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Miracles: The Virgin Birth
December 11, 2024 · 32 min
John Mark emphasizes how the virgin birth was essential for Jesus to be without a sinful nature, enabling His ultimate sacrifice for humanity's salvation.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton December 11, 2024 · 32 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
John Mark emphasizes how the virgin birth was essential for Jesus to be without a sinful nature, enabling His ultimate sacrifice for humanity's salvation. ...more Show the full description Show less John Mark emphasizes how the virgin birth was essential for Jesus to be without a sinful nature, enabling His ultimate sacrifice for humanity's salvation.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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The Miracles of Christmas 0:00 Well amen. I want to invite you to reach and grab your copy of God's word and turn with me if you would. Back to the gospel of Luke, Luke's gospel chapter 1. We're gonna look today at0:11 another miracle and we started last week look miracle or 2 miracles at Christmas. There were so0:17 many miracles that took place that first Christmas. If you were here0:18 last week, we started this series. Chase did a fantastic job on Sunday. Graham did a great job on Saturday night0:30 of looking at that first miracle where the angel Gabriel showed up to Zechariah and Elizabeth. And Zechariah and Elizabeth, it says were old and very old, very well long0:42 in years. And they had been praying for their entire lives as a married couple for a child. And God had not blessed them 1, they couldn't have children. Also an amazing example when we0:54 think about Zechariah and Elizabeth, oftentimes in our lives, if we pray for something and pray for something and pray for something, and God doesn't give it to us,1:06 the natural inclination in our hearts is to withdraw from God. To God, this isn't what I want, this isn't what I prayed for, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna back away1:17 because God didn't bless me in this way, or God didn't make this happen, or God didn't change this set of difficult circumstances. But here is the reality, Zechariah and Elizabeth, amazing example1:30 of someone even though they had prayed for a child, just kept on serving God. In those days, women it was beyond just what it is in our day. We know that1:42 we have many folks in our church, many couples in our church, perhaps many online that that you have been longing for a child, but for some reason, physical or some other, you haven't1:54 been able to have a child. And I understand and Jean and I understand the weight that that brings in a couple's lives when they're longing to have a son or longing to have a child and they're just longing2:06 for it. And that's certainly today. But if you go back into the Biblical times and the Biblical days, it is said that a woman who was barren when she was married was2:18 despised by others. Because others looked at that woman and said, well clearly you don't walk in God's favor and God, doesn't think highly enough of you to bless you. And2:29 so, they carried that weight for so long it would have been easy for Zechariah to say, I'm no longer gonna serve as a priest. I'm just done with the temple. I'm done with the priesthood. God2:41 hasn't blessed me with the child. But it says, because he stayed faithful, and Elizabeth stayed faithful, that God showed up through the angel Gabriel and said, listen2:53 Zechariah, you will have a child and the clock started again then. God had had a pause on the clock from the Old Testament to the New Testament, but that conversation with Gabriel the angel3:06 to Zechariah and ultimately then Elizabeth his wife who was very old would be with y'all. That started the clock again. Now that miracle was 1 where God used the natural3:18 to do a miracle. Clearly, even though Zechariah and Elizabeth were well along in years, that God used the act of a man and a woman coming together to produce a miracle3:30 of a child long after either 1 of them should have been of childbearing age. So sometimes God will do a miracle through the natural. But today's3:42 miracle is that miracle of virgin birth. It's when Gabriel shows up to Mary, we'll read it here in a second, and and Gabriel says, you will be with child and her response was,3:54 woah, not sure how this can be since I am a virgin. So last week's miracle was God doing a miracle using the natural, and God still does that today.4:06 But this miracle, this week, is when God just shows up and does the supernatural. So let's go to Luke chapter 1 and let's begin to read as we continue this series. It says this,The Necessity of the Virgin Birth 4:18 so Gabriel shows up to Mary and Mary's immediate response is, he says you're going to be with child. She says, how will this be, Mary asked the angel, since4:29 I am a virgin? Now Gabriel is the angel that showed up up here. Now if you look through God's word, there are a number of things that we could find out about angels. We don't know how many angels there are, but there4:41 are a lot of angels. Some of the angels fell and followed Satan. But as you look throughout scripture, there are 2 named angels. A lot of angels are just called part of the heavenly host or angels or whatever, but there4:52 are 2. 