Tidings Article - August 2010
Dear Friends,
The second statement of the “Five Fundamentals”
reads: “It is an
essential doctrine of the Word of God and our Standards, that our Lord Jesus
Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.” In 1910, the
writers of those statements thought that the Virgin Birth was a crucial
doctrine for orthodox faith. We know that the
Roman Catholics believe this is important – just look at how they revere “Mary
the Mother of God” – but how important is it for us today?
First, the Bible says it happened that way. If we
reject this event that the Bible presents as an historical fact, then we could
just as easily reject any or all of the rest. But faith requires that we submit
ourselves to whatever God says or wants, whatever the issue might be.
Second, this relates to the perfect humanity of
Jesus. We must remember that what we think of as “normal” humanity is not
normal at all. Everyone we know has been born abnormally, with a sinful defective character that keeps us from
being what we were designed to be, a perfect “image of God, made in God’s
likeness.” Two sinners together have sinner babies who sin, who are not fully
human. Only when we are “born again” and sin is dealt with by God do we
defective humans begin to become what God meant for us to be, a pure reflection
of His holy image, and fully human. Jesus was not less human than us because of
this miraculous conception, he was more human.
Because Jesus was not born of the usual means
between two sinners, he was born without sin. When the Spirit of God
overshadowed Mary, she became pregnant with a perfect human, a perfect reflection
of the perfect image of God.
He had to be completely innocent for his sacrifice
on the Cross to be effective. To wipe away the dark stain of sin on us and in
us, God had to use perfect blood. If he was not perfect, then he was a sinner
dying for other sinners, an imperfect, unacceptable sacrifice. The divine
mission of saving a sinful world demanded a complete, perfect and innocent
sacrifice, fully human and fully divine. He had to be better than the rest of
us, so that God could make us as good as He was.
But praise God that He was perfect, without sin in
every way, an effective sacrifice for the sins of sinners, one who can give
life to the dead because he died and lives again. Trust in Him, the Perfect
Man, to give you life and make you who God wants you to be.
Pastor Tim
