T-28: Things to come

Luke 1:31-33 (NIV)
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
[1]

The angel Gabriel patiently explained to Mary the manner in which she had found favor with God. Looking ahead in scripture to Romans 12:2, I believe Mary personified the concept of being ‘transformed by the renewing of her mind.’ According to that passage, ‘then you will be able to test and approve God’s will.’ I believe that Mary, who ‘conformed no longer to the pattern of the world’ was graced not only with the task of bearing the Son of God but was blessed by the revelation of Gabriel. God’s will was revealed to her because of her obedient submission to God which was accomplished by the renewing of her mind.

Further, this explanation from Gabriel was at the instruction of God for Gabriel did not deliver his own messages, revelations or explanations but only did as instructed. This reveals the omniscient nature of God who knew that Mary would be frightened and knew that an additional explanation would be required in order to assuage her justifiable disbelief and astonishment. God cared enough about Mary to provide the explanation she needed to overcome her fear.

God cares about and loves us enough to not only send his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins but to record, in the form of scripture, the explanations that we need to be able to overcome our own fears and receive His wonderful gift.

Mary had been chosen to bear Jesus. We have been chosen to receive the Christ.

Mary was fearful and her fears were addressed by the explanation from Gabriel. We are fearful and our fears are addressed by God’s Holy Word.

Mary was ordained to experience physical birth pains in the process of bringing Jesus into the world. We are ordained to experience spiritual birth pains as we are reborn into the image of Christ in order to bring Him into our hearts.

In this revelation and as recorded in scripture, Christ was coming by way of the virgin birth. The moment that generations of Israelites had hoped for was drawing nigh. In His infinite wisdom and by His mercy and grace, God had chosen a servant girl as the vehicle by which Christ would enter the world. That’s all historical fact. God still uses His servants in this manner; to bring Christ Jesus to the world.


Regards,
Carl
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.