The Supernatural Birth of Jesus



I’m always glad when Christmas comes around, because I finally have the opportunity to sing one of my favorite hymns, and it’s only sung around Christmas. That hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” It is not only my favorite Christmas Carol, but it is one of my very favorite hymns, and I’m not alone.

In 1872 the Church of England selected the four greatest hymns in the English language, and “Hark the Herald Angels” was one of those hymns. I wait all year to sing this hymn, and then I find myself singing it and humming it to myself all through the season.

It is a tribute to our Savior, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one of the greatest treasures that the church has musically, and it is a treasure to the mind and soul of everyone who has memorized the incredible words to this hymn.

It was originally written in 1739 by Charles Wesley who wrote it as a Christmas day hymn. Fifteen years later, along came George Whitefield, the great preacher, great evangelist, and he felt that the words needed a little bit of editing, so he Calvinized it.

And fifteen years after the original work of Wesley, Whitefield brought its lyrics into the familiar form that we sing today. It needed a tune, and the years went by, and Wesley had always said it needs a kind of a somber, slow tune. But it never really caught on with that kind of tune.

And then about a hundred years after Whitefield in the mid 1800s there was a famous German Jew who was baptized a Christian, baptized into the Christian faith. This German Jew wrote a cantata in the honor of Johannes Gutenberg who invented the printing

Press, and in that Cantata there was an amazing tune, and that is the tune that since about 1850 has been associated with “Hard the Herald Angels Sing,” and that German Jew who converted to Christ was Felix Mendelssohn.

So when you get a song that has Wesley, Whitefield, and Mendelssohn, it’s going to be good; and it is good. It is the best. I know you know it, but I can’t go any further really without reminding you of the words: “Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King.

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!’ Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies; with the angelic host proclaim, ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’ Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’ “Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ the everlasting Lord; late in time, behold

Him come, offspring of the virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’ “Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!'”

And there are at least three other verses that are not in the hymnal. Great hymn. Just an incomparable hymn, and every verse ends with, “Glory to the newborn King!” Wesley and Whitefield instruct us concerning the person of Jesus Christ in this hymn.

He is the newborn King, but He is also identified as the Prince of Peace, the Son of Righteousness, the Everlasting Lord, the Incarnate Deity, and most of all Emmanuel, God with us. It’s an almost breath-taking Christology in this magnificent tribute. And, by the way, this is Christianity.

Christianity is that God, the Eternal Son, left heaven, came to earth as a baby born to a woman miraculously without a human father; born to save the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. That is Christianity, and that birth is how the New Testament begins.

So let’s go to the beginning in the book of Matthew and the very first chapter. Over the next four weeks we’re going to look at Matthew’s account of the birth of the King. Jesus asked the Jewish leaders about Messiah one day, recorded in Matthew 22. “He said, ‘Whose son is Messiah to be?’

And they replied immediately, ‘Son of David. Son of David.'” Royalty. They saw Him as a man born in the line of David. That is exactly what the Old Testament declared back in 2 Samuel, chapter 7. We are told that the greater son of David, the Messiah who will establish God’s kingdom

Will come through the royal line of David. Whoever is the Messiah, whoever is God’s anointed king must be a descendent of David. That is why Matthew begins the way he does, verse 1: “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David.”

And then you have a detailed genealogy coming all the way down to “Joseph” – in verse 16 – “the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.” The Messiah, verse 1, must be a son of David. Messiah is, in David’s line, the royal right, passing through Joseph.

Let me hasten to say this: Jesus was not related to Joseph by blood, but in Luke, chapter 1, there is a genealogy of Mary, and Mary also came from David’s line. Mary gave Jesus the royal blood, Joseph gave Him the royal right, because the royal right always came from the father.

But it’s more than just the son of David that Messiah must be. He must be the son of David. He must have the blood of the line of David coursing through His veins, and He did through Mary.

He must have the right to the throne, which He received through the fact that Joseph was His legal father in the earthly sense. But He had to be more than just the son of David, He had also to be the Son of God.

And that is the message that Matthew gives us, starting in verse 18. Not only was He in the line of David, but He is divine. Not just man, not just royal, but He is divine, He is the Son of God.

Verse 18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall His name Immanuel,’

Which translated means, ‘God with us.’ And Joseph awake from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” Mary’s Son is God with us.

Mary’s Son is Immanuel. We are thus introduced to the incarnate God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here, this account of His birth is a very critical identifying mark that sets Him apart from any and every human being who has ever been born.

He is the only one born of a virgin, conceived by God in the womb, the God-man: fully divine, fully human. But Matthew focuses particularly on His kingship, on the royal right that He has to the throne as God’s Anointed. That’s why he gives the royal genealogy at the very beginning.

And then he gives this remarkable birth that adds to His human royal line: divinity. Matthew presents to us all through his gospel Jesus as King. Let me just give you a little bit of a look at that. First of all, Matthew shows us the King revealed.

The person of Jesus Christ is always painted in royal colors. His ancestry, as we saw, is traced through a royal line. His birth is dreaded by a rival king. Wise men offer Him royal gifts. His herald, John the Baptist, declared that He is a king and that His kingdom is at hand.

His temptation reaches its climax when He is justly offered the kingdoms of this entire world. His great Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the King, setting forth the standards of His kingdom. His miracles are His royal credentials. His parables are called the mysteries of the kingdom.

He is hailed as son of David, but also as Son of God. He claims freedom from paying tribute to earthly kings, because He Himself is the Son of the Great King, and is Himself a King. He makes a royal entry into Jerusalem where He declares Himself to be the King.

And while facing the cross He predicts that He will rise again and He will establish His future reign. He proclaims sovereign power to command angels. Even His last words are a kingly claim and a royal command: “All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore.”