1 is Gabriel and 1 is Michael. Those4:57 are4:57 the 2 angels in scripture, the only 2 that have specific names, alright? And so as you think about this is Gabriel who showed up and this is not the first time Gabriel showed up. Gabriel showed up5:09 to Mary, showed up to Zechariah, but if you go all the way back into the Old Testament, a guy named Daniel had an interaction with an angel named Gabriel.5:21 He tells us something about Gabriel. He says he looks like a man, but he's not just any man. Because here's what we know, every time Gabriel5:33 shows up, although he might have the shape or the form somehow, someway of a man, we know there's more than just any man. Why? Because immediately when people see Gabriel,5:45 they become fearful and Gabriel has to immediately say fear not or stop being afraid. So here's what we know about Gabriel, he showed up in the Old Testament, now he's showing up in the New Testament. And5:57 we also know that Gabriel spends time with God, scripture tells us that. So God had sent a message through Gabriel to Zechariah and now he's sending 1 to Mary that even though you're a virgin, you are6:09 going to be with child. And so let's continue to read on, go back to Luke chapter 1 verse 34. How would this be, Mary asked the angels, since I'm a virgin? The angel answered answered and said to6:20 her, the Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so that the holy 1 to be born to you will be called the son of6:32 God. Let me tell you what, when Satan heard those words, those were the scariest words Satan had ever heard. That the 1 who belongs to you, the virgin,6:45 is now with child and that child will be called the son of God. I don't know what Satan was doing at the time, but immediately he his head came up and he thought, uh-oh, this is a significant6:57 problem. Now, today I want to ask you a question. Everybody here knows that Jesus was born of a virgin, but do you know why7:09 Jesus had to be born of a virgin? See, I think a lot of people can tell the Christmas story that an angel showed up to Mary, she was a virgin, said she was going to have a child, she ended up having Jesus, but the7:20 question becomes why couldn't Jesus have just been born into a great family? Just like the ones that we see up here. Could couldn't couldn't Jesus have just been7:32 born? Couldn't John the Baptist have done the job? Because clearly, Zechariah and Elizabeth loved the Lord, served the Lord, didn't walk away from the temple, even though they had prayed for years that they would have a7:43 child. They clearly loved God and served God. And Elizabeth loved God and served God even in the midst of the pain and the decades of being without a child. Couldn't Jesus have just7:55 been born to Zechariah and Elizabeth? Then he'll be raised in the church and be a really really good guy and love God and do a lot of powerful things and die on the cross for the8:07 sins of the world? Scripture says no. So today I want to answer the question not just was Jesus born of a virgin, He was.8:20 But the question is why did she have to be a virgin? That's ultimately the question. See, Mary and Joseph could have just been great people,8:31 and God gives them a great son named Jesus. But would that have been good enough? Well for me to answer that question, I need to take you on a journey. It's journey back.8:44 Past Pentecost and the explosion of the church, past the empty tomb, past the cross on on that Friday, past even Jesus' baptism,8:55 past Jesus' birth, way through the Old Testament, past 700 years before Christ was born, past Isaiah the prophet saying she will be a virgin, past Micah saying the child will be born in9:07 Bethlehem, all the way past slavery in Egypt and the Red Sea, all those things, all the way back to the very beginning. And in the very beginning, God begins to show the story for us. It's9:19 like God all the way in the very beginning set up life and the world in eternity like on a chessboard. Said here's the game we are going to play, I'm going to provide a people, I'm going to create a9:31 earth, I'm gonna create people who have the ability to reject me or accept me. I'm not gonna create a bunch of robots, I'm not gonna create a bunch of pawns that I'm just gonna move around, but I'm gonna9:43 create