The Virgin Birth & Humanity of Christ

Good theology in that last song. That's a great song written by the evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman who was a great evangelist back in the early part of the 1900s and wrote that wonderful song telling the story of Jesus and then summarizing it in the chorus with those great doctrinal truths about what all he has done for us through his death, burial, resurrection and his coming also great songs. And again I appreciate Jim picking songs that deal with the various doctrines about Christ that we're talking about and we have been looking at some of those and I want to remind you that they are somewhat sequential. We're looking at what the Bible teaches about Christ or the doctrine of Christ and we're dealing with them somewhat sequentially. You know a few years ago I guess we finished it about a year a little more ago we went actually through the life of Christ through the gospels and we just went from chronologically through the gospels from the birth right up till the the ascension of Christ at the end of the gospels. Well there's a sense in which we're covering the doctrine of Christ in the same way. We began with eternity past his pre-existence and then we dealt with the deity of Christ since the deity of Christ extends into eternity past he has always been God and so we dealt with that took a long time on that and then we looked at the incarnation which you start with the pre-existence and deity of Christ and eternity past then you come up to the point where he comes becomes man. He comes to this earth and that enters our time and space as as a human beings on this planet and that's what we've looked at last week was the incarnation of Christ that he did become man. We're going to back up maybe just a step in that sequence to to focus a little bit more on how he became man. The virgin birth of Christ is what we're going to start with tonight and then we'll if we get that far we'll talk about his humanity which takes into account his entire life on this planet and even beyond but primarily while he was here in 33 the 33 years he walked this earth but the virgin birth is the next step after the incarnation because that is the means through which Christ became man. He became incarnate in flesh through the means of the virgin birth and so that's what we're going to talk about this evening. Let's begin in Luke's gospel just for a moment in Luke's gospel and then we'll go back to the beginning of the scriptures and trace some major passages about the birth of Christ but first of all we want to deal with the meaning of the birth or the virgin birth what it means and I just want to give you this clear biblical statement will come back to it in a few minutes but the meaning of the virgin birth is probably summarized best in Luke chapter 1 and verse 35 this is a part of the angels announcement to Mary that she was going to have the baby Jesus and we'll look at the full passage a little bit later but just this one verse verse 35 the angel answered the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so the holy one to be born will be called the son of God and we're going to see that in the verses leading up to that it's very made very clear that Mary was a virgin and and verse 35 describes how that baby would be conceived in her womb and we'll look at the actual wording of verse 35 in just a little bit but this is a good introductory kind of summary verse of the virgin birth let's describe what it is or define what it is the meaning of the virgin birth it is that miraculous act of the Holy Spirit whereby Christ was conceived in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit so it is a miracle miraculous act of the Holy Spirit whereby Christ is conceived in the womb of Mary being a virgin conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and we'll see kind of how that's phrased when we get back to verse 35 in just a few moments but the result of the virgin birth the result of the the conception of Christ in the womb of Mary was that the eternal son of God the God who Christ who had been God eternally in the past now joins himself to a human nature including human body that's the result of that miraculous conception and the miracle was really the conception I've mentioned that before the miracle was really the conception not the birth the birth was very natural but the miracle was in the conception of Christ and that was done by the power of the Holy Spirit okay we'll come back to that in a moment but any any initial questions about the meaning of the virgin birth before we look at some of the passages okay let's go all the way back to the beginning important passages begin with one in the book of Genesis chapter three and verse 15 Genesis 3 15 God says and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between you're offspring and hers he will crush your head and you will strike his heel now remember that this is after Adam and Eve have sinned in the garden and when God comes down and confronts them with their sin he pronounces a curse and that curse has several layers to it but the first part of the curse is on the serpent in verse 14 the Lord God said to the serpent because you've done this cursed are you above all livestock and all the wild animals you will crawl on your belly you will eat dust all the days of your life and he goes on speaking to the serpent in the verse that we have read in verse 15 so he's still speaking to the serpent the snake I will put enmity between you and the woman between her offspring and and you're offspring and hers he will crush your head and you will strike his heel now there are many who say that Jesus or God rather is speaking to the snake and so this is limited to the serpent to the snake and they would say that verse 15 is limited to the snake and many of you women