A Human Savior

Jesus’ miraculous conception in Mary’s womb was a sign. However, it was not, as many think, a sign that the child was divine. God was not saying that Jesus had a divine nature. In fact, God was telling us just the opposite!

The conception established Jesus’ human nature. It made him a man. It did not make the nature of sin impossible--it made the Christ's nature of sin undeniable!

The conception was a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit in Mary. Jesus humbly subjected himself to that miracle, emptying himself of the glory, power, authority, immortality, limitless knowledge, and sparkling holiness that he possessed when he had equality with God.

Prophetic Basis

So, the Holy Spirit performed the miracle God gave him to do. It was not just an amazing miracle, it was foretold. It was the fulfillment of prophecy. The virgin birth was one major sign of the coming of the Messiah promised by the prophet Isaiah.

… the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).

Like a street sign has a message, a Biblical sign has a message too. It's a miracle with a message. So, what was the message of the virgin birth of Christ? It was to assure you and me that our Savior was human.

Jesus was just like you and me. He had the same nature, the fallen nature. He was born of the same stock we are.

Another Christ

You must be clear that Jesus’ birth was a huge risk. It was bold and risky. Some people think that his birth demonstrated Jesus' sinlessness, and they tie it to him being born of a virgin. Processions, cathedrals, pilgrimages, and all species of idolatrous worship have been based on that false teaching.

Be warned! It's evil, it's a lie, and it's Satanic. People who teach that Jesus came in the divine nature don't even know the Jesus of the Bible. They have invented another Christ!

A divine child? No. A thousand times no. On the contrary, Jesus' birth exposed him to temptation! It put him at risk of sin. It made the gloriously holy 'Word who was with the One God and was God' vulnerable and susceptible to sin's sway.

Other Levels of Lies

People who refute the doctrine of the incarnation also become worshippers of Mary. They call her "the Perpetual Virgin" even though she was married to Joseph and had more children after Jesus, as reported in the Scriptures. They turn Mary into the object of their prayers and make statues of her just like they do of the "Divine Child," but why?

They're trying to make sure that none of the human nature (what they call "original sin") was transmitted to Jesus. So, they say that Mary was born without "original sin"-- and that's what they call the doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception." It's a lie.

They invent human theologies to avoid the fundamental doctrine of Christianity: that Jesus came in the flesh. They hate that truth, and so they actually hate Christ himself. They will not have a Christ who was just like us. They want him two steps removed from them. They want him distant.

Appreciate Christ

But we want Jesus to be close to us. We love Jesus in truth. We love Jesus now as a resurrected man because of what he did to be with us and to save us. We love him because he became one of us. We know that he did it to give us a tangible example of holiness, righteousness, and faith. His example inspires us to have hope in the Kingdom and to love one another.

Jesus was God with the One God in Heaven. He was 100% Divine. But his birth made him into a baby who was 100% human. He who was equal to God became equal to you and me. He became our peer, our counterpart.

Indeed, the Savior of mankind had to become completely human (with no special advantages) in order to fulfill the task God had assigned him. Jesus' task was to save the human race from sin. How else could he do that and lead you and me to holiness if not through a human example? How could a Messiah save us from the power of sin unless he also struggled against temptation?

How Jesus Saves

Jesus saves men and women by showing us a path. He saves us when we follow him on that path--the path of obedience to God. We must be able to see a pattern of behavior we can emulate if we will be saved from sin. That example can be found in Jesus. He's the only man in history who was made perfect in his conscience. He never violated his conscience once!

Could we follow the example of an angel?

• No. We don’t have an angelic nature so we can’t be expected to do what they do. It simply wouldn’t have been fair of God to give us an angel as a savior.

Could we have imitated God Himself?

• No. We don’t have a divine nature, so it wouldn’t be fair for God to expect us to imitate his example.

How else can a human being be redeemed (bought back) if not by the life of another human being?

