’ll overlook the rest.” God does say, “Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Perfect? Yes, perfect. That’s God’s demand. And no matter how hard we try, you and I don’t match up. So what did we need? We needed a Savior who could live a human life. Because Jesus was human he could live a human life; because he was God he could live that life perfectly, and live it in your place. In other words, because Jesus is true man and true God, the life he lived has been credited to you.

So as we watch Jesus obeying his parents, he’s not just doing that for himself; he’s doing that in your place. As we see him showing perfect love for his fellow humans, he’s not just doing that for himself—he’s doing that in your place. We couldn’t do it—he did it! The results? Now God can look at you and me who believe in him and say, “You’re perfect! You’re holy!” No, not because you were or are, but because Jesus lived a perfect life—in your place—and God has graciously credited that to your account.

Jesus DID it! For me! For you!