would agree that's as far as it needs to go and maybe some of you men too my wife would say amen to this verse I will put enmity between you and the woman she has lots of enmity towards snakes she does not care for them at all in fact if there's any any part of a zoo or a nature display that has anything to do with snakes she just ought to she almost faint she just hates them and so she's living proof of Genesis 315 but the question is is that all there is to Genesis 315 is there anything that would make you think that this passage goes beyond just a general statement about the snake and the woman and little snakes the snakes seed and the woman's descendants anything that would make you think it goes beyond that to speak I'm thinking specifically of Christ okay notice what what Karen said he will crush your head that seems to to focus upon one particular person who comes from the offspring of the woman it's not between you're offspring and hers plural humanity it's isolated to one person then the rest of the verse he he will crush your head and you will strike his heel the singular he and his seems to focus the verse on one person who will come from the woman's descendants the seed of the woman so it is not the descendants plural of the woman it is one particular seed one particular descendant of the woman which I believe is speaking of Christ and there are some New Testament references that that seem to support that understanding of the verse you can't really press that too far but there is at least a vague reference to the virgin birth here that Christ is the one who is the offspring of the woman okay it's kind of a vague reference I think the passage does refer to Christ kind of a vague reference to the virgin birth okay any comments or questions don't want to try to prove any more from that verse than what is there but any comments or questions about Genesis 315 okay Isaiah 714 is the next verse Isaiah 714 and this one seems much more direct although there are a couple of questions about this passage that the careful interpreter of the scriptures has to be honest about deal with verse 13 let's begin there then Isaiah said and he is speaking to the king of Judah at this time a has so he speaking to the king a has as I said here now you house of David is it not enough to try the patience of men will you try the patience of my God also therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel okay there's obviously a virgin who's giving birth to a son his name is called Emmanuel which means what God with us God with us okay pretty clear reference the two the two minor difficulties with this passage is the word for virgin the Hebrew word all lies only use seven times in the Old Testament and it literally does not mean virgin those who are critical of the virgin birth based on this word have a point not not being critical the virgin birth will see how the New Testament treats this in a moment but the word all my simply means a young woman it the point is however that there is no case in the Old Testament where that word is used of a young woman who is not a virgin the word itself the strict meaning of the word just means a young woman but there's no case where it's used in the Old Testament where it means anything other than a virgin and the way the New Testament uses this verse it's very clear that it is referring to the virgin birth of Christ the other difficulty is that that Isaiah is really talking to King Ahaz about a sign that will be accomplished in his lifetime now not 700 years later when Jesus is born but now and so how does this apply to the time when Ahaz is living if you read the whole passage you see it's easy just to take the one verse out of context if you read the whole passage Ahaz is trying to make an alliance with Assyria who will end up being a bitter enemy to both Israel and Judah Ahaz is trying to make an alliance with them to fight against some other enemies Ahram which is present they Syria and so that's what Isaiah means when he says will you test God try the patience of God Isaiah is warning him not to do that are you gonna test God try his patience so God's gonna give you a sign that you can depend on him and trust him and you don't have to make an alliance with another foreign power to try to protect yourself and that that sign is that a virgin will be with child give birth to a son we'll call it Emmanuel and there is a local meaning for this that happens during Isaiah's time and most would say what it means is the virgin who will later become Isaiah's wife second wife he already has one son she presumably has died but the virgin that will become his wife will bear a son and that son will be called Emmanuel in the sense that God is with us that that symbolic name means that God will be your helper against the against the Syrians you don't need a Syria but the reason we know this passage has a more complete fulfillment in the future by the way that's often the case in the Old Testament there is a near fulfillment right then but then there is a more complete fulfillment later in Christ and the reason we know that is why where is this passage found in the New Testament you know surely somebody does you're just afraid to say I think I heard it in a cough sounded like Matthew 1 to me that's exactly where it is Matthew chapter 1 verse 22 will come to this passage in just a moment the announcement of the virgin birth to Matthew and verse 22 says all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet and then he quotes Isaiah 7 14 the virgin shall be with will be with child and will give birth to a son they will call him Emmanuel which means God with us now the fact that Matthew takes Isaiah 7 14 and quotes it and says this is what Isaiah meant this is fulfilling what's happening here that I'm announcing the angels announcing to Matthew or to Joseph that