people who have the opportunity to say yes to me or no to me. And I'm going to abide by their wishes. And so God sets this board up, and so let's go back and answer the9:54 question, why did Jesus have to be born of a virgin? Let's start reading Genesis chapter 1. It says, in the beginning God, everybody say God. In the beginning God created the10:06 heavens and the earth. Let's stop right there if you want to underline that word God. It is the it is the Hebrew word Elohim. What we know about that word Elohim, it means supreme being, 1 true God, but with the hehim10:18 behind it, Elohim, alright not just El, Elohim, that means there's some plural nature of this God that we fully don't understand. And if you just stick with verse 1, here's all you would know.10:30 There is 1 true God, but there's some plurality in this God. So in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. Go to verse 2. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was10:42 over the surface of the deep and the Spirit, wait, there's another aspect of this plurality of God. That there's 1 God, now we know there's a God, but there's also a Spirit of God, the10:53 third person of the trinity. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. So here we have, we're building this up from the very beginning, is at verse 1 Elohim, there is some sort of11:05 plurality in this God. Verse 2, we understand not only is this God a physical real God, but there's a spiritual part of this God. We're not at the trinity yet, we're just building up to it. Now11:17 jump down to Genesis chapter 1 verse 26. So this is after God has created man, notice what it says, or they're getting ready to create men. It says then God said, let11:29 us make mankind, male and female, in our image. So all the way back from Genesis chapter 1, there is an idea, there is 1 true God, there is some sort of11:41 plurality. We ultimately have to journey through, the rest of the of God's word to find out that the trinity is God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit. So he says, let us make man in our11:52 image, in our likeness. The trinity is fully exposed in the New Testament. We see Jesus is born. See, God shows up. Go to Matthew chapter 3. Remember the baptism of Jesus?12:05 Jesus is there being baptized, he shows up to John the Baptist, who Gabriel had told Zechariah Elizabeth, you're going to have a child in your old age and that's going to start the clock. So Jesus shows up12:17 to John the Baptist, says John, I want you to baptize me. Remember John the Baptist? He says, no no no no. I don't need to baptize you, you need to baptize me. And Jesus said, no, fulfilling12:29 scripture, I want you to baptize me. But remember what happens when Jesus comes up out of the water. Jesus is baptized, he comes up out of the water. It says a voice from Heaven, the Father, first person12:41 of the trinity, says this is my son in whom I am well pleased. Jesus, the second person of the trinity, is just the 1 who was born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin,12:53 in full flesh, fully God, fully man. He is the 1 that is baptized, and then it says the spirit of God, the third person of the trinity, descends like a dove. So here we have13:04 moving forward and journeying forward, the fulfillment of all that God says. So let's go back and continue reading. It says then God said, let us make mankind in our image and our likeness so that13:16 they, that's male and female, may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.13:27 So, that's Genesis 1. We know something about God, God created mankind in His image. Now, fast forward to Genesis chapter 2. You can read it I won't make you read it now,13:39 but here's what happens. God looks at Adam and says listen, I want you to go in the garden, the beautiful garden that I've created for you. I want you to work it, I want you to tend it, I want you to care for it, I want13:51 you to till it up. And he says man, so here, don't ever think work is a result of sin. Work took place before sin. Sin just made work harder, but God14:03 always created us for work. That's part of the DNA that God wove into each and every 1 of us. There ought to be a longing for work. Now lots of we all do different things. So here's what God said, go in the garden,14:15 tend it, work it, cultivate it, do everything you can. And he says eat of anything that you find in the garden, save 1 tree. And it says right in14:27 the middle of the garden, there was 1 tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God just looks at Adam and He says listen, you can eat of anything except for that 114:40 tree. And he says, listen, the reason why you don't want to eat of that tree is because, you can go look at it, the day, listen to this, this is important, the day you eat14:51 of it, you