So Matthew presents Him as royalty, as God’s Anointed King, the revealed King. But Matthew also presents Him as the rejected King. The rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ is emphasized by Matthew all the way through. Before He was born His mother was in danger of being rejected by Joseph.

At His birth, Jesus faced the possibility of death. Jerusalem was troubled by His birth. Herod sought His life. In Matthew’s account, on the plains of Bethlehem, no angel choir sings. But in Matthew’s account, mothers weep as their baby sons are slaughtered in an attempt to kill the true King.

Even as a child He is hurried away into obscurity in Egypt for awhile, and then He’s hurried back up to Nazareth, and obscure town where He stays in obscurity until He’s 30 years of age. His forerunner and cousin John the Baptist is arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded.

During the time of His ministry He has no home of His own, nowhere to lay His head. He is a wanderer. His parables demonstrate the character of His kingdom age, and they are rejected by His people. In His death, He is forsaken by His people, He is forsaken by God.

In Matthew, there’s no penitent thief praying. There’s no word of human sympathy recorded by Matthew as He faces death. But Matthew does describe the reviling, the mocking, and the bribing of the soldiers to lie about His resurrection. No other gospel so chronicles the bitterness of the rejection of the King.

But, finally, Matthew’s focus is not only on the revealing of the King and the rejection of the King, but on the return of the King. No other gospel says as much about the second coming of Christ as does Matthew. It is a gospel of triumph.

The King is to be revealed, He is to be rejected, but He is to return and establish His promised kingdom and reign there forever and ever. Matthew begins at the very beginning with His birth. Just a note about the genealogy. In the genealogy you have many men listed.

But tucked into the genealogy are the names of four women in the first seventeen versus of Matthew 1. Interesting women. There is Tamar, guilty of prostitution and incest. There is Rahab, a prostitute and idolatress. There is Ruth from Moab whose whole line was cursed because it descended from incest.

And there is Bathsheba who was an adulterous woman, and whose husband was murdered out of that adultery. Those are the four women in the genealogy, which is a declaration by God that the King is a gracious King, and the King has come to identify with sinners.

The greatest credential for the King is not His genealogy, as wonderful as it is, it tells us in the royal line, it tells us He will be a gracious King. He will identify with sinners. But the greatest credential is His birth, and that’s what I read you in verses 18 to 25.

This identifies Him as having come from heaven. Now the facts are clear, you saw them there. Joseph and Mary were engaged, betrothed, not yet officially married, not yet having consummated that union. Joseph knew Mary was pregnant, and he knew that was not his child.

We are then told the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. And then Joseph is commanded to marry her and name the child, who is God with us, with the name Jesus. Those are the simple facts of this very understated massive divine work of the virgin conception

And birth of the Son of God. Now let’s look a little more deeply. First of all the virgin birth conceived – and we’ll look at verse 18. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to

Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.” This is just such a simple explanation of a staggering, incomprehensible, divine miracle. The Bible does that a lot, simply states things that are beyond our comprehension. We don’t know anything about Mary really.

John 19:25 mentions her sister, who was also one who followed Jesus. That’s really all we know. We look at Luke 1 and we get her genealogy, so we know the name of the family behind her. We know she was related to Elizabeth, who was the wife of Zacharias the priest, and

They were the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. We know she lived in Nazareth, which was a town in the north of Israel up in the Galilee area, a nondescript town of which it was said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” A blue collar down, insignificant religiously, insignificant historically.

That’s all we know about her in terms of biography, in terms of earthly background. We know nothing about her family, what they did. But we do know about her character, which is what is most important, because in Luke,

Chapter 1, in verse 38, Mary says in response to being told by Gabriel the archangel that she’s going to be the mother of the Most Holy Child, the Son of God. She says, “Behold, the slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”

This is a 13-year-old girl or so who sees herself as a slave of the Lord, a willing, loving slave of the Lord who wants only to do whatever the Lord asks her to do. She is a worshiper.

Over in verse 46, in response to this, she says, “My soul exalts the Lord, my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for He has had regard for the humble state of His slave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.” And she goes on to quote Old Testament passages in that beautiful Magnificat. She is theologically astute. She knows God, she knows the attributes of God, she knows the Old Testament.

All that she says is drawn right out of the Old Testament. She is a righteous young girl, a slave of the Lord who believes what the Lord says and wants only to do what He asks her to do. She’s a godly young girl.

Now she is, it says in verse 18, betrothed to Joseph. You have to understand Jewish marriage contracts were a little different than we have today. People get engaged and disengaged, then engaged, then disengaged, and we’ve all become pretty used to that happening.

In the Jewish plan of marriage, when you were engaged or betrothed, that was a binding legal covenant. You literally bound yourself for life to the one that you had desired to marry. You can find that back in Deuteronomy 20 in verse 7.

Betrothal was a legal contract demanding, defining two people as committed to one another for life. Betrothal was a trial period. There was no consummation during betrothal. That came after the actual marriage ceremony. There were usually several months during the betrothal period. What was that for?

Well, in some ways, the husband needed to make preparations for the wedding. That would be an extensive responsibility that he would have. But even more than that, it was a trial time to see if the person that you had committed to would be faithful to that covenant.

It was a time to prove your holiness, your virtue, and your righteousness. It was clearly before they came together that they had been betrothed. So they were set by covenant, by legal contract for a marriage. But this was the trial period to find out if the person would be faithful.

And, back to verse 18, before they came together, before they were actually married, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. The worst possible scenario was that a betrothed woman would become pregnant. That’s why you had the trial period to prove her integrity, her virtue. She was pregnant.

