IT STARTED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
When God created Adam and Eve they had a beautiful and personal relationship with Him in the garden of Eden. God loved Adam and Eve and COMMANDED Adam : “From any tree in the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall NOT eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die”. When God came to them in the garden He walked and talked with them, until one time God came down to walk with them and found them hiding from Him.
Adam had sinned by being disobedient to God when he ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which Eve had given him. Adam and Eve died spiritually, separated from God. Through this sin of disobedience by the first parents a curse came upon the human race and the Earth. They were send out of the garden of Eden already spiritually dead but also destined to die physically. Through the sin of Adam ALL human beings ever born are tainted with sin and therefor cursed and doomed to go to the Lake of Fire separated from God for eternity. This is the second death. The first death we are born with as a result of Adam’s sin, that is, we are separated from God from birth. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TO BE BORN AGAIN! The ONLY WAY to be born again is to ENTER the ONLY WAY.
That Way is JESUS.
BUT THERE IS A WAY OUT!
FOR GOD SO LOVE THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; Hebrews 10:5
JESUS WAS BORN!
God the Son, The Eternal Christ, the Word, the Light came into the world and took on human form in the body that was prepared for Him (to be the perfect sacrifice) and became the Son of Man, so that He could die for us on the Cross. Jesus is FULLY Son of God and thus as Son of God can not die as He is God Eternal and Jesus is FULLY Son of Man and thus as Son of Man could die as He was human and He did die. Mary as a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to a child prophesied in Isaiah 9:6 and named Him Jesus as instructed by the angel Matthew 1:21. Jesus was born of a woman so that He might be human and could die on the Cross and He was born by the Holy Spirit and not by man that He might be SINLESS and be the perfect sacrifice. As Son of Man Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of HIS people. (Please note “HIS PEOPLE”. More about this in the article “Chosen in Jesus”). That is why He came in to the world. To be the perfect Sacrifce God demanded and to be the Saviour!
IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH
JESUS THE SON OF GOD
The first important reason of the Virgin Birth is that Jesus is the Son of God. If Joseph was His father He would merely be a human being. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and ETERNALLY shares in the undivided DIVINE nature with the Father and Spirit. Like one writer puts it “Jesus is the uncreated Creator of the universe”. Colossians 1:16 tells us “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” So before He came into the world as the Son of Man He already existed in eternity as the Son of God. Some of our favourite verses: John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Revelation 19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God”.
JESUS IS SINLESS
The second important reason for the Virgin Birth is that Jesus was (and is) SINLESS. If He had been born of the man Joseph He would have inherited the sinful nature of Adam and could NOT have been the perfect sinless sacrifice God demanded for the forgiveness of sin. Being born of the Holy Spirit made Him Son of God, while being born of a woman, Mary, made Him also Son of Man. Matthew 20:28 “……just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” Just as a magnet can only attract ferromagnetic metals, so sin can only attract sin. Thus as Son of God Jesus is totally SINLESS He led a perfect SINLESS life and (in our understanding) could NOT have been tempted by sin. We believe an item can only be attracted to a magnet if it contains ferromagnetic metals and so we also believe that a person can only be attracted to sin if the person has a sinful nature. Satan tempted (threw temptations at) Him but Jesus was not attracted to these temptations as He had no sin within Him. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus paid the ultimate penalty!
HE DIED ON THE CROSS!
God demanded a perfect sacrifice for men’s sins. As there was no perfect man (as all men have sinned and come short of the Glory of God) He accepts animals in place of the offer, but they had to be perfect without blemish, to be the perfect substitute sacrifice as a foreshadowing to the ultimate perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, the ONLY perfect sacrifice to fully atone for the sins of His people.
The Lord Jesus Christ PAID the ultimate penalty with His own BLOOD when He died for us on the Cross on Calvary. Because ALL men have sinned none of us could pay the ultimate penalty God demanded for our sins! However, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, to die for us on the Cross to pay the ultimate penalty. The moment He breathed His last and said “IT IS FINISHED”, the DEBT was paid for in full. Our sins were covered, PROVIDED we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and in His sacrificial death for us on the cross. Jesus won the victory over sin! He defeated Satan! By believing in His death on the cross and trusting in Him as our Lord and Saviour we too have victory over sin and are set free from the curse of sin..
SCRIPTURES FULFILLED!
Psalm 34:20 “He keeps all his bones,
Not one of them is broken.”
Fulfillment in John 19:33 “but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.”
Psalm 22:16 “They pierced my hands and my feet.”
Fulfillment in John 20:27 “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;”
Zechariah 12:10 “so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced;”
Fulfillment in John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear“
Psalm 22:18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
Fulfilled in Matthew 27: And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Fulfilled in Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Psalm 31:5 “Into Your hand I commit my spirit;”
Fulfilled in Luke 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Psalm 22:15 “And my tongue cleaves to my jaws”
Psalm 69:21 “They also gave me gall for my food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
Fulfilled in Mark 15:23 “They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.”
and Matthew 27:34 “they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.”
Some commentators try to play with the Greek and English words used, we strongly believe and KNOW that Jesus did NOT want to drink a drink that would take away the pain. He would however drink of the sour wine to quench His thirst.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BURIAL OF JESUS
HE WAS BURIED!
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth”. The Romans were ruthless with criminals and often their bodies were left hanging on the crosses for the wild birds and insects to devour or they threw them in common graves for criminals. Here the Roman’s intention was to make His grave with the wicked, however God allowed the Messiah to be with the rich at His death, when Pilate gave permission for one of His disciples (but a secret one), Joseph of Arimathea, who was a member of the Council (but who had voted against their actions), to remove Jesus’ body and bury it in his own tomb (which made it the tomb of the wealthy, instead of a common grave). Joseph was joined by Nicodemus another secret disciple of Jesus, who came to Him at night so he wouldn’t be seen by other members of the Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin (John 3:2). This was to fulfill the above Scripture of Isaiah 53:9.
The importance of His burial in the tomb is that death could NOT hold Him
Jesus has the victory over death!
HE HAS RISEN !
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
Oh the sweet words of these verses! The sting of death is sin! 1 Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law of God, which dooms the dying sinner to eternal punishment. Jesus won the victory over that sting, that is sin, at the complete satisfaction of God the Father. This satisfaction is guaranteed through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! That is why the EMPTY TOMB is so important to Christians and that’s it is so important for the heathens to try and prove that the resurrection didn’t occur with all sorts of crazy excuses. To no avail. The four gospels give solid examples of Jesus appearing to His followers after His resurrection.
As stated before death could NOT hold Jesus. We also have the assurance that through the resurrection of Jesus we can also look forward to our resurrection should we taste death before Jesus comes for us at the Rapture. Should we be among the Christians that are ALIVE at the time of the Rapture we of course will never know death and instead of being resurrected we will be changed!
1 Corinthians 15: 12-13 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”
“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;” That is why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important to the Christians faith!
Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 15:14 “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”
We would have walked our Christian road for nothing because when we would have died without there being a resurrection, it would have been a waste of time.
The good news is JESUS IS ALIVE because He rose from the dead and we also have that assurance of the resurrection because HE IS ALIVE and we believe in Him as our Lord and Saviour and that He died for us on the Cross, was buried and rose again!
THREE STEPS TO SALVATION
ENTER AND FIND OUT!
WHICH ROAD ARE YOU ON?
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who enter through it.”
Matthew 7:14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.
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