will die. That day means yon. So God looked at Adam and he said, the day you eat of it, you will die. Now,15:03 I'm going to read a little bit of it, the story here, but here's what we know. We know from scripture, we'll read here in the second Genesis chapter 3, that Eve ate it and she didn't die. Adam15:15 ate it and he didn't die. So did God lie. Well we know God can't lie, so there must be something deeper, a deeper meaning. See here's the reality.15:27 Remember, God created Adam in his image and his likeness. So there are 2 lives and 2 deaths spoken about all through15:39 scripture. There is physical life and spiritual life. There is physical death and spiritual death. So what happened the moment15:51 that Adam and Eve took the bite, they didn't physically die, they eventually physically died, but they spiritually died. Does that make sense? They died a spiritual death immediately. Well what took place16:02 before the time that they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Remember, it says, tells us in Scripture that God would come down every every evening, he would walk in the garden with Adam and Eve, that's16:14 being spiritually alive when you're in the presence of God and when you're with God. As soon as they ate the fruit, what happened? They hid from God because they became spiritually dead. So all16:26 the plan of God is to provide an opportunity from the moment of sin to provide an opportunity for salvation, which is physical life again. So here's what we see, they16:38 didn't die immediately physically, but they did die immediately spiritually. Fast forward, let's go back and let's continue to read. It says this, Genesis chapter 316:50 verse 6, when the woman saw the fruit of the tree, it was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom. Remember she had had a conversation with Satan?17:03 Satan did what? Satan twisted God's word. Satan twist and let me tell you what, child of God, Satan didn't just twist God's word then, he'll do it now. And that's why I always17:14 want us to be a people of God's word. Every series we have has a daily devotion because I want you reading God's word. So when that that that that moment in17:26 season when you're discouraged or disheartened and it's just you alone in bed and your head is on the pillow and Satan begins to lie to you and twist God's word, I want you to be able to say no no no no. That17:38 is not what God's word says about me or my my husband or my wife or my son or my daughter or my children. That is not what God's word says. Because let me tell you what, Satan twisted God's word at the beginning, he'll17:49 do it all the way until the end. Alright? So here it is, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for Eden, pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of it and ate it18:01 and she also gave some to her husband. Now, I know we men, we love to say, well she did it first, right? And we would love to also say, well man, the dude was probably off in his hunting18:13 blind looking for something to kill. He probably wasn't even there. Alright? Ladies, let me give you a little ammunition against your husband next time he starts saying, well you know, y'all ate the fruit. Let me show18:22 you something. It says, her husband, and she gave some to her husband who was with her. Now it doesn't say he was paying attention.18:35 But he was there, alright. So it doesn't say that he was tapped in and she looks at himself, just talking to Satan, he goes, what? What? And she just looked over and he saw it, so notice it wasn't like he18:47 was gone, alright it wasn't hunting season. She she wasn't a hunting widow, right? She he was right there with her and he ate it as well. So listen, here's what happened. They both took it and ate it. They didn't18:59 immediately physically die, they spiritually died which separated them. So listen, the consequences of sin was not that the day they would die, they would physically die, but19:10 the consequence of sin was that the day that they ate, they would spiritually die. Immediately it took place. And so here's what we understand, there is a physical death and a spiritual19:22 death. Eventually Adam and Eve would all die just like we all eventually died, that is a curse of our sin, but it's more important that we deal with the spiritual and not the physical because the spiritual is what lasts19:34 eternally. So let's go to the next 1. Look at Genesis chapter 3 verse 14. So the Lord said to the serpent, alright, we're drawing our light, why the virgin19:45 birth? Genesis chapter 3 verse 14, so the lord said to the serpent, Satan, I will put enmity between you and the woman.19:59 Full stop, why just her? Why between the serpent and the woman? Now listen, and between20:11 your offspring, sin and death and difficulty and hers, All the way