is a fulfillment of Isaiah 7 14 and by the way there is no question about the Greek word for virgin here the Greek word Parthenos literally means a virgin no question about that and so Matthew under the inspiration of Holy Spirit says that's the way Isaiah was using the word Alma he was using it of a virgin no question and so Matthew helps us understand the more complete the fuller fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy yes it did have a bearing on what was happening in Isaiah's day but the more complete fulfillment was in the birth of Christ and so definitely Isaiah 7 refers to the virgin birth no question Matthew makes that clear all right any comments questions about Isaiah 7 yes sir Walt well Isaiah is not saying that a has will have a son he's saying a virgin will bear a son and that that virgin probably was the woman who would become Isaiah's wife and would have a son his second son who was later called mayor Schallel Hashbaz was his name but the name Emmanuel assigned to him is a symbolic name a name that means that that carries a message to King he has God is with you you don't need to rely on the Assyrian army God is with you and he's going to show you through this sign this miracle this this sign that I'm prophesying okay so I think that's that's the idea in Isaiah but the the real fulfillment is in Christ and his name is called literally Emmanuel God with us okay let's get to the two familiar New Testament passages then that really make the virgin birth of Christ clear the first one was in Matthew 1 if you have your Bible open there Matthew 1 we're going to get begin back in verse 16 which is the culmination of a genealogy the genealogy in Matthew is tracing the genealogy of Jesus down or back to Abraham through David back to Abraham and it progresses it starts in verse two with Abraham and progresses all the way down verse 16 to Jacob the father of Joseph and then notice if you will I want to show you some of the ways that the virgin birth is safeguarded and clearly taught in these verses verse 16 the genealogy suddenly changes every verse before that it says for instance in verse 15 you lie at the father of Aliezar Aliezar the father of Mathan Mathan the father of Jacob Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus notice it does not say as it has for you know 14 verses Jacob the father of Joseph Joseph the father of Jesus does not say that it suddenly changes Joseph is not the father of Jesus he does become the husband of Mary and so that's why the writer of Matthew says that but then he says the right the husband of Mary of whom of whom of Mary in fact again in the Greek very specific it's easy to tell in the Greek language the gender of pronouns it's not easy to do that in English but in Greek it's actually different word and so the gender of the pronoun here is feminine whom is feminine and so it's clearly referring to Mary of whom did Christ from whom did Christ come not Joseph came from Mary and the writer very clearly Matthew went to the inspiration of Holy Spirit clearly safeguards the virgin birth even by the use of the pronoun it's feminine and gender and so of whom of Mary was born Jesus who is called Christ now verse 18 this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph but before they came together notice again how carefully the virgin birth is stated and guarded here in the language Joseph and Mary are pledged they are engaged in other words but this is this is before they come together before there is the physical union as husband and wife she was found to be with child and here's another safeguard of the virgin birth through the Holy Spirit okay this child is miraculously conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit not Joseph okay now verse 19 another evidence of the virgin birth because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace he had in mind to divorce her quietly I mean Joseph knows this is not his child he thinks she's been unfaithful to him you remember the you hear this a lot of Christmas you remember the the the marriage laws for Jews there was an engagement a betrothal period of anywhere from nine months to a year and the reason for that time frame was for them to prove their faithfulness to each other and and also to give the husband time to build the house where he would move his wife into but during that time she is found to be with child and Joseph knows it's not his child but he loves her so much he doesn't want to publicly disgrace her either through a public stoning which according to Deuronomi 22 could have happened or even a public messy divorce he's wanting to divorce her quietly just to end the relationship and they go their own way because he knows this is not his child and he suspects she's been unfaithful to him so obviously again that safeguards the virgin birth and clearly communicates it that's why the angel has to come and straighten Joseph out okay Joseph it's time for you to get the explanation you're reading things into this situation that any normal person would I mean who would expect a miracle like this we we do looking back on it but if you're the average Jew living in that day and time you don't have any clue this is gonna happen and so Joseph has every right to believe that she's been unfaithful and now it's time for the angel to come and explain all this to him so verse 20 but after he had considered this an angel the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said Joseph son of David do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit clear statement of the virgin birth what is conceived in her the actual act of conception was by the power of the Holy Spirit she will give birth to a son and you already give him the name the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins and then verses 22 and 23 it's