Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017
WSC 22 of 107
… 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God..
Luke 1:26-38
WSC 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body,1 and a reasonable soul,2 being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary,3 and born of her, yet without sin.4
1 Heb 2:14,16; Heb 10:5; 2 Mt 26:38; 3 Lk 1:27,31,35,42; Gal 4:4; 4 Heb 4:15; 7:26.
“The Son of God became the son of man that the sons of man may become the sons of God.” This is a paraphrase of Calvin’s words in his Institutes (ICR 2:12.2).
It is a profound statement. The reality of it changed the course of human history completely.
But how did the Son of God become man? This mystery is addressed in Question 22 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It asks, “How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?”
The answer is:
Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
In this sermon, the Lord helping us, we want to consider a passage of Scripture from which much of this statement is drawn. I am referring to Luke 1:26-38.
This is an account of how the Son of God was conceived in the womb of a daughter of man so that He might be born as a son of man. This daughter of man would, from henceforth, be known as the Virgin Mary.
The event occurred six months after Mary’s cousin Elisabeth conceived a son. Elisabeth and her husband, Zacharias, were very old. But God gave them a son. He was to be named John. John was destined to be the prophet to prepare the way for the Saviour, who would follow shortly.
Mary was a poor young lady living in the lowly village of Nazareth. She was espoused to be married to Joseph, a descendant of King David. He was a poor man too. The wealth of the monarchy had long been forfeited.
Mary and Joseph are engaged to be married. But before they can marry, the angel Gabriel appears unto Mary and tells her that she has found favour with God and will bring forth a son and call His name JESUS.
Concerning Jesus, Gabriel says:
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Lk 1:32-33
Mary is surprised. She says: “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (v. 34). Of course, she is not saying that she does not know any man. It is a euphemism to say that she had never slept with a man, not even Joseph. She has kept herself pure.
Gabriel answers her, saying:
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (v. 35)
To convince her, he tells her that her cousin Elisabeth, who had been barren, has conceived a son in her old age. “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”
Mary quietly submits to the will of the Lord. It will not be easy for her. Her reputation is at stake. Her faith will be challenged. What will Joseph say? She does not know that the angel will appear unto him too.
Nevertheless, she humbly submits to the will of the Lord. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word,” she says. Then the angel Gabriel departs from her.
This is the account recorded in our text in summary.
What can we draw from it? First, we must note that Christ became man by taking to himself a human nature. Secondly, we must note how He took human nature by conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thirdly, we should note how He is without sin despite being the son of man.
1. Christ Took on Human Nature
This is not very clear in our text. From our text, it may appear that Jesus Christ came into existence only in the womb of the Virgin Mary. If that is the case, then he is not eternal. He is part of creation. And if that is the case, then Jesus is either not God, or God can come into existence in time.
However, one of the principles of biblical interpretation we must hold dear is that explicit statements of Scripture must always interpret what is not explicit.
What is the explicit teaching of Scripture? Well, we saw in our previous study that Christ is fully God. We looked at many verses. We think of Isaiah 9:6; John 5:17-18; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:2-3; Hebrews 1:8; 1 John 5:20.
But lest anyone miss the point, let us be clear that the explicit teaching of Scriptures is not only that He is God, but that He is eternally God. He has always been God. This is clear from at least three explicit texts in Scripture.
- John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
- Philippians 2:6-7: “[Christ], being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men …”
- 1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Elsewhere, the Lord Jesus Himself says: “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:58). Clearly, He is eternal. He is the eternal Son of God. He did not become God. He did not even come into existence. He has always existed.
He became man not by coming into existence but by taking on human nature. Neither did he give up His deity. No, no, He did not empty himself of all but love. He set aside His glory so that He might be shrouded in a human body. Or, to put it in another way, the eternal Son who is very God himself, the second person of the Trinity, took unto himself human nature, so that henceforth He is not only God, but God and Man.
His name, Jesus, reflects that. For Jesus means “Jehovah saves.” Jehovah means “I AM.” It speaks of the eternality of God. Jesus is the I AM as much as the Father and the Holy Spirit.
When the Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. Look at Isaiah 7:14:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 7:14
The name Immanuel also testifies that Jesus is God, for it means “God with us.” Jesus is God’s son who has taken on human flesh so that He is fully God and man. In Him, the fullness of the Godhead dwells.
Thus it is clear that Jesus took on human nature. This is our first lesson.
But now let’s consider how our text teaches us that Christ became the God-Man by being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
2. Christ Was Conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary
How did Christ become man? Or, more specifically, how did Christ become the God-Man?
Well, we know that Christ is the eternal Son of God. To become the God-Man, He must take on human flesh. How did He do so?
There appear to be two options. One is to take on an instant and temporary body. This was how the angels appeared to people in Old Testament days. Perhaps Gabriel also appeared in a temporary body to speak to Mary. Indeed, the Lord Jesus appears to have also used such a temporary body before His incarnation. We think of the time He appeared to Abraham with two of His angels. The text indicates that the messenger who stayed back to speak to Abraham as the other two headed for Sodom was the Lord Himself.
But such a body would have no real connection to humanity. God has ordained that humanity (unlike angels) is to be made of “one blood” (Acts 17:26). And this one blood is to emerge from the first man, Adam. If Christ were to take on a specially created body, then he would not be part of humanity. Indeed, he could not represent the human race, for He would be of a different race though He might look human.
Thus, in the appointment of God, Christ must take on human nature in the same way that all human beings take on their nature. As we are conceived in our mother’s womb, so it must be for Him.