She was about three months pregnant, if you calculate what the New Testament says, at this time when Joseph gets the information. And by the way, she knew she was pregnant. How did she know? Luke 1:26, because the angel Gabriel came to her when they were back in Nazareth and

Said, “Behold, don’t be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God” – verse 30, 31 – “Behold, you will conceive in your womb, bear a son; you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the throne of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” He’s the King. “Mary said, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’

The angle answered and said to her, ‘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.” Nothing will be impossible with God. So she knew, she knew.

But apparently she knew before Joseph knew. Maybe she was just trying to figure out how to explain that since that had never happened. Now Joseph found out that she was pregnant. I can’t imagine the shock and devastation, because this is a virtuous girl that he knows

And loves and is committed to for life, and he finds out that she is pregnant. And according to Deuteronomy 22, verses 23 and 24, if a betrothed woman became pregnant, she was to be stoned to death. So a cloud of suspicion and shame and scandal is hanging over her head, because she doesn’t

Know how to explain this. There’s really no precedent for this, there’s no way to explain it. In all human history there’s never been a virgin birth. And now Joseph is in shock because he’s found out that she is pregnant, and he can’t understand it.

And so in verse 19, “Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” Righteousness is a wonderful word, It embodies holiness, virtue, morality; but it also embodies compassion. Part of being righteous is being compassionate. This is a righteous man.

You might say, “Well, if he was a righteous man, he’d make a public display out of her. A righteous man would uphold righteousness, and a righteous man would make this public and say, ‘She has been unfaithful; I want to declare her unfaithfulness.

We’re going to bring her before the appropriate witnesses and we’re going to deal with thing publicly, because she needs to be a warning sign concerning this kind of sin.'” But there is inherently within true righteousness compassion and deep affection and love. He loves her, he cares for her.

He doesn’t understand what has happened, he has no explanation for it, but his heart is compassionate toward her. And so we saw the virgin birth conceived in verse 18, and now the virgin birth is confronted in verses 19 and 20. It’s confronted by Joseph. They’re betrothed.

He’s a righteous man, that is he desires to do what is pleasing to God. You could even say that he has been declared righteous by faith in God in the same way that Old Testament saints had. Certainly Mary was one of them.

He is a true Old Testament saint justified before God by faith. The justification of that man and even the transformation of that man’s heart is evidenced in his obedience to God, his desire to obey God, to marry a godly, virtuous woman. And to also demonstrate compassion.

Mary was precious to him, the girl of his hopes. But he had to do what was right. But he doesn’t want to disgrace her – back to verse 19 – wanting not to disgrace her. There’s no bitterness. There’s no anger. There’s no hostility.

There’s no desire to make a display out of her, just confusion and compassion. Two courses are really open to him at this point. The harshest would be to make a public example of her. And even though capital punishment as a punishment for sin had disappeared in the history of

Israel, there was still the threat of a public divorce, a bill of divorce, a public lawsuit against her; and she would be brought into some kind of court, and there would be witnesses coming into the court to testify against her that she was pregnant and that Joseph was not the father.

In ancient times she would have been stoned to death. But in more recent times, during the time of their life, divorce had taken the place of stoning. He could have had a public divorce and sort of exonerated himself, but he doesn’t want to do that.

“So he decided to” – it says at the end of verse 19 – “send her away secretly.” Send away is the word apoluō . It’s the New Testament word for divorce. But not publicly, not with witnesses testifying against her to justify his action, but a very quiet, very private divorce.

He wasn’t going to go through with the marriage to a woman who was unfaithful. He is devastated, he is crushed. It is all unthinkable to him, unimaginable. But he loves her, he cares for her, and so he decides that he is going to just do this very secretly.

However, verse 20 says, “When he had considered this,” – he was in the middle of considering it, meditating on it; apparently he falls asleep, mulling over in his mind what he’s going to do with this love of his life – “behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”

I don’t understand the reality of that; I don’t know how to define that. It says a dream, and yet it says an angel of the Lord actually appeared to him in a dream. This is a supernatural experience, that’s all we can say, that’s all we need to know.

“An angle of the Lord appears to him in a dream and says, ‘Joseph, son of David,’ – again reiterating that he is in the royal line – ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'”

What an unbelievably shocking dream. You know, he probably felt like most men feel, “I’m really not good enough for her.” And then he might have thought for a moment, “Maybe she’s not good enough for me.” And now he hears from an angel that God Himself has planted a life in her womb, something

That has never happened to any woman. And now he goes back to saying, “If I thought I wasn’t worthy of her before, I’m sure not worthy of her now if out of all the world God has chosen her to be the mother of His incarnate Son.”

We think about people being engaged having a difficult time waiting until they’re married to display their affection. I think Joseph must have felt like he needed to stay away from her, because he was some kind of transcendent person beyond anything he could ever imagine himself to be worthy of.

He is told that the child in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity. He would know the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit coming on people for all kinds of reasons in the Old Testament, bringing God’s power and God’s presence into a life.

This is stunning, shocking. It’s the same message that Mary heard back in Luke 1: “The child will be produced by the Holy Spirit. This will be a Holy Child. This will be the Son of God.” So Joseph is now trying to figure out just exactly, “How do I fit into that?”

Little wonder then that when the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Fear was the first reaction of Joseph. “Stop being afraid. You can take her as your wife. She is not so transcendent, she is not so holy, she is not elevated that she cannot be your wife.

What has been conceived in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Verse 21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” She will bear a Son. It doesn’t say, “She will bear you a son.” Never says that.

In Luke 1:13, the Lord said to Zacharias, “Elizabeth will bear you a son, because you are a participating father.” That is never said to Joseph. It’s just, “She will bear a Son.” This is Mary’s Son and this is God’s Son. This is not Joseph’s Son.

