(Breath of Life Theme Music)
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Sermon #B624 - The
Greatest of all Miracles
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PB: Isaiah 7:14. If you have
it, let me hear you say, "Amen".
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Alright. The Word of God says,
"Therefore, the Lord Himself
shall give you a" what
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everybody? Come on. Give you a,
what everybody? [Congregation:
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Sign.] "Sign. Behold a virgin
shall" what? [Congregation:
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Conceive.] Come on. Virgin
shall, what everybody?
[Congregation: Conceive.]
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"And bear a son and shall call
his name" what
everybody?[Congregation:
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Emmanuel.] "Emmanuel." Now
Emmanuel means God with us.
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Emmanuel means God with whom,
everybody? [Congregation: Us.]
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So today, I want to just spend,
just a little time on this
subject, The Greatest of All
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Miracles. The Greatest of All
Miracles. Father. Let's bow our
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heads. Father, God, right now we
ask that You would come in this
place as we preach this Your
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Word, the greatest of all
miracles. May Your Holy Spirit
move in this place today.
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We give You praise, honor and
glory Lord in advance for what
You're going to do.
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Hide me behind Your
cross, forgive us of our sins.
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In the Name of Jesus we pray,
let everyone say, Amen.
[Congregation: Amen.]
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The Greatest of All
Miracles. Now, I love miracles.
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Anybody love
miracles? [Congregation: Yes!]
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I said, I love miracles. I love
seeing God make Himself known. I
love seeing God stomp out the
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devil. I love seeing God do the
impossible. I love seeing God
show up and show out.
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I love to see God do a
surprising and welcome event
that is not explainable by
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natural or scientific laws. I
love miracles. Do I have a
witness in this place? Now, all
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of us have our favorite miracle.
We all have our favorite miracle
recorded in scripture. For some,
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it's physical healing. Jesus
healing the man at the pool of
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Bethesda. The woman with the
issue of blood touching the hem
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of Jesus' garment. But maybe
it's not necessarily the
physical act of healing but
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maybe someone else, it's food
healing. Jesus taking two fish,
five loaves of bread and feeding
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5,000 men plus women and
children. Maybe it was the
wedding where they had run out
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of wedding punch and Jesus
turning water into wine. But
then maybe it's not the
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physical, maybe it's not the
food but maybe it's the miracle
of life. Jesus raising Jairus'
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daughter. Jesus raising Lazarus
from the dead. But then when I
think of miracles, I can't help
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but remember what took place in
the Old Testaments. A donkey
talking, the sun standing still,
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a red sea parting, manna
falling, lions' mouth shutting,
a fire in a fiery furnace and no
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one gets burned but the ropes.
I love miracles. Are you hearing
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what I'm saying? But when I'm
asked what is the greatest
miracle recorded in scripture,
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for some it may be hard to
answer because they are all
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good. But when it comes to this
time of the year, I'm reminded,
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hands down, of the greatest
miracle, ever performed and
that's the birth of Jesus
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Christ. The Immaculate
Concepcion, the virgin birth,
the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
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God leaving the celestial courts
of Heaven and coming down to
this sin-infested Earth.
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God becoming man. Friends,
that's a miracle. And God
becoming man is what this year,
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time of year is all about. The
birth of Jesus is the reason for
Christmas. We said all the time,
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Jesus is the reason for the
season. Now I'm reminded, a lot
of our folk may not like this
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sermon because a lot of folks
don't want to celebrate
Christmas because they say Jesus
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wasn't born on December 25th.
And you know what? Jesus wasn't
born on December 25th but for me
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it really doesn't matter when He
was born. I just thanked God
that He was born. Are you
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hearing what I'm
saying? [Congregation: applause]
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But then when we talk about
Christmas, there are others who
say Christmas has origins and
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paganism and shouldn't be
celebrated. They say that the
practice of the yuletide
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celebration and the yuletide law
find its roots in the pagan
practice of the North men's of
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the ancient European days. But
don't confuse the incarnation of
the miracle of Jesus with the
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empty idol worship of paganism.
There's a difference between
Santa Claus and Jesus. Santa is
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fictitious but Jesus is the real
thing. Santa lives at the North
Pole but Jesus is everywhere.
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Santa rides in on a sleigh but
Jesus rides on the wind and He
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walks on water. Santa comes only
once a year but my Bible says,
Jesus is a very present help in
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time of trouble. You have to
wait in line to see Santa but
Jesus is as close as the mention
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of His Name. All Santa can do is
say Ho Ho Ho, but Jesus offers
help, hope, and help.
