Christmas Hymn: Down from His Glory
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us).” (Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy was given more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
Mary was astonished when the angel Gabriel visited her to announce that God would use her to bear His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, without the help of an earthly father. First, angel Gabriel revealed to Mary that she was blessed among women as God had showed her unmerited favour. Then he showed her that the miraculous virgin birth of Christ would be through the supernatural power of God the Holy Spirit to prepare the earthly body of Christ in her womb (Luke 1:35). Jesus, God the Son, who is a Spirit, had to put on flesh and blood to be like us so that He could be our Substitute to die in our place for our sins on the cross (Hebrews 10:5).
Mary’s reply to angel Gabriel was, “Behold the handmaid (servant) of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” She was willing to be used by God to bring forth Jesus, the most important Gift that God had prepared for the human race. She also recognised her need for a Saviour to save her from her sins as seen in her praise to God, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:46-47)
Why was the virgin birth of Christ important? We go back in time to the garden of Eden when the first person God created, Adam,chose to rebel against God, to the detriment of the entire human race that would descend from him. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). We inherit Adam’s sinful nature and therefore the Bible reveals“For as in Adam all die” (1Cor 15:22). This is why Jesus had to be born through a virgin birth, which means that He would not be born “in Adam”, and He would be the Head of a new creation (those who trust in Him for salvation from sin and hell).
Mary was born a sinner, just like you and me, who desperately needed a sinless Saviour to be her Perfect Substitute to save her from her sins (she had an earthly father, Heli (Luke 3:23), and was born “in Adam” like us). May we rejoice like Mary this Christmas, trusting God’s promise that “…by the righteousness of one (Jesus) the free gift (of salvation) came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus) shall many be made righteous (Christ imputes His righteousness to all who will depend on Him for the cleansing and forgiveness of sins)”. (Romans 5:18-19).