By the way, throughout the 2nd chapter of Matthew, Mary is identified as His mother and Joseph is never stated as His father, never. “Arise, take the young Child and His mother and flee into Egypt. Take your Child. Arise, take the young Child and His mother, go into the Land of Israel.”

This is not Joseph’s Son; this is God’s Son, this is Mary’s Son. In fact, in the 2nd chapter of Matthew, God says, “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.” Jesus was God’s Son and Mary’s Son, never Joseph’s Son.

The mystery of all of this is profound and confounding, and when it says down in verse 25 that he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son, I can fully understand that, that he wouldn’t want to do anything to touch her.

It was not legal to do that anyway, just because they hadn’t had the marriage ceremony. But I think it would have been hard to imagine himself even putting a hand on such a set apart and anointed life chosen by God for such singular calling. But Joseph, you do have a role to play.

Father gives the name, so verse 21, “You shall call His name Jesus Yeshua” – Old Testament Joshua – “for He will have His people from their sins.” Yeshua means Jehovah saves, Jehovah saves. That’s His name, Jesus, Jehovah saves, for He will save His people from their sins.”

There are a lot of names that are given to Jesus in the Old Testament, you’re familiar with them: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity – Isaiah 9, Servant of Jehovah, Yahweh – lots of names of Jesus. But here is a new name. His name is to be Yeshua, Jehovah saves. That’s remarkable.

Back in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, God claims some singular characteristics. He says, verse 11, “I, even I, am the Lord,” and yet in the New Testament Jesus is declared Lord. God says in the same verse, “There is no Savior besides Me,” and yet Jesus is to be named

Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. God is a Savior; Jesus is a Savior. In that same chapter, verse 13, God says, “Even from eternity I am He.” John 1:1 says that Jesus was in eternity with the Father. Verse 14 says, “The Lord is your Redeemer.”

In the New Testament, Jesus is the Redeemer. The Lord is the Holy One; in the New Testament, Jesus is the Holy Child. Things that God declares for Himself alone are also declared of Christ, which is to say that He is therefore God.

Chapter 42 of Isaiah, verse 8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” That’s true. But He gives His glory to Christ, because glory to Christ is not giving glory to another. Christ is one with God. So He is the Savior.

He’s the only Savior; He’s the Savior of the world. There is no other Savior, it is God and God alone who saves His people, and He does it through the work of His Son Jesus. “There’s no salvation in any other” – Acts 4:12. Who is able to save? Who is mighty to save?

Only the virgin-born God-man, Son of David, Son of Mary. And then in verses 22 and 23 you have the virgin birth connected, connected. We saw it conceived and confronted, clarified in regard to the name as the message came to Joseph.

But here it’s connected, and it’s connected to an Old Testament prophecy: “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.'”

That is a direct quote from Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 7:14. Here Matthew shows us that the virgin birth was promised, was promised. And if you go back to Isaiah 7:14 that’s exactly what you read with the addition of just an

Opening statement: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel. The Lord will give you a sign.” The word here “virgin” in verse 23 is parthenos in Greek, and it always means virgin and only means virgin.

It’s used about 12 or 13 times in the New Testament. It always and only means virgin. The text of Isaiah 700 years before uses the word almah , and some people say, “Well, almah can mean a young girl. A young girl doesn’t have to mean a virgin.”

Although it is used nine times in the Old Testament, eight of them, it has to mean a virgin. One time it may be just a reference to a young girl. But clearly the intent of almah in Isaiah 7:14 is to be used at virgin, because that’s

What the Holy Spirit inspires Matthew to write. The New Testament writer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is interpreting the word almah in the Old Testament as parthenos in the New, which is virgin. And that’s the only thing that makes sense.

Critics like to say, “Well, no, Isaiah 7:14 should simply be stated, ‘A young woman will be with child and bear a son.'” There’s something missing in that. And what is it? The opening statement: “The Lord Himself will show you a sign.”

If I say to you, “A young woman is going to become pregnant and have a son,” what sign in that? That’s not a sign of anything, that happens every day. That’s not a sign of anything. But a virgin becoming pregnant and bearing a son, that’s a sign. That’s the sign of Isaiah 7:14.

“Look for a miracle. Look for a virgin becoming pregnant and bearing a son.” Even from the scientific standpoint, critics love to tamper with this, and some have suggested that Mary had a sort of spontaneous generation, a kind of parthenogenesis on her own and produced

Jesus on her own without God intervening, that there is a scientific natural explanation to this. And if you read any science, any of that – I’m reading a big long book on the history of genes; and in studying that, it’s fascinating to say that you can go back into history in

The nineteenth century, and even back before that, and people were trying to reproduce life. There were all kinds of very fine insects, and there were sea urchins, and they were trying to see if they could generate without the normal male-female coming together.

And there had been some indications in history where this could happen, and then there was Pincus and his rabbits, and there’s some machinations done with animals like that. But the problem is this: even in those cases where you have that, you have a problem.

Mary, if she spontaneously generated Jesus, could only have a daughter, because there’s no Y chromosome. Y chromosome comes from the man. That’s what’s so important about, “She will bear a son, she will bear a son.” And this son will be the one prophesized in Isaiah 7:14, “And the sign will be that she

Will be a virgin bearing a son, and you shall call His name Immanuel, which translates into God with us. She will have the Son of God.” You know, the rabbis kind of hovered around this notion that Messiah would have a unique birth. They said Messiah may not have an earthly father.

Some rabbis said Messiah will be born without defect. One rabbi said Messiah’s birth will not be like the birth of other men. One other rabbi, one other rabbi said that Messiah’s birth will be like the dew of the Lord as drops on the grass without the action of man.