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Santa can make you laugh but
Jesus can give you a joy that
the world can't give and the
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world can't take away. Santa
puts gifts under your trees but
it was Jesus who became our gift
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and He died on Calvary tree.
Santa is not real, but Jesus is
the real thing. So in addition
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to the miracle of God becoming
man, God in this text is giving
His people a sign of His power
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to deliver. God told Ahaz in
Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord
Himself shall give a sign".
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Now I don't know if you know
what you just read or what I
just read, but look at it one
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more time. "Therefore the Lord
Himself", not an impostor, not a
fake, not a stand-in,
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but the Lord Himself shall give
you a sign, which means God
didn't send an angel to do the
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job. God didn't send a
prophet to accomplish the task.
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When God got ready to deliver
you, when God got ready to
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deliver me, when God got ready
to deliver this world, God would
give a sign that couldn't be
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ignored. God would give a signal
that couldn't be overlooked. God
would send His best.
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God would send Himself. God
would send Jesus. "Therefore,
the Lord Himself shall give you
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a sign. Behold the virgins shall
conceive, bear a son, and shall
call his name Emmanuel.
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" Everybody say, Emmanuel.
[Congregation: Emmanuel.]
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Which interpreted, God with us.
In other words, God came to be
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with us, But I'm here to say
there are those who want to
think that it's unnecessary to
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believe in the virgin birth. But
Matthew 1:18 says that "Before
they", meaning Joseph and Mary,
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"came together, she was found to
be with child from the Holy
Spirit." That verse continues in
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verse 19, it says that Joseph
knew that he could not have been
the father. The text says, "And
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her husband, Joseph, being a
just man and unwilling to put
her to shame, resolved to
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divorce her quietly." But even
Mary herself knew that she was a
virgin because Luke 1:34 says,
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"She asked the angel, 'How would
this be since I am a virgin?'"
Now, there are three types,
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there were three types of
virgins in ancient Hebrew
culture. Somebody says three
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types. I thought a virgin was
just a virgin. But there were
three types of virgins in
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ancient Hebrew culture. One was
a virgin who had never been
married. Everybody say never
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married. [Congregation: Never
married.] Number two. The second
was a virgin who had decided to
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remain a virgin for life.
Everybody say virgin for life.
[Congregation: Virgin for life.]
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I'm so sorry for her husband.
Come on, say amen. The third
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type was Almah. A virgin who was
married but had yet not
consummated her marriage. In
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Isaiah 7:14, the word Almah is
used here. Isaiah said, "In
Almah, a young virgin, would
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bring forth a son." The way
people got married in ancient
Hebrew culture is very important
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to the understanding of Mary's
situation in the text. You see,
back in the day and I praise God
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it's not like this today, but
when a guy wanted to marry a
girl, but maybe I do like it
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better now that I'm married 21
years and I have 3 daughters,
maybe I do like this.
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[Congregation: laugh] When a guy
wanted to marry a girl, the guy
had to go to his own father
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and he told the father that he
would like a particular girl's
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hand in marriage. The boy's
father would then go to the
girl's father and say, "My son
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would like to marry your
daughter." If the girl agreed,
the girl's father would
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establish then a contract, and
that contract would include
provisions and stipulations.
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And if the guy's father agreed
with the contract, both fathers
would sign and that would be
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called the dowry. They
then would have the ceremony.
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The two fathers would bless the
two kids and they would sign the
contract officially before
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witnesses and then each father
would go back home with their
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respective child. But after the
ceremony, the two children would
be pledged to marry.
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So then even though she was
already married, the girl
couldn't go to her husband
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nor can he go to her
because the girl was too young.
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In those days, girls were
betrothed when they were 13 or
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14 years old. So while the young
woman was married but not yet
with her husband, she was called
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an Almah. So then when you read
the Christmas story, that there
was a young virgin named Mary
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who was a spouse to Joseph, she
was already married in a
contract but they had yet
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consummated the marriage, which
then explains how Mary who had
not yet had intercourse with
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Joseph was pregnant by the Holy
Ghost. Now, God could have
birthed Jesus any way He wanted
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to because He's God but there
was a reason. A reason why Jesus
had to have a virgin birth.
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Jesus would have two natures.
How many natures, everybody?
[Congregation: Two.]