a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah then verse 24 when Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife but noticed verse 25 but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son and he gave him the name Jesus he took her into protect her but they continued to live out that engagement period without any sexual union until after Jesus was born so again this passage is clear layer upon layer time after time the virgin birth is either directly stated or strongly implied in the language clearly communicated by the language so it's very clear this passage is absolutely beyond dispute in its teaching of the virgin birth questions comments about Matthew 1 it is it is thrilling isn't it it's a miracle and and so it is it's a thrilling encounter and and even the the you know the the subtle human element to it of Joseph you know kind of frantically trying to figure out what to do and the angel says come on calm down calm down here it is how it's planted to you and just a beautiful beautiful element human element to it as well all right let's look at Luke chapter 1 where the other account of the birth of Christ is found and again this is so very clear in presenting the virgin birth Luke chapter 1 Matthew gives the announcement of the angel to Joseph Luke is the announcement to Mary before anything happens before Jesus is conceived in a womb the angel comes to her to explain what's going to happen and this is the most complete account of the explanation let's begin in verse 26 in the sixth month going back to Elizabeth's pregnancy in the verses before that in the six month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth the town in Galilee to a virgin okay it stated very clearly to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph in other words they're in this engagement time but she is still a virgin a descendant of David Joseph is the virgin's name notice stated there clearly again the virgin's name was Mary the angel went to her and said greetings you who are highly favored the Lord is with you Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be but the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary you have found favor with God you will be with child interesting the way that is stated you will be with child and give birth to a son interestingly enough Luke who is a doctor uses the common medical terms of the day unlike other writers he uses the medical terminology here for giving birth and for being with child and he says you are to give him the name Jesus verse 32 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 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever his kingdom will never end now that is an amazing mind blowing announcement you're gonna have a baby who is gonna take the throne of Israel from his father David and his kingdom will be without end it's an incredible announcement must have stunned her we know it did verse 34 how will this be Mary asked the angel since I am a virgin okay very clearly stated again Mary can't figure out how this conception and birth is gonna happen since she's still a virgin and then comes the explanation of the virgin birth verse 35 the angel answered the Holy Spirit will come upon you now that Holy Spirit come upon you that's just a kind of a vague nebulous expression for the power of the Holy Spirit there's nothing physical implied here there is no you know as as the ancient cults in the Greek world taught there is no actual cohabitation between the Holy Spirit and Mary there's nothing like that you remember in the Old Testament you find this expression over and over again the Holy Spirit coming on someone it's an expression for the Holy Spirit granting them power to accomplish whatever God wanted to accomplish it happened with Saul happened with Gideon happened with David happened with many in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon them and it's just an expression of the Holy Spirit's power would be with them and so all this expression is saying nothing physical intended here it's just simply saying this is gonna happen through the Holy Spirit's power but then he explains a little bit more what that's like he says and the power of the most high will overshadow you the picture here is like a cloud covering you kind of like the Shaqqina glory of the Old Testament you know the cloud of the symbolic presence of God a cloud or a bright light of fire that would demonstrate and show the presence of God that that Shaqqina glory of God will cover you surround you and and and and the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God so the point is simply that this is going to be by the power of the Spirit of God and the glory of God will be upon you the holy the power of God will overshadow you like the cloud of God's glory in the Old Testament surrounded the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle for instance so that's that's the idea here there's no actual cohabitation this is just expression of the the miraculous power of God so we don't know exactly biologically how it happened but somehow supernaturally the Holy Spirit calls Mary to be pregnant with the baby Jesus and it was the power of God which did this that's all that the Scriptures tell us okay and then you know the rest of the story how she submits to the the plan of God although she must know that it will be very difficult for her and she will be totally misunderstood misrepresented but she says may it be to me as you have said I am the Lord servant may it be to me as you have said so this is a very clear statement of the Virgin birth of Christ any any comments or questions about Luke's account yes well you know I think I would say yes both and it's difficult to say one miracle is greater than another in its exercise of God's power obviously the exercise of God's power is just as needed for making a blind person