The book of Enoch 150 years before Christ says, “Of the Messiah, He appears by the side of the Ancient of Days.” In other words, they even seem to acknowledge Messiah’s pre-incarnate existence. But they really didn’t understand it and they rejected, they rejected Him. “He came to His own, His own received Him not.”

But the prophecy was fulfilled. The coming of the King, the virgin-born Son of God, son of David, fulfills the sign prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. Galatians 4:4, Paul puts it this way: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son,

Born of a woman,” – born of a woman, but the Son of God. A final word, the virgin birth completed in the last two verses: “Joseph awoke from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, took Mary as his wife.” They had the wedding ceremony.

Kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” He got the message, believed it, and named her Son, Yeshua, Jehovah saves, because He came to save His people from their sins.

He kept her a virgin, by the way, until she gave birth to a Son, which means that He didn’t keep her a virgin after that, and that’s clear in the New Testament, because Jesus had brothers and sisters born to Joseph and Mary, and they’re named and referred to.

She was not a perpetual virgin, and she was not immaculately conceived without sin. Those are fantasies of the Roman Catholic system. She had many other children, but not until after Jesus was born did Joseph come near her. So that’s the story. That’s the story from Matthew.

Paul looks at that same story in these words: “He, the Lord Jesus Christ, existed in the form of God. Did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him, bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, those in heaven and earth, under the

Earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” The supernatural birth of Jesus is the only way you can account for His life. An unbeliever once said to a Christian, “If I told you that a child had been born without

A father, would you believe it?” The Christian answered, “Yes, if he lived as Jesus lived.” The King is revealed. His birth proves who He is. In Christ, God came to dwell with us – with the sick, to heal them; with the demonized,

To liberate them; with the poor in spirit, to bless them; with the meek, to lift them up to His kingdom; with the fearful and guilty, to free them from care and dread; with the lepers, to cleanse them; with the diseased, to cure them; with the hungry, to feed them;

But most of all, with the lost, to seek and save them. Through His poverty we are made rich. The King is born. Next week, we’re going to see who and why the wise men were. Father, thank You again this morning for an incredibly wonderful, rich time in fellowship and beautiful music and worship.

Fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving through this season as we contemplate the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ who came to save His people from their sins. We are His people by grace, through faith, and we rejoice. May that joy be unbounded and demonstrate itself in our faithfulness to You, we pray

In His name. Amen.

#Supernatural #Birth #Jesus

PASSOVER and the RESURRECTION – Isaiah’s New Exodus



Passover or the Feast of Freedom is the foundational feast of the Jewish people. In it, we remember God’s loving kindness in saving his people from bondage in Egypt and creating Israel as a nation. All that so that God himself would dwell among His people

And give us His Word in order to bless all nations. But could it be that this feast actually alludes to an even greater salvation yet to come? In the story of the crossing of the Red Sea. Moses encourages his nation to trust God. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Then, after God saves them from the Egyptians, it says. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in His servant, Moses. But this would not be the

Last time at which God was gracious towards his people. God spoke to the Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 52 about a totally new exodus. Be cheerful, shout joyfully. Together you ruins of Jerusalem for the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.

The Lord has buried His holy arm in the sight of all nations so that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. Isaiah prophesied that God would restore the nation of Israel, that He would save them from their enemies, grant them peace and security.

However, this time the salvation will not only include a physical redemption. Rather, it will include a spiritual redemption reaching the whole world. And this is what Isaiah talks about in the next chapter. Chapter 53. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way.

But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all to fall on Him, just like the Passover lamb. Isaiah prophesied that the servant of the Lord would give his life to save his people. In chapter 53, The Salvation that the servant of the Lord brings to

Israel is not from Egypt or from the plague of the first born. Rather, it is the salvation from our personal sinfulness. The salvation God offers to us is from our guilt. After Isaiah describes the death of the servant, he continues to prophesy that he would prolong his days.

How can it be the only way the servant of the Lord can prolong his days after his death is through His resurrection? No wonder that when we quote these verses to our Jewish brethren, they think we quote from the New Testament. But the Hebrew Bible states clearly

That the Messiah had to suffer and die to redeem his people. But he doesn’t remain in the grave. He rises and grants forgiveness of sins and justifies the sinner by the knowledge of the righteous one. My servant will justify the many. In first Corinthians 15, Paul boldly declares

That if the Messiah has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Your faith also is in vain. If the Messiah has not been raised, in other words, since the beginning of the faith in Yeshua, the Messiah, his resurrection stood as the cornerstone, the very foundation

Upon which the truth of Yeshua stands or falls. If you’re sure did not rise up from the dead, then his death is meaningless. We are still in Egypt without a savior. Guilty before God and slaves to sins, bondage. The disciples did not expect the resurrection of Yeshua.

They thought and hoped that he would free Israel from the Egyptians of that time, the Romans. They thought he would strike them and drive them out of the land. They missed part of the message of the prophets. They thought that the idea of a crucified

Messiah is a failing Messiah at best, or worse, a false messiah whom they would need to replace with another Moses who would deliver them from the Romans against all odds. And in contrast to their initial expectations after Yeshua’s death. Something happened. The disciples began to insist that

Yeshua, in fact, rose from the dead and conquered death. They began to proclaim their message in Jerusalem, in the very place where Yeshua was crucified and buried, where everyone could go and check if the tomb was in fact empty. Not only did they proclaim the message boldly,

But they were ready and willing to suffer and even die for it. And most of them did. The significance of the resurrection is that it validates Yeshua’s message. His gospel is true. Yeshua claimed to be God himself, who came to free us from sin, to cleanse us from our guilt and justify us.