back to the beginning, as Satan moves a piece, God moves a piece. As Satan moves a piece,20:23 God moves a piece. And between your offspring and hers, now listen to this, here's a pronoun shift. He, who's that? Her offspring.20:35 So the enmity is between Satan's offspring and her offspring. Not their offspring, but her offspring. And notice, and he So here's what we know,20:47 that the child who would do do deal death ultimately to Satan will be the son of her, not them. And it will be a he and20:59 not a her. You're saying pastor, we know all that from the beginning, from right here. We're in Genesis chapter 3 and God is already telling, here's how this game's gonna play out. Alright, here's how this game's going21:11 to play. So continue to read, and between your offspring and hers and he, ultimately we know is Jesus, will crush your head and you will strike his heel.21:24 Listen, when Jesus died on the cross, Satan struck his heel. But when Jesus rose from the grave, he crushed Satan's head. And so all the time you're seeing God move21:36 pieces together, you say, okay pastor, alright I get this, I get a little bit of this. That that the moment that Adam and Eve ate, they didn't die physically. They would eventually die physically, but they did die21:47 spiritually and God ultimately says right there in Genesis 3 that the in between, enmity is between Satan's offspring and Eve's offspring, not Adam's offspring. Alright, is there anything else21:59 that points to it? Well here's what we see. Fast forward 2 chapters to Genesis chapter 5 verse 3, and I need everybody to tap in close because here's your answer22:11 why we need a virgin birth. Genesis chapter 5 verse 3 says when Adam had lived another hundred and 30 years, he had a22:22 son in his own likeness and in his own image. Did you catch it? Did you catch it?22:34 In Genesis 1, God created Adam and Eve and mankind in God's own image and in God's22:46 own likeness. Do you remember that? Notice the progression. Genesis chapter 3, sin enters into the world, they become spiritually dead. Genesis chapter 5,22:58 Adam has a child, not in God's image, but in his own image and in his own likeness. Does that make sense? So here,23:10 now what happens? From Genesis chapter 5 and beyond, humanity is born in the likeness of Adam. That's why every child is born23:21 with what is referred to as a sin nature. Fallen man produces fallen man. Sinful man produces sinful man. Alright, you say, well is this consistent23:33 all the way through God's word? I'm glad you asked that question. Let's go ahead and jump past the virgin birth, past the cross, past Pentecost to Romans chapter 5. So Paul, who was23:45 a teacher of the law, understood the law in Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Notice what Paul says in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, looking back. He says, therefore, just as23:57 sin entered in the world through 1 man, Genesis 3, the eating of the apple. And death came through sin, physical,24:09 spiritual, spiritual is what he's talking. And this way, death came to all people, fallen man produces fallen man, because all have sinned.24:21 This is why Jesus was born of a virgin. Had he been born as a result of Mary and Joseph, Jesus would have had a sin nature.24:34 But in order to overcome that sin nature, God had to allow a child to be born of a virgin. Now this is the beauty of God's work, that you have from Genesis to24:46 Revelation, you have 66 books written over 15 or 1600 years by 40 some odd different authors in 3 different languages on multiple continents with 1 dramatic24:58 theme that goes from Genesis 1 1 to the last verse in Revelation, that God created a world where people could be free to worship him or reject him. But even in their25:09 rejection, God was going to offer a plan of salvation through a man that was not born with a sin nature, was born with a God nature. That He was both fully God and fully man. So when He25:21 lived a perfect life and He died on the cross, that that death paid not just for His sins, had there been any and there weren't, but for our sins. Now had25:33 He just been man, even if He was perfect, that 1 man's death could pay for 1 man's sin. But since that death was not just 1 man, it was 125:45 man united with an infinite God, his death on the cross paid the price for sins, not just for 1, but for all. Does that make sense? Give God a hand for that, right?25:56 Why the virgin birth? So Jesus would not have a sin nature, then we can marry the divine nature to it so death on the cross can be multiplied by trillions upon trillions upon trillions of26:08 trillions and trillions of sin. And I didn't count those, I just made that number up. But here's the thing, why the virgin birth? So think about it. That the Bible's theme from beginning to26:20 