By William Perkins
Editor
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:18-21 ESV).
Ponder for a moment how implausible such a concept must appear to the purely scientific mind.
Who could possibly believe a collection of 5,000-year-old verbal histories, the origins of which cannot be verified beyond a reasonable doubt, would foretell the coming a Messiah and then ascribe the fulfillment of that prophecy to an obscure, apparently illegitimate birth of a Jewish commoner in a backwater Middle East town before there was even a decent calendar?
The biologist would explain that except for parthenogenesis in some lower plant and animal forms, no creature on earth ever came into existence without the sexual union of a male and female of the same species.
The geneticist would ask, since every person must receive half his deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from his mother and half from his father, where was the father’s DNA?
The physician would posit that a child born under such primitive, nonsterile conditions in a filthy abode of unclean animals would more than likely not survive for very long after birth.
The historian would assert that no one is absolutely certain what time of year, or even the year itself, that Jesus was born.
The attorney would demand a court order to compel Mary to submit to a physical examination to prove her impossible claim that she was pregnant and at the same time still a virgin.
The atheist would simply argue that since there is no God, there could be no Son of God.
The sleep researcher would attest that since dreams are nothing more than the brain randomly misfiring during unconsciousness, Joseph’s dream actually meant nothing.
The abortionist would say… well, we know what the abortionist would say.
No reasonable explanation can be found in modern science for the events of Jesus’ birth, so why should we believe the ancient Bible account? In a word – faith.
The righteousness of the Gospel message is grounded in faith (Romans 1:17). We derive our faith from accepting that message (Romans 10:17), not by what we experience in the natural world (2 Corinthians 5:8).
We must cover with faith everything we hold to be true (Hebrews 11:6). We know that with faith, nothing is impossible (Matthew 17:20, Mark 11:22-23).
Faith is understanding that we cannot understand everything (Hebrews 11:3), and yet we must still be willing to turn over to God complete control of our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Faith is accepting with all your heart that God is who he says He is in His Word, that Jesus is the Son of God who came into this world exactly as the Bible describes, and that Jesus is everything the Bible says He is.
There are people who live as if they believe every word of that statement. We call ourselves Christians.
At this special time of year in the Christian world, be sure to make time to share your faith with someone who needs to know Jesus is Lord. The Christ. The Messiah. Show them by word and deed the true meaning of Christmas.
In this era of seemingly endless gift-giving and secularism, make sure your gifts truly count for someone’s eternity. Give your faith to someone who really needs it, and give your money to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions so every unsaved soul on the globe can hear about Jesus before He comes back — and He is coming back.
Our Lord and Savior left us with an urgent assignment in Matthew 28:18-20. After what He did for us, it’s the least we can do for Him.