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A human nature and a divine
nature. He would experience all
that we experience in our
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humanity, but He would
give us all that we need in His
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Divinity. He was fully man
because he came from Mary's
womb, but He was fully God
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because He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost. It was necessary for
Jesus to be born of a woman so
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that He could be of the same
nature as those He came to save,
but it was also necessary for
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Him to be conceived of the Holy
Ghost so He could be holy,
sinless, blameless, in order to
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be the sacrificial lamb. Because
then Jesus is born of Mary, He
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is truly human. Because He is
conceived by the Holy Ghost, He
is free from sin, inherited sin,
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handed down from Adam, and He
can pay for our sins because He
had no guilt or shame of His
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own. Which means then, Jesus
was like us but yet He was then
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nothing like us. Jesus walked
among us but yet He came from
God above. Jesus grew up in
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Nazareth but yet He became flesh
and dwelt among us. Jesus, yes,
He's our friend, but He's also
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our Savior and our Lord. The
virgin birth of Jesus shows the
uniqueness of Christ
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because no one else in Earth's
history came into this world the
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same way as Jesus. It hadn't
happened to anybody before and
it hasn't happened to anybody
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since. So then, listen to me,
this is why it's important as
Christians to understand this.
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When it comes to Christianity,
the virgin birth is an essential
aspect of our faith,
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because if Jesus, listen to me,
had come into this Earth the
same way you and I did,
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then He would have been born
with original sin like you and
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me. If Jesus had been born with
original sin like you and me,
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then He would not have been
qualified to be the sinless
sacrifice for our sins.
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So then the miracle of Jesus'
birth, the virgin birth, is the
greatest of all miracles
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because His virgin birth made
our salvation possible, so Jesus
had to be born of a virgin.
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He couldn't have been born in
any other way. But I praise God
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for Joseph, why? Joseph could've
gotten an attitude and said,
"I'm not raising another man's
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baby. I'm not raising a child
who's impregnated by somebody
else." According to Jewish law,
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Joseph could have had Mary
stoned. Joseph could have called
the marriage off, but Joseph
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didn't choose any of these
options because Joseph was
convinced that Mary an angel had
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told him the truth. That the
Holy Spirit had implanted baby
Jesus inside of Mary's womb to
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save His people from their sins.
So then if we're not sure about
the virgin birth of Christ, we
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will not be sure about the
divinity of Christ. If we're not
sure about the virgin birth of
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Christ, we will not be sure of
our salvation. And so we
celebrate the Christmas season
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and it's important when we
celebrate for us to strengthen
our doctrinal belief in the
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incarnation of Christ. For
without the virgin birth, there
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is no Christmas. Without the
virgin birth, there is no Savior
to save us from sin.
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Mary bore the child, but God
gave the Son. Mary bore Jesus
but God gave the Christ.
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Mary bore the body but God gave
the Spirit. Mary is the mother
of Jesus but Mary is not the
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mother of God. Because Jesus'
conception did not come from a
sperm of a man but out of God
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Himself, Jesus is without
genealogy. He is the ancient of
days. He is God without a
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beginning and He is God without
an end. He is Alpha and Omega,
the First and the Last, the
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Beginning and the End. He is the
Beginner of the beginning. He is
the Beginner in whom the
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beginning began. He is the
Beginning who did not begin to
be. He is older than time, yet
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younger than future. He is what
He was. He is what He was what
He is and what He was and is, He
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will always be. "In the
beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word
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was God, and the Word became
flesh." Christmas is about Jesus
putting on a human body so that
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He can come to this Earth and He
could die for us and by His
blood shed for us, you and I, we
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can have salvation. And this is
why we celebrate Christmas. I
said this is why we celebrate
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Christmas because of His awesome
victory at Calvary. Listen to me
good. Christ is the fulfillment
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of the Genesis 3:15 promise, the
first promise of the Bible.
Remember the promise says, "And
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I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise
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thy head and thou shall bruise
his heel." In other words, the
seed of the woman is going to
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crush the head of Satan. Let me
say that one more time. I said
the seed of the woman is going
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to crush the head of Satan. But
then wait a minute, Pastor Bert,
let's stay in Hebrew culture. In
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Hebrew culture, women didn't
have seed. Men were the ones who
had seed. Children are normally
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referred to as the offspring or
seed of the father, but in this
first promise, God says that
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she, the woman, is going to have
seed. God, what are you talking
about she's going to have seed?
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Eve, your seed, is going to
crush Satan's head but what Eve
doesn't know is that she's not
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the woman who's going to produce
the seed. She's a woman but
she's not "the woman." The
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promise says a virgin shall be
with child and bear a son and
shall call his name Emmanuel. So
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then Genesis 3:15 is the first
promise of the first coming of
Jesus and the first promise of
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the second coming of Jesus. The
promise is I'm going to put
enmity, hatred between you and
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the woman. And when God talks
about enmity, when God talks
about crushing head and bruising
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heel, He's talking about the
first coming at Calvary and the
second coming of Jesus. Now,
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