The resurrection is the proof that his radical claims about his identity and work were true. Moreover, his resurrection gives us hope and assurance that this life is not all that there is. The death is not the end. On the basis of Yeshua’s resurrection, the New Testament proclaims that anyone

Who puts his faith in him will rise up from the dead to everlasting life. But the fact is, Messiah has been raised from the dead. The first fruit of those who are asleep for since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

Four as in Adam all die. So also in Messiah, all will be made alive. The gift of salvation is given freely. We receive it through faith, through putting our trust in the Savior of Israel. Yeshua, notice that in the story of the Exodus.

Or more specifically in the crossing of the Red Sea, the nation of Israel did not need to do anything to merit their salvation from the Egyptians. Their own power could not stop the Egyptian army God alone, granting them freedom and salvation. They only needed to step in faith towards the water.

As the author of Hebrews puts it by faith, they pass through the Red Sea as through dry land. All people, Jews and Gentiles, are guilty before God and find themselves separated from Him due to their personal sinfulness. In Hebrew, the word sin comes from the same root

As missing the mark in our inherent sinfulness as humans. We miss God’s mark, but through Yeshua, as death and resurrection, he opened a new way to enter into an eternal relationship with God through faith. Yeshua was delivered over because of our wrongdoings and was raised for our justification.

This relationship cannot be broken since it is established upon the perfect sacrifice of the ultimate Passover lamb. The sacrifice of Yeshua. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. So what about you?

Have you put your faith in Yeshua? If not, today is the day of salvation. If you want to receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life and a living relationship with your loving creator, simply talk to your Heavenly Father in your own words. He listens and that is the meaning of prayer. Rejoice with us.

For He is risen. He is risen indeed.

#PASSOVER #RESURRECTION #Isaiahs #Exodus

The Atonement (Mark 15:33–40) — A Sermon by R.C. Sproul



SPROUL: Let’s look this morning at Mark, chapter 15 where I’ll be reading again the later portion of the text we looked at last week. I’ll be beginning at verse 33 and reading through verse 40. And I’d like to ask the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word of God.

“Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’

Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, ‘Look, He is calling for Elijah!’ Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, ‘Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.’

And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’

There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.”

Again in your hearing this morning, you have heard that word that comes to us from God Himself. He who has ears to hear it, let them hear. Please be seated. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, there is no more important, no more unfathomable treasure for us to contemplate

Than the meaning of the cross, and so we pray that in this hour, you would lend your help to us who are Your frail creatures. Give us insight into the meaning and the significance of our Savior’s death, for we ask it in His name. Amen.

Last week we looked at the narrative of the execution of Jesus by way of my normal method of biblical exposition, but I mentioned that this week I would depart from that and focus on a theological interpretation of the meaning of the cross. Again, I mentioned last week

That anyone who was an eyewitness of that event would likely not understand what was taking place in the cosmic realm that day, and that was left for the apostles in their epistles to give to us that added revelation of the meaning and of the significance of

The death of Jesus. We remember that Paul announced that he was determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified, that is Paul’s focus was on the cross, and of course that statement was something of hyperbole, which is a literary form of intentional exaggeration

In order to make a point, but really it’s not too far as an exaggeration that we know Paul knew other things besides the cross; nevertheless, all that he knew and all that he taught had its convergence in that central message of what took place that day on the cross.

I remember my first year of seminary where a student in our class in preaching gave a moving and eloquent sermon on the substitutionary satisfaction view of the atonement. And in that class on preaching, it was customary when the student finished for the professor

Of homiletics to give a critique. And the idea was to be a constructive critique on the art of preaching. But that day the professor was furious, and he glared at the student, and he said, “How dare you preach the substitutionary satisfactory view of the atonement in this

Day and age.” And I heard that and I was thinking within myself, “How dare this professor question the legitimacy of preaching on the satisfaction substitutionary view of the atonement.” What is it in this day and age that makes this central understanding of the cross suddenly

No longer acceptable? And I mused on that for many years to come because when we talk about the satisfaction substitutionary view of the atonement, we’re trying to answer the question: What really happened there on the cross? And one of the questions that attends

That question is the question: Was Jesus death on the cross really necessary at all? And there have been different answers to that question throughout church history. Early on, the Pelagians taught that Jesus’ death and atonement was not necessary at all, that

God could have redeemed His people by many different ways. He simply could have waved His wand of mercy and grace and pronounced His pardon on sinners without such a grizzly method of execution. Others took an intermediate position saying that the cross was hypothetically necessary

But not absolutely necessary. It was only necessary because though God had many ways He could have done it. From all eternity He chose to do it this way and was in agreement with His Son and with the Holy Spirit to reconcile the world by way of an atoning death. And

So the atonement was not necessary “de facto.” It was not necessary “de jure,” that is legally. But it was necessary “de pacto,” that is because an agreement had been reached, a covenant had been made between the Father and the Son, and once that covenant was made, it had to be carried out.

But then the third view, which is the classic orthodox Christian view is that the atoning death of Jesus was absolutely necessary. We reach back in time to one of the greatest thinkers God ever blessed the church with, the philosopher theologian Saint Anselm of

Canterbury, whose little book, “Cur Deus Homo?,” has become a Christian classic, and that little book that is really a question is translated by the words, “Why the God Man?” And in that little book Anselm spelled out the reasons why the cross was absolutely

Necessary. And the grounds and the necessity for Christ offering payment and satisfaction for our sins was to be found in the character of God Himself. The reason why an atonement was necessary, dear friends, is because God is just, because God is righteous, and because God is holy.

