Welcome to this week's posting of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for joining me today, and thank you for reading the blog. I hope that you all are doing well.
This has been an eventful week for me. I've been working hard on several projects. I had to go to the doctor as I am having a few problems. Please pray that I will feel better. Also, please continue to pray for my friend's family during this time of sorrow.
I had a little wind damage to my roof again. I thought that we had that fixed, but apparently not. Please pray that I will be able to get this fixed without too much expense. This is becoming very frustrating.
In prayer this week, remember to pray for peace. Syria, Iraq and Libya continue to be plagued by war. Also, pray for an end the the zika virus. This is really bad in some parts of the world right now.
As we pray for the spread of the message of Jesus this week, let us pray for Senegal, Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo.
For the past several weeks, we have been in a series of messages on the Apostles' Creed. Last week, our focus was on the section dealing with Jesus who is our Lord and God's only Son.
Everything in the Christian faith centers around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Who is He and what did He do?
The Bible and the Creed are quite clear that Jesus is the Son of God. The section that we will study today is a reiteration of this important point. Our section today examines in what way Jesus is the Son of God. He is the only begotten Son just as Jesus Himself points out in John 3:16.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. This may not seem like a vital theological concept, but it is.
The account of Jesus' birth says that Mary was a virgin just as had been foretold by Isaiah the prophet. When Mary accepted the call that God placed on her life, she was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb.
The belief in the virgin birth is important because it clearly demonstrates the divinity of the Lord Jesus. He did not have a human father. He was the God man. God was His Father. Because Jesus did not have a human father, Jesus was not born with original sin. Therefore, He could be without original sin and actual sin allowing Him to be the spotless Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Jesus was the Son of God and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity from eternity past. He became the only begotten Son at His birth.
Some theologians have tried throughout history to denigrate the Virgin birth and promote various other theories. One of these is adoptionism. This theory states that Jesus was born as an ordinary man, but He became the Son of God either at His baptism or resurrection. There is no Scriptural support for this idea, and the Creed rejects this idea. Other more liberal theologians reject the Virgin birth because they deny anything supernatural. Many also deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form of a person. He lived a perfect, holy and sinless life. He was tempted in all ways like we are, yet He was without sin. He came to show us the way that we ought to live. He demonstrated to us what a perfect life lived before God looks like. Jesus then died on the cross to free of from sin and the wrath of God that our sin deserves. He bore our sins in His body. He died for us, and then He rose again from the dead conquering the consequences of sin.
Jesus could do this because He was the God-man. He was fully divine and fully human in one person. The doctrine of the Virgin birth is one factor which demonstrates the divinity and humanity of Jesus. It demonstrates who Jesus was.
The portion of the Creed that we are studying today also demonstrates that the Holy Trinity was involved in the work of salvation. God the Father sent Jesus Christ His Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Also we are redeemed by Jesus, God becomes our Father and we are filled and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we are sealed to the day of redemption by the Spirit, we are in the hands of our Savior Jesus and God the Father has everything wrapped up in His hands.
I hope the words that I have written today go a little ways in demonstrating the importance of the doctrine of the Virgin birth. I hope that if you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior that you will come to know him today.
Next week, we will continue our series on the Apostles' Creed. I will post the verses on Monday. There will not be a review this Wednesday, but they will resume the following week. May God bless you all. Amen.
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