The virgin birth and the saints communion

1.      I believe in the virgin birth.

1.      Belief in the Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ biologically, it is violently asserted, such a birth is impossible.

1.     I would absolutely agree but I would also argue that, Matthew 19:26 "With God all things are possible."

2.      Science with it's matchless authority has pronounced against it and who would dare challenge the "all knowing" of such an eminent authority?

1.      Well, God!

3.      This assault on the doctrine of the Virgin Birth is but one phase of a great battle to evacuate the supernatural from Christianity and to reduce it to the plane of natural religion.

1.      These people are out to destroy supernatural Christianity.

2.      It's been going on since creation.

1.      They go through the Bible and tell us there is no supernatural revelation there; they go through the Birth of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural incarnation there; they go through the Person of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural deity there; they go through the Works of Christ an tell us there are no supernatural miracles there; they go through the Words of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural wisdom there; they go through the Death of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural atonement there; they go through the Blood of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural cleansing power there; and they go through the Tomb of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural resurrection there.

4.      Culture, unbelievers, and hell itself try to engage the abandoning of the supernatural from the Gospel altogether.

1.      Merely reducing it to another book, another story of fictitious telling.

2.      As a Christian I believe in a supernatural Christianity which presents a supernatural Christ Who had a supernatural Birth, Who lived a supernatural Life, Who performed the supernatural on a continual basis, Who died a supernatural Death, Who rose in a supernatural Resurrection, and Who is coming again in a supernatural Manner.

1.      Rejection, then, of the Virgin Birth is an attack on the supernaturalness of Christ.

2.      Unbelief always questions, "How can this be?"

3.     Divine inspiration always answers, "With God all things are possible."

3.      God is omnipotent which means He has all power, unlimited power, able to do anything!

1.      Questioning the Virgin Birth challenges the almightiness of God, the nature of Christ and at the very power of God.

4.      Before her marriage Mary was found with child.

1.      Under the Jewish law an espoused woman's vows to her future husband were as binding as the actual marriage vows.

2.      As an engaged woman, if Mary was pregnant by any other act than the act of the Holy Spirit, than she was an adulteress.

Matthew 1:18-25 NLT [18] This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. [19] Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. [20] As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. [21] And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." [22] All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through His prophet: [23] "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" [24] When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. [25] But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named Him Jesus."

5.      Think of the ridicule of Mary, the mockery of Joseph, the formulated theories, the creative speculation, the systematic assumptions from enemies, parents, friends, acquaintances, even fellow church members.

1.      I mean this kind of unbelief has been going on for thousands of years.

6.      Joseph is told that Mary would bring forth the Savior of the world.

1.      He was to call His name Jesus, meaning Savior.

1.      When Christ saves people, He saves from their sins; from the guilt of sin by the merit of His death, and from the power of sin by the Spirit of His grace.

1.      In saving them from sin, He saves them from wrath, and the curse, and all misery, here and hereafter.

2.      Christ came to save His people, not in their sins, but from their sins.

2.      Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had instructed him, speedily, without delay, and cheerfully, without dispute.

7.      To reject the Virgin Birth is to imply that our Lord Jesus Christ was an imposter and liar.

Genesis 3:15 NLT "[15] And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

1.      The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; representing Satan being permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people because of sin.

2.      The serpent's poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is fatal.

1.      There is no healing that can ever take place.

2.      Snake venom is highly modified saliva containing zoo-toxins that facilitates immobilization, digestion of prey, and defends against a threat.

1.      It is injected by unique fangs after a bite but some species are also able to spit.

2.      When Satan bites you with disbelief or spits his angry lies realize that Christ's death gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom of eternal darkness, a wound of epic proportion so his venom is poison-less, destruction-less, and just unmodified saliva.

3.      Causing him permanent damage, permanent destruction, permanent and eternal death and as the gospel gains ground, Satan falls.

1.      Jesus was "bruised in the heel" when he was murdered, and then resurrected.

2.      His death was temporary; painful though it was, but only a bruise in the heel to comparison.

4.      Now he will bruise Satan in the head, in other words destroy him and his works  forever.

1.      Satan was defeated once and for all at the cross because God had a plan for redemption, and satan could not undo Calvary, therefore Jesus crushed satan's head and his kingdom.