But we’ve lost sight of the character of God in our age. We conceive of God some celestial grandfather, a cosmic bellhop who is on duty 24/7 to give us all of our needs. And we allow the love of God to swallow up His justice, to swallow up His righteousness, and to obscure

His holiness, and we think that not only will God forgive all of our sins without an atonement, but we believe that He must do it if He’s really going to be good and loving. And yet at the other side of that coin always stands His holy, righteous, justice that must be satisfied.

I remember the story of Abraham in the Old Testament where he got word that God was about to bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which cities clearly invited that judgment from God, and Abraham was concerned about the few innocent folks there in those cities

That might possibly be punished along with the guilty, and so he raised the question to God, “Lord, will you punish the innocent or the righteous with the guilty?” And the reply was God forbid that God would ever do such a thing. And then the statement came

Out of that narrative, “Will not the Judge of all of the earth do what is right?” To ask that question, dear friends, is to answer it because the God of heaven and earth doesn’t know how to do anything except that which is right. The God of heaven and earth has

Never done anything that is wrong. Now according to our sensibilities, there are times in the Scriptures that we object to what God does. I’ve told you before how when I was in my first year as a Christian

As a college student, and I was reading the Old Testament, that I used to pace the halls of my college dormitory long into the night, three o’clock to four o’clock in the morning because I’d never heard of this God that was being revealed to me in the Old Testament.

And all I can remember from that is thinking that wow, if I’m going to be a Christian, I’m going to have to be a Christian because God plays for keeps. If you don’t believe that, let me just direct your attention to one passage in the Old Testament, the passage

That you’ve already heard this morning. When God delivered His law to Moses, after He had rescued His people from slavery and the focus of that law was a prohibition against idolatry. And while Moses was speaking with God on the mountain, Aaron and the people

Made for themselves a golden calf and worshipped it. And the Scriptures tell us that when God saw that, He was outraged, and He demanded satisfaction for that sacrilege, for that work of idolatry. I remind you, dear friends, that that episode in the Old Testament chronicles for us the

Most successful worship service in human history. The attendance that day at the worship of the golden calf surpassed all statistics before or after in Israel. The singing was so lusty, that miles away Joshua hears the music, and he thinks he’s hearing the sound of warfare.

The church was filled to the brim, and the people loved the music as they danced around an idol that distorted the very character of God. Do you think that was the last time that happened in church history? That’s our propensity.

It’s to exchange the God of heaven and earth for an idol and fashion for ourselves a God who requires no satisfaction, who requires no payment for sin. And in a day and age when we preach that God loves all people unconditionally, who in the world needs an atonement? You do.

And I do. Because the righteousness and the justice of God must be satisfied. Now when we look at the concept of the atonement in the New Testament, it’s not monochromatic. I like to use the metaphor of a gorgeous tapestry that is woven by several strands. And I don’t

Even have time this morning to even touch on some of the strands that the New Testament uses to describe what took place on the cross. But one of the major themes in the New Testament is the theme of reconciliation, that Christ is the reconciliation for us. And one of the

Things of course that is absolutely necessary for reconciliation to take place anywhere is a previous estrangement because parties that are not estranged have no need of reconciliation. I gave a message many years ago in a university to the atheists’ club that invited me to

Speak there. And they wanted to hear my case for the existence of God, and I gave it to them. And after I was finished with that part of the message, I said, “I’m happy to deal with these intellectual issues that come up.” I said, “But you have to know where

I’m coming from. I believe that for you the issue of the existence of God is not an intellectual issue at all. It’s a moral issue. Your problem is not that you don’t know that God exists. Your problem is you hate the God whom you know does exist.”

That’s the closest I ever came to being tarred and feathered. I was lucky to get out of there with my life. They were vehement in their denials and protests, “We don’t hate God.” Well, if the Word of God is the truth of God then by nature, dear friends, we are His enemies.

We are at war with Him. We despise Him. But we don’t get angry at the golden calf. If we create a new God, then we can live in comfort with that God. But the biblical God is the

Object of our wrath to such a degree that the Scripture says, “We will not have Him in our thinking.” That’s where the estrangement is. That’s where we are at war with God. That’s where we are at enmity with God. And that enmity was mediated for us on the

Cross, so that Christ became an enemy of the Father to satisfy your hostility and your enmity toward Him. Another dimension about which the New Testament describes the cross, the atonement is the dimension of ransom. Earlier in our study of Mark’s gospel, we read where Jesus said

That He did not come into the world to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. And because of that statement and others, the church has developed what’s called the ransom theory of the atonement. In fact, there is more than one ransom theory

Of the atonement. There’s a good one and there’s a bad one. The bad one that is popular in some circles is the idea that Jesus paid a ransom to Satan, after all Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He’s the prince of this world.

He holds us captive and hostage. In a sense he has kidnapped the people of God and now demands payment or ransom for our release, and so Jesus makes a deal with the devil. He pays him what he wants to purchase our freedom from him. No, no, no, no. In that

Case the cross would not represent “Christus Victor” but “Satanas Victor,” Satan would be the winner. He would get the payment and enjoy it forever. No, there is a ransom paid, dear friends, but it’s not paid to Satan. It’s paid

To the Father. A debt has been incurred to Him that has to be paid. Now quickly, we think of the New Testament speaking that we are debtors to God, and not only are we mildly in debt but that we are hopelessly in debt, and the way in which the New Testament sets

It forth is that we are debtors who can’t possibly their debt. We have an IOU that can never be redeemed. But there’s different ways to understand that concept of debt. I’ve told you on another occasion in another concept my favorite illustration of that. I tell the story of the little boy