end is all about God pursuing you and loving you. Think about your kids. I had 4 of them. You know what I noticed? You say are26:32 kids really born with a sin nature? That's kind of harsh. Anybody in here have to teach your kids to be selfish? Yeah, I mean I had 4 of them and I'd walk in,26:44 next thing I know they're They've got all the toys they need. Which 1 do they want? They want the 1 their siblings playing with, right? And you have to walk in, you have to teach them to be unselfish. I walk in there,26:54 stop acting like your mom. Right? And that's just, that's a garden thing issue. And, she's not in this service. I appreciate y'all not sharing that with her. She was in the27:06 9 30 service and funny, I forgot to say that in that service. But anybody in here, what do you have to teach your kids? You have to teach your kids to be unselfish. Why? Because their sinful nature is selfish. You have27:18 to teach your kids love because, why? Their sinful nature is unloving. You have to teach your kids to forgive because their sinful nature is to be unforgiving. Does that make sense? That's why Jesus was born of a virgin27:29 so he would not have that sin nature, but he had the divine nature. So his death27:33 on the cross, not his birth in Bethlehem, which is amazing, it27:33 was a death on the cross not his birth in Bethlehem, which is amazing, it was the death on the cross that provides forgiveness for all. That's an incredible thought. So here you have God and Satan playing this game all27:44 along, alright? And here's what we understand, Isaiah the prophet, 700 years before Christ shows up, let's read it together. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. Says,27:55 therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Here's your sign. You ready? The virgin28:08 will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. So here it is.28:20 God set up the game in Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 3, Satan moved into his best position, thought he had God. Alright? And as we think, all the movement that took28:32 place through the children of Israel and all the Old Testament prophets, all of a sudden in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, 700 years before Christ was born, God moved on the prophet28:43 Isaiah. And he says, this is going to be your sign. A virgin's going to be with child. God leans back and looks at Satan and says, check.28:57 For 700 years, Satan stares at the board trying to figure out how to get out. He says, well if I move this29:08 here, if I do this, if I do that, go back over and over again, And then all of a sudden, 700 years later, God29:20 says, Gabriel, I need you to go tell somebody something for me. I want you to go to that virgin, a virgin named Mary.29:32 You tell her I love her. You tell her she's found my favor, and you tell her she is with child. That29:44 child is not going to be just any child. He's going to be the son of God. And you will call His29:56 name Jesus. And Gabriel, when you leave her to fly back to me,30:09 swing by Satan's house, and just whisper checkmate. Amen. Give God a, that is what Christmas is all about.30:21 So child of God, when you then come to Matthew, listen to the last verse here, all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The Bible,30:34 66 books, 40 authors, 3 languages, multiple continents, 1 theme. God doesn't want to let you go.30:47 God doesn't want to let you die. The death I'm talking about is not your physical death, it's your spiritual death. Your physical death just takes you out of this body. The spiritual death30:59 removes you from God for all eternity. So the offer of God is good. For whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall31:11 be saved. What about you? Let's pray. God, thank you so much for your goodness and your grace. God, thank you for the31:23 opportunity that we have now to look and go all the way back to the beginning of beginnings and realize this is your plan, it is your game, it is your life. That you31:34 provided life in such a way that that you weren't going to tell us everything to do, you were going to allow us to make choices good and bad, but ultimately you not only provided an opportunity to salvation, you31:46 provided invitation for salvation for each of us. And all we have to do is simply trust you and believe and freely receive your son, and31:58 we become children of God. God, my prayer is there'd be those in this service right now and perhaps those that are watching online who would do that very same thing,32:10 That they would move in this moment by faith from spiritual death to spiritual life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.In this video 0:00 The Miracles of Christmas4:16 The Necessity of the Virgin Birth
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