What Child Is This?
“Child of Perfection”
Luke 1:26-28
Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor
We have seen Jesus as the “Child of Promise.”
- In Genesis 3:15, God said a child would be born who would defeat Satan, and while Satan would try to destroy the seed line through which that child would be preserved, by His death and resurrection, that child would eventually crush Satan’s head and set free those in bondage to sin. According to Matthew’s genealogy, that “Seed from Eve” passed through 42 selected and protected generations until “Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Matthew 1:16)
We have seen Jesus as the “Child of Prediction.”
- In Numbers 24:17, the prophet Balaam predicted, “a Star would come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.” In Daniel 9:24-26, the young prophet predicted the precise year that the “star” and “scepter” would arise. Somewhere between 8 BC and 1 BC, Persian priests arrived in the City of Jerusalem saying, “We have seen His Star in the East, and we have come to worship Him.” So, having been born at the right place and time and to the right woman, Jesus was the “Child of Prediction.”
However, Jesus did not come to earth to create another holiday. Jesus was born to die for sinners, and if His death was sufficient payment for the sins of all who would believe in Him:
- He had to be more than the Child of Promise.
- He had to be more than the Child of Prediction.
- He also had to be the Child of Perfection.
- That babe that Mary gently laid in a manger, that Son that God sent to be our Savior, was, in fact, “God Himself,” wrapped in human flesh, come to redeem us from our sins and to rescue us from hell.
According to recent surveys, most Americans believe Jesus was a good man and that it was honorable for Him to pay the debt for our sins by His horrible death on the cross. However, they still find it hard to believe Jesus was without sin, i.e., they do not believe He was indeed God, and therefore, they do not give Him the glory and honor He deserves.
- However, in defining and describing the essential elements of a true confession of faith, the Apostle Paul said for the sinner to be saved, they must first “confess with their mouth, Jesus is Lord,” and then “believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead!” (Romans 10:9-10)
- In effect, to be eternally saved, one must recognize the absolute deity of Jesus Christ, submit unto Him as their Lord, and then trust in Him to provide for their eternal salvation.
- The Gospel is not to perceive Jesus as a Martyr, a nobleman who died in our place; whose life is an example for us to follow.
- The Gospel is to receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the human expression of God’s grace, to whom we owe all praise and honor.
1. His Deity – Luke 1:32 – “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.”
Both the angel Gabriel and the priest Zachariah referred to God as the “Highest,” and the word “Highest” speaks of God’s sovereignty.
- Highest means there is no one higher than God, and since Jesus was referred to as the Highest, then He is God.
- The writer of Hebrews said God speaks to us today through His Son, Jesus, and since Jesus has the exact nature as God, Jesus is God.
- God manifested Himself to man in many ways many times before He entered the world as the baby in Mary’s womb.
- The very One who created the universe was the One lying in Mary’s lap in Bethlehem.
In John 1:1-14, the Apostle made it clear – the WORD of God was WITH GOD in the beginning, but there came that time when the WORD became FLESH and dwelt among us, and John said, “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
As God’s only begotten Son, Jesus did not hesitate to claim equality with God the Father.
- Equality of nature – Luke 1:35 – “The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
- Equality of work! – John 5:17-19 – “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working; making Himself equal with God. Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
- Equality of power – John 5:21 – “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
- Equality of authority – John 5:21 – “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
- Equality of judgment – John 5:22 – “The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.”
- Equality of honor – John 5:22 – “That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.”
2. His Humanity – Luke 1:31 – “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.”
The Old and New Testaments declare that God revealed Himself to man in many ways and at many times.
- “Theophanies” – the visible expression of God, but not always in human form, such as the “Burning Bush” or the “Pillar of Fire” –
items that served God’s command or direction.
- “Christophanies” – the visible expression of God in human form, such as the Angel who told Abraham to get his people out of Sodom and Gomorrah.
- However, every “theophany” and every “Christophany” foreshadowed the “incarnation,” where God took the form of man and lived among us as Emmanuel – “God with us!”
- That final manifestation of God in the flesh was given the human name of “Jesus!”
3. His Holiness – Luke 1:35 – “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
In all the years of human history, only one perfect child has been born, and according to the Scriptures, His name was Jesus.
- Since Cain and Abel, every child had been born precious and innocent, for sure, but unholy, with a propensity toward sin.
- However, even before He was conceived or born, Jesus knew a level of holiness that we will not experience until our death.
- Jesus was born wholly sanctified at His conception, and He remained that way until He was glorified.
- In 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Apostle Paul said, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
- Again, the hymn writers have tried to teach us!
- “O morning stars together, proclaim thy holy birth?”
- “Holy infant so tender and mild?”
- “Radiant beams from Thy holy face?”
- “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray!”
All that is contained in God was also contained in Jesus, for He was the full representative of the invisible and incomprehensible Jehovah God.
- Even the hymn writers understood this, and they took pains to make it clear in the wording of their songs!
- “Joy to the world, the LORD is come!”
- “Yea, LORD, we greet THEE!”
- “Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting LORD, veiled in flesh the GODHEAD see, Hail the incarnate deity, Jesus our Emanuel!”
- “Jesus, LORD at Thy birth!”
- “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.”
- “God with man is now residing, suddenly the Lord descending.”
- “Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me.”
- The heart of Christmas, yea, even the crux of Christianity, is that God Himself entered the world as a human being, and His name is Jesus.
- To truly receive Jesus as your Savior, you must first recongize His deity and fully surrender unto Him as your Lord!
