Lk. 1:26-38, What do ya’ know: Jesus is the God-Man (3)

We have supported from Scripture the fact that Jesus was fully God and fully Man, that the two “natures” existed fully in the one Person.  But we learn from Scripture more than that, in answering this question:

1)    How did Jesus become the God-Man?

a)    Jesus “took on” (Phil. 2:7) and “became” (John 1:14) the God-Man through the Virgin Birth.  This was revealed in Isaiah’s prophecy in 7:14: Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel.  This prophecy was quoted in Matt. 1:22-23 as having been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.

b)    What we know about the details of the mysterious event are seen in the conversation Mary had with the angel Gabriel in today’s passage. 

i)      Christ was born of a woman.  This fulfilled the very first prophecy of the coming Savior in Gen. 3:15 (cf. also Gal. 4:4).  The point is: He came into this world through the womb of a woman like any human.  From the time of the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve and their descendants knew that the Savior would be a “human being” like them.  Eve even seemed to think that Cain (Gen. 4:1) and then Seth (Gen. 4:25) might have fulfilled the promise.  But both of these men were sinners, needing the Savior like their parents.

ii)   Christ was born of a virgin (Lk. 1:27).  Mary did not come to be with child through Joseph or any other human.  This would have resulted in the Child being born with the same sinful nature as all humans have.  Instead …

iii)            Christ was born of God (Lk. 1:35).  God worked a miracle in Mary, even as He had worked a miracle in the original creation of Adam and Eve.  Thus the Christ had no sin nature and was thus “innocent” as Adam was before he ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden.  That is why Jesus Christ was referred to as “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45).  The first Adam sinned and brought sin upon the human race; the last Adam lived a righteous life and through His death and resurrection defeated death and brought life to all who receive Him (Rom. 5:12-19 gives a detailed contrast of these two “Adams”).

iv) Therefore, because Christ had no sin, and committed no sin, the Divine Nature and the Human Nature could reside fully in the same Person.

c)    How can you destroy this glorious doctrine?  Some disbelieve it, comparing it to pagan myths that depict gods having a sensual relationship with mortals.  These are just myths; and the result is a half-god/half-human creature, not the glorious Savior of Scripture.  Others confuse the Virgin Birth by their exaltation of Mary.  Some teach that Mary also was preserved from sin (declared by Pope Pius IX Dec. 8, 1854).  Others teach she, like Jesus, ascended to heaven without actually dying (declared by Pope Pius XII Nov. 1, 1950).  These are not taught in Scripture and deny the fullness of Jesus as Son of God/Son of Man!