A Christmas Talk
We have all heard the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, we have seen the children movies depicting it, and I am sure a fair number of us have the nativity scene in our house during this time of year. So we know the story of how our Lord and Savior came to be born, but do we know the reason for it? Why did the Savior of the world need to be born of a virgin?
The answer to this actually starts in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” This is the first prophetic message that a Messiah would come. Anyone with a basic understanding of human anatomy understands that women do not have seed. So why does God tell Adam, Eve, and Satan that He will put enmity between the seed of Eve and Satan and not the seed of Adam and Satan?
When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge they set off a ripple effect that caused consequences for not only the whole earth, but also of human kind (Genesis Chapter 3). While Adam and Eve were judged immediately for their act of disobedience, we as descendants of them are dealing with the consequences as well. While womankind have their own consequences, that is not an aspect that we will look into today. Today I want to look at the repercussions that we all face because of Adam eating from the tree.
Adam was designed as the head of the human race, it would be through him that life would start. So when Adam sinned, every member of the human race sinned as well. Romans 5:12-13 explains this, “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.” As a result of Adam’s sin, we are all born with a sin nature; it is the actions, thoughts, and feelings that we have that go against God. It is why no one teaches children to lie, we are all born with the tendencies to go against God. It is more natural for us to sin than it is for us to not sin. This sin nature will ultimately result in a physical death and permanent separation from God, “17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man,” Romans 5:17a. The actions of Adam lead to all being found guilty.
Now that we understand how we all have sinned, we can begin to understand the plan of salvation that God was already putting in place. By using the language “your seed and her seed” God is already stating that the one who would destroy Satan would be born of a virgin. He could have no human father because that would mean that the sin nature that we are all born with would be passed on to him as well. The only way around this would be for God to be the father and the savior would be born of a virgin.
This is why in Genesis 3:15, God is already showing how He will be merciful. “He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” Depicts how Jesus would be nailed to the cross and have His heel bruised, but in doing so Jesus will crush Satan. Jesus committed no sin throughout His life, even up to His death Jesus committed no sin as was noted by Pilate ”4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” Luke 23:4. But when Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later, He crushed the power that sin had over man and completed Adam’s role as the head of the human race. “18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 15:18-21. Jesus became the Second Adam and through accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, God adds His righteousness to us. Christ’s righteousness is the only thing that can fix the sins of the world. So as we sit down to celebrate the birth of our Savior, remember the reason for Him to have been born of a virgin. So that He who knew no sin could save the world.
Seek the truth and encourage one another
Alex