Who goes to the ice cream store, and he asks for an ice cream cone with two scoops of ice cream, and when the lady behind the counter hands the little boy the cone, she says, “That will be two dollars,” and the boy’s face sinks. He’s crestfallen. His lip begins

To tremble, and he said, “But my Mommy only gave me one dollar.” So what do you do if you’re watching that transaction? You know what you do. You reach your hand in your pocket, and you get out a dollar bill, and you hand it to the lady, and you say, “Here, this

Is legal tender. I’ll pay the little boy’s debt, and we all can go home happy.” And she has to accept that payment because it’s a pecuniary payment, a monetary payment of commercial debt. But that’s not the kind of debt that we’re in here. The debt that we have before God

Is not that we owe Him money that we can’t pay. It’s a moral debt. It is a moral obligation that He has imposed upon us, which we have not paid. Now we turn the story around with the little boy. Now he comes to the ice cream store and

He said, “I’d like to have an ice cream cone with two scoops, and the lady comes and hands him the ice cream cone, and she says, “That will be two dollars.” He sticks his tongue out at her, runs out the door, doesn’t pay her anything, and she’s chasing

Him, yelling, “Stop, thief.” And the little boy runs right into the arms of the patrolman who’s walking down the block. He grabs the boy by the scruff of the neck, brings him back into the shop, said, “What’s going on here?” And the lady said, “That boy

Just stole two dollars worth of ice cream.” And I’m watching that. I reach in my pocket and I take out two dollars instead of one, and I say, “Look, everybody settle down here. Here’s the two dollars. No harm. No fowl. Let the boy go.” Now does the owner

Have to accept it? Absolutely not. Because now a crime has been committed. Now a moral debt has been incurred. And a policeman can look at me and my two dollars and look at the woman in the store and say, “Do you want to press charges?” And the storekeeper

Has that option on this occasion. Now with God we have a moral debt. And even when His Son pays the debt as our Substitute, when He pays the debt vicariously, the Father does not have to accept it. The fact that

The debt is paid means that justice is satisfied. The fact that the Father accepts the payment expresses His mercy and His grace, that as the Apostle says, “He may be both just and justifier of His people.” The justice is there insofar as Christ paid what was required, and that God wasn’t playing.

As the text I read indicated, the Son of God was forsaken, completely forsaken. And as Paul uses the other metaphor later in Galatians, “He was cursed by God.” He became a curse to fulfill the law of the Old Testament because all who break the law of God, all who sin

Are exposed to the curse of God’s wrath. And you say, “But that’s not fair.” But as I mentioned last week, once Christ willingly took upon Himself your sin and my sin, God didn’t play games. He punished Him to the fullest extent of the law. Christ

Didn’t just go to the cross. When He was on the cross, He went to Hell, not after He died but while He was on the cross. He experienced the full measure of God’s wrath when the Father turned His back on the Son and cursed Him for you and for me.

Again, I’m terrified when people come to me and say, “I don’t need Jesus.” I want to grab them by the throat and say, “O foolish one, don’t you understand that there’s nothing in the universe that you need more than Jesus. Don’t you realize that at the

End of your life, you will stand before God and you will be held accountable by God. And the God before whom you stand will be holy and just and righteous. And you either stand in front of Him on your own merit—and the only thing you have to bring is demerit, friends—or

You stand covered in the righteousness of Christ. If you deny Christ, you face the curse on your own, a debtor who can’t possibly pay your debt.” Karl Barth, the late Swiss theologian with whom I disagree more often than I agree, made

A comment once many years ago that I agree with completely. He said the single most important word in the New Testament Greek is the word “huper,” which is the Greek word that is translated by three English words, “in behalf of.” And that’s how the New Testament

Describes the death of Jesus, “in behalf of” His sheep, “in behalf of” the godless, “in behalf of” God’s enemies, He paid this price and He purchased you, so that the apostle says, “You are not your own.” You see the thing that we tend to think even

As Christians is we may not own the biggest house in the community, we may not own the biggest car in the community, but one thing we own, there’s no mortgage on, is ourselves. I own me. No, you don’t. No I don’t. Paul said, “You are not your own. You don’t

Own yourself. You’ve been bought. You’ve been purchased.” Paul said, “You’ve been bought with a price.” And the price tag is the blood of Christ. Finally, my friend John Guest once preached a sermon on the blood of Jesus. He said, “If

Jesus would have come to Jerusalem and scratched His finger on a nail, would that have done it?” There’s blood. It wouldn’t have done it. It took more than a scratch. The figurative significance to the Jew of blood means life. Jesus didn’t just give His blood.

He had to give His life. He had to pour out His blood unto death, and that was the price tag. That was the ransom. That was the purchase price. And the New Testament tells us that in God’s eyes at the top of the cross was not simply

The accusation written by Pilate, but the words, “It is paid,” appear on that cross. God is satisfied, propitiation. Our sins are removed, expiation. As I told you before, every time you come down that aisle, look at that cross. You come down the center aisle

Of the church. You remember that the architectural form of this building is a cruciform. It’s built in the shape of the cross. If you look from an airplane, and you cross over Saint Andrews, you’ll see the form of a cross. The center aisle if the vertical beam of the

Cross. The transepts in which you are sitting are the crossbeams. And I said the vertical beam points to heaven in the sense that propitiation was made. The Son satisfied the Father. And in doing that on the horizontal level was expiation, our sins were removed as far as

The east is from the west. Therefore, dear friends, come let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be as crimson, they shall be as wool, for He bought you with His life. Let’s pray.

O Lord, if we had a thousand tongues to sing the praise of our great Redeemer, that would not be enough to express our gratitude, which gratitude carries on for us into eternity. Thank you for the cross. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

#Atonement #Mark #Sermon #R.C #Sproul