1.      Texas-"You have to crush, destroy and bury the head."

5.      The reference here is to the woman's seed, not to the seed of the man.

1.      This is unique because the common reference is always to the seed of the man "the seed of Abraham", not the seed of Sarah, "the seed of David", not the seed of Bathsheba, and so on.

2.      Something extraordinary is referred to, for only a unique seed, a supernatural seed, could accomplish this supernatural victory eternally bruising the serpent's head.

3.      No son by ordinary generation of Adam's ruined race could accomplish the effect here spoken of.

4.      The only acceptable cause is found in the woman's seed, a Virgin-born Savior.

1.      Our Redeemer from death, hell and sin which Adam's transgression had wrapped us up in.

Luke 2:33-34 NLT [33] "Jesus' parents were amazed at what was being said about Him. [34] Then Simeon blessed them, and He said to Mary, the baby's mother, "This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but He will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him."

8.      Every belief requires a degree of faith.

1.      The Bible itself says that Jesus did much more than was actually recorded in the Bible, all of which was designed to reveal Him as the Son of God.

1.      Because these events happened over 2,000 years ago, it is impossible to recount every fact about Jesus’ life.

2.      We do, however, stand on the reliability of the New Testament, with thousands of manuscripts still in existence from 50-150 years after Jesus’ death.

John 20:29-31 NLT [29] "Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me." [30] The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name."

1.     Jesus asserted Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.”

1.      He is the definitive source for all truth yet His message is not one of exclusion.

2.      He didn’t intend for those who believe in Him to condemn those that don’t, but rather to extend the grace, love and truth He makes freely available to all.

9.      Popular talk show host Larry King was once asked, if he had the choice to interview one person in all of history, who would he choose?

1.      He replied that he would like to interview Jesus Christ, and that he would ask Him just one question: “Are you indeed virgin born?”

2.      “The answer to that question,” said King, “would explain history to me.”

1.      Comprehending the virgin birth is pivotal.

2.      If Jesus was not supernaturally conceived in the womb of Mary, then He was not God.

3.      And if He was not God, then His death on the cross really meant nothing at all.

1.      Even worse, He would be a fraud, giving false hope, claiming to be God in human form and also claiming to be the only way to a relationship with the Father.

2.      I would go so far as to say that if you don’t believe Jesus was supernaturally conceived in the womb of a virgin named Mary, then you can’t be a Christian!

3.      You might say, “That’s outrageous!” No, it really isn’t.

Jesus said, in John 8:24 “Unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

10.The Bible teaches that He was supernaturally conceived in Mary’s womb, fully God yet fully man.

1.      Listen, Christ was God, not because He was virgin born.

2.      He was virgin born because He was God.

1.     He could have chosen to come in any other way but chose to come this way and if you can believe Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

2.     Then believing the rest of the bible should be a cinch.

2.      I believe in the saints communion.

1.      The bond uniting Christians globally with each other and with Jesus Christ, is described as communion.

Acts 10:39-43 NLT [39] "And we apostles are witnesses of all He did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross, [40] but God raised Him to life on the third day. Then God allowed Him to appear, [41] not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be His witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. [42] And He ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all-the living and the dead. [43] He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name."

2.      Our coming together is a powerful demonstration of our faith, our belief, our confidence in our rescuing Savior.

3.      The Church is the Communion of Saints.

Acts 4:32-37 32 "All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need."

4.      The word communion means “an act or instance of sharing.”

1.      When the Apostles’ Creed speaks of the “communion of the saints,” it is not just specifically referring to the Lord's Supper/Communion in which believers come together to remember Jesus’ sacrifice through the bread and the wine.

1.      The communion of the saints is much deeper than this imperative ordinance.

5.      The communion of the saints refers to believers in the past, believers in the present, and believers in the years to come sharing a common eternal salvation in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

1.      It's our commonality.

1.      We have been forgiven through His death and saved by His life, set free from the law of sin and death, and passed from spiritual death to eternal life.

2.      Permanently adopted as children of God by the will of God.

3.      We have become God's handiwork to do good works that He has prepared for us, and we have all been given an eternal home in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lamb, our Temple, and our Light.

4.      Just a few of the blessings we have in common with every believer.

6.      The church is called together and empowered by Jesus to carry on His ministry in the world.

1.      Called to unite in our efforts, our service, our discipleship and our evangelism to the world.

2.      We do this through our example of freely sharing all we have with whomever has need, demonstrating that Christianity is a way of living, and discipleship our eternal mission.