• What value can we give to human life, but another human life? There is no other fair ransom. We were purchased with Jesus' blood, real human blood.

We need someone to intercede for us before God. Who else could sympathize well enough with our human weaknesses to be our intercessor but someone who is like us?

• Jesus, being human, has already been through what we’re going through now. He is able to be our High Priest in Heaven today because he sympathizes with our infirmities.

Seed of the Woman

The Savior had to be a son of Eve. Don’t forget that God promised as far back as the Garden of Eden that the woman’s offspring would rise up and ultimately destroy the Devil. Jesus is that Seed. Jesus is the offspring of Eve.

[God said] I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between your offspring and hers; he [the offspring of Eve, the” Son of Man”] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15).

Jesus loved to call himself the Son of Man. He used it more than any other self-designation or title precisely because it meant that he was fulfillment of the promise of the Son of Eve. Jesus was totally aware that he was destined to fulfill God’s promise and crush the head of the Devil.

All Creation still longs to see the promise of the destruction of the Devil fulfilled. Eve’s offspring, Jesus, will crush the head of the Serpent, but he’ll do it through his Church! Are you getting ready for that to happen? The Scriptures say it will happen soon.

The God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20).

The Name of Jesus

With what we’ve explained, you should now comprehend why God gave Jesus the name Jesus. Gabriel said to Mary:

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus (Luke 1:31).

God gave the baby the name Jesus, which means Yahweh saves.

[An angel said to Joseph, Mary’s fiancé] ‘… you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21).

We all know that Jesus is our Savior. The angel who met the shepherds told them so, and we hear it in church consistently.

[An angel said:] ‘Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord’ (Luke 2:11).

However, did you know that when God chose the name Jesus for Jesus, that God was making a statement? He was reminding us that the Father is the primary Savior. Most people don't know that. Most people don't use the term Savior for God, but in Paul's writings we see it at least five times.

God our Savior

Jesus became God’s instrument of salvation for all mankind, and by dying on the Cross, Jesus would prove that Yahweh saves sinners. God really does save sinners, if for no other reason than he sent Jesus--and that was no easy decision for God.

Although you may hardly ever hear it, the Father is called by the title God our Savior at least five times in the New Testament (1 Timothy 1:1-2; 2:3; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4)! Jesus' name means "Yahweh saves," so let's give God some credit for salvation.

Jesus himself gave the glory to God in this regard. He lived up to his namesake. He knew that God chose certain people for salvation and that they were God's sheep. He also knew that God sent him to die on the Cross. "Yahweh saves" was the message of Jesus’ life.

Three "God our Savior" Passages

There are at least five. We'll share three. Here's the first passage where God is called our Savior:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Timothy 1:1-2).

And for those who may be confused by the fact that a Christian should honor both Jesus and his Father, and they can't tell the difference between the two, Paul reminds us that there is only One God, the Father.

… [prayer] is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is One God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:3-5).

The next passage speaks of how we put our trust in God to be saved. Along with Paul, let’s recognize that the Father did indeed save us. Specifically, God did it through Jesus Christ.

… when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior…

I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good (Titus 3:4-8).

How God Did It

Let's take a hard look at how exactly God saved sinners. How did Yahweh save through Jesus? God did it by sending his Son in the likeness of human flesh. God did it by preparing a body for our Lord Jesus. God did it by dispatching the Holy Spirit to perform a miracle in the body of Mary.

For what was impossible for the Law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3; LEB).

… when Christ came into the World, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God’ (Hebrews 10:4-7).

Hear and Do

God did great things. God sent salvation--but he got help. Jesus helped him. The previous passage was from the psalms, and Jesus studied it. That's how he knew what to do. God stated what needed to be done and Jesus executed the plan.

Study won’t suffice for any of us. We also have to execute God's plan. We have to hear his Word, but we also must do it.

Not the hearers of the Law will be justified, but the doers of the Law will be justified (Romans 2:13).