see as it is to plant the baby Jesus in Mary's womb but the consequences the implications of that miracle are far greater I mean then just the healing of a blind or a lame or something the Virgin birth is what makes possible our salvation without it there could be no salvation and we'll see why in just a moment one of the reasons for the importance of the Virgin birth so on that in that sense yes it's a much greater miracle because it is absolutely critical to the plan of salvation the only way the plan of salvation could be carried out so yes it is a greater miracle in that sense yeah yeah you know I think there are several miracles like that like the resurrection would be another because of the implications and the critical part in the plan of salvation that played we would say that's a greater miracle than the healing of a lame man certainly as far as the implications of it are concerned yes yes okay anything else only time it was ever done yes only one time and there's only one time why that was needed to be done the Virgin birth and we'll see again why in just a moment let's go ahead and look at Galatians 4-4 one other passage and again this is not the strongest reference to the Virgin birth really the emphasis of Galatians 4-4 is on his humanity again it's kind of a vague reference to the Virgin birth but the emphasis is more on the humanity of Christ in Galatians 4-4 let's begin in verse 3 to pick up the thought so also when we were children we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world but when the time had fully come God sent his son born of a woman not not born of a man born of a woman born under law to redeem those under law that we might receive the full rights of sons now again I want to emphasize that the main thrust of this passage is to focus on the humanity of Christ although the way it's expressed it could also include and does include the Virgin birth he was born of a woman and you can take that to mean kind of like Matthew did of whom was born Christ you can take that to mean there was no man involved okay but the real thrust of the passage is simply that he came into this world as a human being in fact look again at the statement of it when the time had fully come God sent his son now that's his deity the son of God is sent that's expressed his deity God sends him from heaven but he also is not only God he's also man and as man he is born it's kind of like Isaiah 9 6 unto us a son is given a child is born the son given stresses deity he sent from heaven a child born stresses his humanity and so really the contrast here between a son sent and one born of a woman really is the contrast between deity and humanity the way it's phrased could include the Virgin birth and certainly does but it's really a statement of his humanity he was born of a woman he came into this world as a baby a human being he was born and then the next phrase born under law the idea is that this really demonstrates his humanity he was subject to the law of history of just like every other Jewish person was he was not exempt from Jewish law at which stresses his humanity he was required to live under Jewish law just like any other Jewish person was as far as his humanity was concerned he was on an equal plane with everybody else now he was the only person who ever perfectly kept the law but he was under the law he was under the Jewish law but the fact that being under those requirements and living by them perfectly that qualified him as it goes on to say to redeem those under the law see we're under the law too except we haven't we haven't kept it completely we've violated it and so we're centers Jesus was under the same law in the sense that he was subject to the same requirements of the Jewish law but he perfectly kept it and that qualified him morally to be our Redeemer so really the verse is talking more about his humanity than it is the Virgin birth but it does the way it states his humanity also include the Virgin birth okay great verse any any questions about it good question did he not violate the law when he picked corn on the Sabbath he violated the traditions of the Pharisees but he did not violate the law of Moses in fact the law of Moses specifically allowed people to take portions along the way from fields to feed themselves but the Pharisees as he did with all the laws added to that put more requirements on it and and that's what was violated in their minds he didn't pay any attention to the Pharisees no he didn't he didn't and by by not by not paying any attention to the Phariseical traditions clearly in his own experience and practice made a distinction between man's law and God's law good passage to read on that is Matthew 12 and even better when is Matthew 15 where Jesus talks about them violating the law of God through their traditions and he makes that clear distinction okay let me back up from that just a little bit I don't mean to imply that Jesus just went around flaunting all the Jewish traditions but he did not go to any lengths to uphold the traditions when they violated the law he he was clear in his distinction between what was God's law what was man's tradition and so he did not violate God's law but he would violate man's tradition it's it's not that he went around with a kind of cynical rebellious attitude saying let me show you something I'm gonna violate your tradition it's not that he had that kind of spirit I don't mean to imply that okay all right let's take a few moments then to to talk about the importance of the virgin birth three things and they're pretty self evident one of the reasons why the virgin birth is so important is the trustworthiness of the gospel records I mean we saw it didn't we in in Matthew and in Luke over and over and over again it is clear that we're talking about Jesus being born of a virgin it is stated in so