The Birth

6-8-2009


The birth of Christ has been a heavily debated event amongst both Christians and nonbelievers. The fact that Jesus’ birth was completely abnormal in that Mary, his mother, was a virgin, leads many to believe it couldn’t be. Humans often struggle with the biblical account of Jesus’ birth because humans do what humans do best; we forget that GOD IS GOD. Even “Christians” argue that the bible is full of stories and is meant for illustrative purposes, and say the bible isn’t completely true. I’m not going to argue with the folks that take the bible as absolute truth, and I am not going to argue with the others that say the bible isn’t true at all. What I am going to say is this: STOP TRYING TO LIMIT THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD! We cannot fathom what he can and can’t do, so let’s stop trying, and instead focus on God’s word.

As you can probably imagine, Joseph, the soon to be husband of Mary, was a bit shocked at the events God chose to take place. Remember, Joseph and Mary weren’t married yet, but during this time period, to give birth before marriage was humiliating. Joseph didn’t know what to do. In Matthew 1:19 it says, “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” During this time period, it was common to have a women stoned to death if she was found cheating on her husband. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. If you’ve never made love to your soon to be wife, and then you found out she was pregnant, what conclusion would you come to? In verse 20 it says, “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

If you are Joseph, now what do you do! He just found out the lady is he “pledged” to wed, Mary, is now pregnant, and all assume she slept with someone else. He is doing all he can to avoid humiliation, and do to the love he has for Mary, he doesn’t want her stoned to death, and now he gets this dream from God telling him to marry Mary and name the baby Jesus. We all know what Joseph does, he marries her and they name the baby Jesus. The angel declared to Joseph that Mary’s child was of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph not only heard the dream, but he followed through. He never slept with Mary until after the birth of Christ.

You may have heard people say something like, “God is speaking to me,” and you may not really understand what this means. The bible tells us that God speaks to us through his written word, the bible, and through others on earth and our life experiences. I’m not saying that God can’t literally speak to you, because he can do whatever he wants. What I am saying is, don’t wait up for God’s voice because you may be waiting for a long time. You probably won’t hear a voice, but God speaks to us every day through the events in our lives. Here’s the problem; most of us are “too busy” to hear him, or we don’t do what we know we should. Very few people actively listen for God, and then do what God’s called them to do. What we can learn from Joseph’s situation is simple; he was in need, he listened for God, and then he followed God’s will in his life. If you look even deeper, you see the obedience of Joseph led to the Savior of the world, Jesus’ birth! We all have times of happiness, grief, and other emotional states. Let’s not call on God when we are desperate, but instead call on him daily, and most importantly listen for the answer, because he will answer every time. The answer may not be what you are looking for, and it certainly may not come as fast as you would like, but he will answer you. Remember, God’s timing is perfect, and he’s never running late.

Application:
1. Read Matthew 1:18-25
2. How’s your prayer life? Do you listen for the answers? Do you take action once God puts something on your heart?