Jesus believed in what the Scriptures said about him and lived it out. Are you willing to live out what God’s Word says about you?

Christmas Eclipsed by Calvary

We said that when the Word became flesh it was the greatest act of humility the World had ever witnessed. But that was only at that time. We are obliged to clarify: The incarnation was outdone by the crucifixion. The incarnation was superseded by Jesus’ second great act of humility: his death on the Cross.

The Cross has eclipsed the cradle. Calvary covers the manger. Paul says that we preach Christ, and Christ crucified. We don't preach the virgin birth because Easter has outdone Christmas.

Jesus’ surrender to the Cross became not only the greatest act of humility ever, but the greatest sacrifice ever. Think about sacrifice: Sacrifice is different than the miraculous. There's nothing miraculous about sacrifice.

Christmas is magical because a miracle happened, Jesus' birth was a miracle. But his death was not. The Crucifixion was no miracle. In fact, it was downright brutal. It was harsh and bloody.

No Miracle Required

The main difference between Christ’s cradle and his crucifixion is that Jesus’ bearing of the Cross involved no miracle. It was a pure act of the human will. Indeed, it was the most powerful act of the human will in all history. Jesus’ willingness to die involved immense sacrifice and faith.

The Cross was no miracle. That proves that people don’t need miracles to save them.

What the lost need is someone to make the decision to bring the Gospel to them. Will you be that kind of person? Will you decide to surrender your life to the service of God and bring the message of salvation to sinners?

You don’t need to heal, cast out demons, or perform miracles. Greater than any of those feats is the feat of giving your life. Will you go to them? Will you risk the scorn you'll get by speaking the Gospel?

The Cross was death, and death is natural. Natural occurrences aren't miracles. Conception in the womb of a virgin is supernatural. Still, Christ’s death is greater than his birth.

The birth of Jesus told the World that a Savior had been given to it. But when the man who was the product of that miracle took the Cross upon his back, salvation came to us and God's Christmas gift to the World was complete.

Jesus’ decision to do God’s will was reflected in his statement 'a body you prepared for me… Here I am—… I have come to do your will, my God’ (Hebrews 10:4-7). Those were better words to human ears than the announcement of Gabriel: ‘… he will save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). Both are good words, but the words of Jesus were better because his words were the fulfilment of God's promise to save us.

Fulfillment of Your Purpose

Jesus fulfilled the purpose for which he was sent and became the Savior of the World. He understood his purpose. He understood that he came into the World and that he needed to depart from it.

Jesus came from the Father, and returned to him. Jesus fulfilled God’s purpose for his life. That’s the definition of success. He said to his apostles:

… you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the World; now I am leaving the World and going back to the Father (John 16:27-28).

And what about you? Will you also be a success? Most people lead lives of utter failure. In the final assessment, what will your life add up to? Follow Jesus and you will succeed. You will please God.

Even if from the perspective of your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers, you’re a failure—if you follow Jesus, you will be vindicated in the end. Do God’s will to the bitter end like Jesus did. Fulfill God’s purpose for your life. Ignore the attacks, criticism, and slander of the people around you. Pay them no heed.

The Sign Still Speaks

Remember: Jesus was born that man no more should die. He was “born to raise the sons of Earth. Born to give a second birth” as the Christmas carol says.

The sign of Christ’s birth is meant to tell us something. The sign still speaks. What does it tell us today? It says that the Son of God became a son of man.

But his work is not finished. Jesus performed this wonderful deed and came to us for a purpose: so that the sons of men might become children of God. Have you become a child of God yet? If you and I become children of the Almighty, then we are his heirs. We will inherit the Earth.

Now that we’ve clarified what the sign of Christmas means, do you fully believe in it? Do you believe in the sign of Christ’s birth? If so, you're not the first to do so!

You've joined the company of the wise. Shepherds, magi, and then the apostles and millions of other disciples have seen the sign of Christ's birth, and have taken action. Walk in the same direction they have walked. Walk with Christ.