many different ways that if you deny the virgin birth then you might as well throw the gospels away because you're saying they're not trustworthy I mean if there'd been one little vague reference that you couldn't really be sure about that might be one thing but no it's stated over and over and over again it's like the authors went out of their way to make clear and when it's that clear if you deny the virgin birth you throw out Matthew and you throw out Luke and that does damage to the entirety of the New Testament so the virgin birth as a doctrine to be held to and believed is important because the trustworthiness of the gospel accounts rides on that of the things as well but it certainly rides on that okay the second reason why the virgin birth is so important is it is vitally related to the Lord's sinless nature vitally related to the Lord's sinless nature if he were not virgin born he would have had a sin nature just like us now what many people believe about that is wrong many people believe that it was the absence of the father involved that kept Jesus from inheriting a sin nature and most women love that they think yeah I know where everybody gets her sin nature from it comes from the daddy for sure that's where the sin nature comes from well ladies I don't mean to disappoint you but I'm here to tell you that's not really biblical theology a sin nature is passed down to children through the union of two parents just like everything else comes to us through the union of two parents when we get one of these years to the doctrine of man we will see that there are two views as to how we get both our material bodily and in material substance and I think the most biblical view is what's called seminal headship which means we get everything from the union of our two parents including our soul okay and so our sin nature comes from from the union of father and mother and here's here's the reason why this is so critical bringing a new person into existence whenever there is the union of husband and wife a new person comes into existence and every new person who comes into existence through that that mating of sperm and egg every new person who comes into existence inherits a sin nature all the way down from Adam the reason for the virgin birth the reason why the virgin birth was absolutely necessary is because there was not a new person coming into existence he was already existing throughout eternity past he was already existing existing so you could not possibly have the normal process that would would buy its very definition bring a new person into existence which would have a sin nature he already existed and so by a direct act of the Holy Spirit the one who had already existed for eternity past was reduced to a one cell fertilized egg in the womb of Mary without a father that's the miraculous conception okay and from that point he developed normally in the womb and through the nine months gestation process and then was born like any other child would be born the miracle is the absence of a father the absence of a father and it's not that the sin nature comes only through the father you women contribute to that too it is it is that the normal process of conception brings a new person into existence who automatically inherits a sin nature because Christ is not a new person come into existence the only way he can enter the world is through a virgin birth he must be born but there cannot be the union of husband and wife which automatically gives us a sin nature that's the reason for the virgin birth that is the most important reason for it the most critical reason for it it guards him from having a sinful nature he has a human nature but it is not tainted by sin our time is up and I hesitate to ask other any questions on that one because that can open up a whole can of worms but I think that's clearly biblical theology one other thing real quick and this is obvious probably goes without saying the importance of the virgin birth it protects the Lord and his mother from the blasphemous alternative the blasphemous alternative is that he did have a human father and thus was not God he was not sent by his father God and that's blasphemy so the virgin birth protects against that all right virgin birth is absolutely crucial to salvation because it means that one person has entered the human race without a sin nature without a sinful bent and thus is qualified to live a perfectly moral godly life perfectly obedient life that morally qualifies Jesus to be our Savior because he has no sin of his own to die for that's the critical nature of the virgin birth all right any comments or questions quickly before we go all right Lord willing next week we will get into the actual humanity of Christ now that he is virgin born what is it like for Jesus to be a human and we're going to see he lived in in every way a human life apart from sin in fact we're going to see the amazing thing that's so hard to understand and that is that Jesus developed normally although perfectly as a little boy in in four ways Luke's gospel tells us and in one of those is spiritually he developed and grew how's that possible we'll try to mine some of that next week okay let's pray father thank you for the miracle which brought us our Savior to this world thank you for the way that in your infinite wisdom you kept our Savior from being tainted by sin even in the way he was brought into this world so that he could be perfectly qualified to be our Savior thank you that he did not compromise his perfection his deity by becoming man and it is just amazing Lord we marvel at your your wisdom in the way you've provided for us the plan of salvation and our Savior who brought it to us thank you we worship you we bow in the presence of an almighty infinite God thank you for who you are thank you for taking note of us in Jesus name amen