{"id":966696,"date":"2012-12-01T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=966696"},"modified":"2012-11-27T16:19:48","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T16:19:48","slug":"incarnation-realities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=966696","title":{"rendered":"Incarnation Realities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as the Second Adam. He came to accomplish what the first Adam failed to accomplish.<\/p>\n

The first Adam was created, but not born.<\/p>\n

The Second Adam (our Lord) was born, but He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t created.<\/p>\n

When you were born, you had no choice in the matter. You didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choose your parents. You didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t control the time or circumstances surrounding your birth. But Jesus did.<\/p>\n

Jesus was the only baby who chose His own mother. In fact, He knitted His mother together in her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s womb! For He created all things.<\/p>\n

Colossians 1:16 tells us,<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all things have been created by Him and for Him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

So when we come to study the incarnation of Jesus in Matthew 1, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re studying a birth like none other. Matthew 1:18 conveys the simplicity of the account\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the virgin birth is simply stated as a fact with no arguments or embellishments.<\/p>\n

This observation is one of the strongest arguments for the divine revelation of these verses.<\/p>\n

If sinful men wanted to invent or concoct a story of God becoming a man through a virgin conception, it would end up being a long, well-padded, even defensive account of how it happened.<\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what we have. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no long account; no arguments; no embellishments. Just a simple statement of the facts.<\/p>\n

Matthew opens with 17 verses to disclose the human genealogy of Jesus, but only one verse to reveal His divine ancestry: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (1:18).<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the Holy Spirit who placed the divine seed into the body of Mary.<\/p>\n

This is a unique place where theology overshadows biology.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what makes this a miracle. The virgin conception can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be explained by natural<\/em> means. The Holy Spirit is named as the supernatural<\/em> means. She is pregnant\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 while still a virgin.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before they came together\u00e2\u20ac\u009d means they had no sexual union.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve actually heard some people say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What difference does it make if Mary was a virgin? Who cares if Joseph was His father or even another man\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

They say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t His life and teaching what counts most?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The answer is no; because the life and teaching of Jesus are inextricably bound to His person and His origin.<\/p>\n

If Jesus had been the offspring of a human father, He could not have been our Savior. He would not have been divine.<\/p>\n

He could not have lived a sinless life or died a substitutionary death. He would merely be another child of the first Adam, and like the rest of us, dead in trespasses and sins.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, it would mean Jesus was a fraud who lied about His eternality, who lied about His oneness with the Father and His sinless nature. We would have no Savior and we would still be lost in our sins with no hope for heaven after death.<\/p>\n

But the Bible proves that it matters a great deal who Jesus really is and how He came into this world. It actually happened as Scripture records. Jesus was born of a virgin.<\/p>\n

We worship a God who has invaded time and space with the reality of who He is!<\/p>\n

So as we prepare to begin 2013, I encourage you to pause and let the wonder of these incarnation realities change your perspectives on life and God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose for you in the coming year.<\/p>\n

With joy in Christ,
\nPastor Kevin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as the Second Adam. He came to accomplish what the first Adam failed to accomplish. The first Adam was created, but not born. The Second Adam (our Lord) was born, but He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t created. When you were born, you had no choice in the matter. You didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choose your … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Incarnation Realities”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":966697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966696"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=966696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/966697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=966696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=966696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=966696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}