My dear readers,

(Excerpt from RPG "The Christmas Story" Oct – Dec 1997, Dec 2 / Dec 5 / Dec 6 ).

1. God moves in history

The prophets had declared: God’s Messiah would deliver Israel from oppression, His chosen people would be set free. Then the prophetic curtain descended: for 400 years Israel’s God was silent. The nation continued to languish under foreign domination. The people lived on in humdrum existence, their hopes kept alive by the flickering lamps burning in the temple, tended by priests appointed to the office.

Four hundred years passed without a word! Had the Lord forgotten or forsaken His own? Had the Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lapsed or lost its effect? Surely many such thoughts must have troubled the minds of the faithful, awaiting the coming of the long promised Messiah. But with the Lord a thousand years are as one day (2 Pet 3:8). If so, what are 400 years in His sight?

But silence with God must not be taken to mean inaction or forgetfulness. Did not His Word declares "... he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them" (Deut 4:31)? In the eternal counsels of the all-wise God, things were moving once again. The stage of history was set, the fulness of time had come. Messiah was about to step into the scene of human affairs to set in motion God’s salvation plan.

For Zacharias, one of the priestly band that serviced the temple lamps, it was another workaday duty. "According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord" (Luke 1:9). But what happened on that day was not "according to the custom." It must have been a dazzling and shattering sight when the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared out of nowhere! How would you have reacted in the circumstances? Zacharias "was troubled, and fear fell upon him" (Luke 1:12).

At last, God was on the move. Malachi’s prophecy was being fulfilled.

2. We believe the virgin birth (Isa 7:14; 9:6-7)

The doctrine of the virgin birth is foundational to the Christian faith: remove this pillar and the house comes tumbling down. For if Christ were not virgin born, there is but one alternative: it was an illegitimate birth. Theologians of the so-called liberal school denied the virgin birth and spawned a variety of illegitimate and counterfeit "Christianity" which saves nobody, not even a fly! But it has given birth to Christ-denying ideologies, including the Marxist "liberation theology."

But we who are saved believe the doctrine of the virgin birth with all our heart. You ask, how do you know? Simple! The Holy Spirit of God implanted faith in my heart. By faith I received Jesus as my Saviour and Lord; by faith I believe God’s Word. It tells of Christ’s virgin birth. The virgin birth is not a detached happening of uncertain or unreasonable origin, but it was in the counsels of the Almighty from the beginning. To deny it is to deny God; to destroy it is to destroy Christianity.

God had a "Master Plan" for man’s salvation. He conceived of it before the Fall; He announced it in the Garden: the seed of woman would bruise the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). Then God announced it again: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isa 7:14), which being interpreted is "God with us" (Matt 1:23). Inject the idea of a human father and Jesus becomes a mere man, no more "Immanuel." Then Christianity is reduced to one religion among many, no longer unique.

Finally we have the evidence of the Gospel accounts. Both Matthew and Luke record the virginity of Mary. An angel in a dream confirmed it to Joseph (Matt 1:12). So did Gabriel (by implication) in his words to Mary (Luke 1:35). But most important was Mary’s own confession: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34). By the law of evidence, the case for the virgin birth is impregnable. Those who think to destroy it simply destroy themselves.

But persuasion comes by God’s Spirit within your heart.

3. With God nothing is impossible (Isa 40:12-16)

"Good things come in pairs," so the saying goes. Having disclosed to Mary the supernatural conception coming upon her, the angel Gabriel revealed a second supernatural conception: "… thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age.... who was called barren" (Luke 1:36). Startling happenings were heralding the beginning of a new age of wonders: God was intervening in the affairs of man to execute the final Act in His great Drama of man’s Redemption.

To Mary, the angel’s disclosure of Elisabeth’s conception was meant for an encouragement as well as a confirmation of her faith. If God can work the unique miracle of the virgin conception, can He not do the lesser work of allowing conception in old age? Both events are against nature, but both are not against the nature and character of God. For God is the Lord of "nature." He is above all, our all in all (1 Cor 15:28). He can do all things. For with God nothing shall be impossible!

Elisabeth’s conception, unlike Mary’s, was not unique. There were Old Testament precedents. We recall how God visited Sarah and Hannah, both childless for years, and gave them each a son. Like Elisabeth, Sarah was also well stricken in years, and she too was visited by an angel. In each of these, God was fulfilling a long-standing promise. In Isaac was the seed of promise with whom God’s covenant would be established (Gen 17:19). In John was the messenger and forerunner of our Lord promised through Malachi 400 years earlier (Mal 3:1). What God had promised, no matter how difficult, He was also able to do. With Him, nothing shall be impossible. God is omnipotent.

But having said this, let us pause a while and consider: that while God is omnipotent, it does not mean that He can do everything. There are certain things which God cannot do, things which are against the very essence of His character and attributes. Therefore God cannot do wrong! He cannot fail, He cannot lie or sin, or deny Himself (Num 23:19, 2 Tim 2:13; Heb 6:18; James 1:13, 17).

God bless all readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,

Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor