The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, informing her she had been chosen by God to be the bearer of the Christ Child. This was an amazing moment, an unusual occurrence, a time like no other. Mary’s initial response of fear was quickly put to rest by the angel who told her she had “found favor with God;” she had been specifically selected for a privilege and responsibility as none other; she would be the earthly mother of the Son of God. Being unmarried, she questioned as to how this would happen. “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy –the Son of God’” (Luke 1.35). Fulfilling the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus was born of a young woman, a virgin.
How can this be; how could a virgin have a child? “For nothing will be impossible with God” (1.37). We must hold this foundational truth tightly – “nothing will be impossible with God.” With God, it was not impossible for the virgin Mary to bear a child, for her to give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. It was not impossible for God to bring us redemption through His Son, born in flesh, fully man and yet fully God. It was not impossible for this child to grow to be the man, “despised and rejected by men” to die an unjust and cruel death on the Cross of Calvary; to take our place; to bear the penalty of our sin. It is not impossible for God to cleanse us of all sin through the shed blood of His Son, to free us from all sin’s bondage, to release us from the guilt and penalty of sin. It is not impossible for God to lead us in the midst of darkness, to give us life when we were dead in sin, to give us meaning when we were full of confusion, to give us freedom when we were condemned, to give us hope when we had no hope. Jesus came, the seemingly impossible became a reality, as He was born and seen as a baby, lived, died, and rose to life for our redemption.
Praising God for our Savior – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry Burlingame
My Morning Desk 