Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
This isn't the common Christmas scripture. But then again, maybe it should be. For this is the result of the Christmas story. This is the why the shepherds were greeted with glad tidings of great joy. What greater joy than to know that my salvation is not based on my works, but based upon the gift of His son Jesus. All I do is simply believe in His unmerited, unearned favor. When I do this, I am born again, born of the Spirit of God, born into a whole new life where the old has gone and the new has come. I am new creation, a brand new species, as one translation says.
Did you know that even Jesus was born spiritually alive in the same way; by grace through faith? For Romans 8:29 says that He was the firstborn of many.
Walk this road with me.
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
Did you ever wonder why she was greatly troubled at his words and not that it was an angel talking to her? What was it about his words and this greeting that troubled her?
Mary was a Jew. Born to the tribe of Judah, in the line of David. More importantly she was born under the law and not under grace. She knew the scriptures of the Law and the Prophets. The Law was based on "do good, get good" and "do bad, get bad". The reason she was troubled by his words was because she knew her own short comings and where they placed her under the law. Yet, this messenger from God was speaking to her about being highly favored. It was grace, the unmerited favor of God, that troubled her.
And then to calm her and drive the point home, Gabriel says it again:
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
The angel declares to Mary to not be afraid because she has found God's favor. God's perfect unconditional love is expressed through his unmerited, unearned favor, which we commonly call grace. This is confirmed in 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,....
Gabriel continues on describe God's plan for Mary:
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
It is likely that Mary was 14-16 years old, for it was the custom to be betrothed by this age or even younger. So she asks a legitimate question:
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” Or as another translation says: "For nothing is impossible with God.”
Her whole life she had been taught the messiah was coming. She knew her people had been waiting for Him for generations. And now this angel named Gabriel was telling her she would be the vessel by which this was to happen. He even described how the Spirit of God would hover over her, much as He did over the waters during the first creation process recorded in the Torah.
What happeens next is the conduit through which grace has to flow. Grace cannot flow from heaven to earth without this delivery system. Faith. Mary spoke in faith. She believed in her heart, and confessed with her mouth:
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” .....
or as another translation puts it:
"may it be done to me according to your word.”
There it is; saved by grave through faith. Jesus' was concevieved by grace through faith. Mary wasn't perfect, yet God's favor (grace) was upon her. But this conception had to be agreed to with the word of faith.
Mary had to take on the shame of being an unwed mother and the fear of being ostracized by her friends and possibly disowned by her family. She had to take the chance of her fiance not accepting her explanation and publicly disgracing her or at best quietly sending her away.
All of this pressure upon not a grown mature woman, but a young teenage girl.
The decision had to be made quickly. She didn't have time to think.
Did she hesitate? Did she say, " Give me a day or two to contemplate or pray and fast about what you have said"? NO!! Faith is now. She believed in her heart, declared her servanthood to the Lord and confessed with her mouth, "May it be to me as you have said". And a new life was conceived within her. Nothing she had ever known would be the same. This life was conceived in her body because first it was conceived in her heart. Then she confessed with her mouth in agreement and the seed of the Spirit of God was planted in her body. Now she was pregnant with the promise of God.
This Christmas season is calling us to, likewise, become pregnant with or conceive in our hearts the promises of God. We also have the promise of the Messiah who came to free us from fear, oppression, sin, sickness, poverty and death. He took every curse upon Himself on our behalf so that through Him we may have life and have abundantly, to the full, until it overflows and every promise of God could be "Yes" and "Amen" in us.
That word "amen" literally means "May it be so in me" or "I am in agreement". The word confession means to speak in agreement. Mary's confession can now be our confession. "Your promise, God, may it be so in me as you have said."
What do you need this season?
Do you have sickness or lack in any area?
God has already provided for us through his great and precious promises.
Then receive His promise. He has promises for everything we need for life and godliness; health and healing, deliverance and freedom, wholeness and completeness, prosperity and provision, wisdom and understanding, nothing broken and nothing missing.
Get the promise of God for your life today. Seek it first in His word and find promise for your need or Godly desire. Then believe it in your heart, declare it in agreement and just as in Mary, a seed is planted in you. Hold on to it, nurture it in your heart meditate on it and in due season you too will see the manifestation of the promise of new abundant life.
Simply Blessed Christmas to all of you.