As we receive our body and soul in the womb, so must our Lord. And yes, we do receive our body and soul in the womb. Make no mistake, the foetus in the womb is a human being created in God’s image. He is not just a blob of cells.
Scripture testifies to this. We think of John the Baptist and how he was regenerated in the womb. We can infer this from the fact that he leapt within his mother’s womb when Mary visited her.
Moreover, in the law of Moses, if a man were to cause a pregnant woman to miscarry and the child died, he would be guilty of murder. He would be punished life for life (Ex 21:23).
So it is clear that when the Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, He took upon Himself a true body and a reasonable soul.
Thus, the apostle to the Hebrews tells us: “Forasmuch… as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (Heb 2:14). This body of flesh and blood is a true body, not a temporary body unconnected to the human race.
His soul is also rational or reasonable. It is a soul that can feel sorrow and pain like ours.
But take note that our Lord’s conception is different from ours. We are conceived by ordinary and natural means. On the other hand, our Saviour was conceived miraculously in the womb of the virgin Mary. Our Lord does not have an earthly father. Joseph became His adoptive father, but was not His birth father.
This miraculous conception does not make Him any less human, for to be human, one needs only to be a partaker of the human flesh and blood first seeded in Adam. In as much as Christ took of the flesh and blood of Mary, He partook of the human flesh and blood, and is, therefore, genuinely human.
What about His soul? Well, His soul is instantly and miraculously created at the time of his conception. But this does not make Him less human. Why? Because humanity is defined by the connection of our flesh and blood to Adam rather than by the connection of our souls. Theologians have debated over the origin of the human soul. Some hold that our soul is instantly created at the point of our conception. This is called Creationism. Others hold that it is passed down from generation to generation through the father. This is called Traducianism. But regardless of which view you may hold, it is clear that our being human only requires us to partake of Adam’s flesh and blood.
Christ partook of Adam’s flesh and blood through Mary, being conceived in her womb.
But note that He neither inherited her sin nature nor her guilt.
3. Christ Is Without Original Sin
Now, we know that the Lord Jesus was tempted at all points like we are and yet without sin (Heb 4:15). But how did He come to be without sin when He shares our nature?
Our text gives us the answer from two perspectives.
First, Christ was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. This is in fulfilment of prophecy. It is the fulfilment of Genesis 3:15:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Christ is called the seed of the woman because He would be conceived in the womb of a virgin.
It is also a fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This was a sign given to King Ahaz. But it is undoubtedly a prophecy about the conception of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Emmanuel. The apostle Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, quotes this verse and informs us that the conception of the Lord in the womb of the virgin Mary fulfils this prophecy (Mt 1:23).
The virgin conception of the Lord Jesus was prophesied and fulfilled.
But not only is this miraculous conception a fulfilment of prophecy, it is also appointed by God so that Christ would not be imputed with the guilt of Adam.
Remember how Adam was the federal head of all mankind? Adam’s sin is passed to all his children. But in God’s reckoning, this representative principle is to be traced along the line of the men. We get a hint of this in the way that the saints of Old counted their population in inspired Scripture. Notice how they always count the men. This is the case even up to New Testament times. How many did the Lord Jesus feed? Luke, Mark and John tell us that on one occasion, He fed 5,000 men. Matthew, however, makes it clear that that is 5,000 men besides women and children (Mt 14:21). Mark tells us that on another occasion, He fed 4,00 men. But Matthew again clarifies that it is 4,000 men besides women and children (Mt 15:38).
You see, God has appointed that the men be covenant representatives. Thus, the Lord Jesus was not imputed with the guilt of Adam because he did not have an earthly father!
But what about His sin nature? Wasn’t Mary a sinner? Would the Lord not inherit her sin nature since He partook of her flesh? The Roman Catholic Church sought to address this question by declaring that Mary was herself sinless. But this has no biblical basis and is illogical—for it simply moves the problem back one generation. How could Mary not inherit her parent’s sin nature?
Well, it appears that the Lord Jesus did not inherit Mary’s sin nature because of the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit when He was conceived.
Gabriel said to Mary:
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Lk 1:35
The Holy Spirit not only caused her to be conceived by His miraculous power. He also overshadowed her so that while the Lord inherited her flesh and blood, He did not inherit her sin nature. And this is perfectly just, for Jesus did not have imputed guilt. Not being guilty, He could not justly inherit a sinful nature in his conception.
Can you see how the Lord Jesus was kept from original sin by the power of the Holy Spirit in His conception? He was not imputed with the guilt of Adam, for He was conceived in the womb of a virgin. He did not inherit the sin nature of Mary, for the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.
Conclusion
Here then, are the three propositions once again: (1) Christ, the eternal son of God, took on human nature; (2) He is truly human for He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary; and (3) He was born without original sin because of the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit.
These propositions are captured in our Catechism in question 22:
WSC 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
What do we say to these things? Well, apart from knowing them and how they are derived from Scripture, it is vital for us to be affected by the truth. We should, after all, be transformed by the renewing of our minds. To this end, may I recommend three applications from our text?
a. First of all, let us be reminded to cultivate compassion. Recently, in a survey of 148 countries, Singapore was listed as the most unhappy and most miserable. Following that, a BBC correspondent weighed in on the subject. At first, she did not think that the people were miserable. But when she got pregnant, she found that the people around her generally lacked compassion. No one, for example, offered her a seat on the train. Our lack of compassion makes Singapore the world’s most miserable place, she avers.
Well, believers should be joyful rather than miserable because Christ took on our nature to save us. But let me ask whether you are compassionate.
How is compassion linked to our text? Think for a moment about how the Lord chose to take on human nature.
He took on human nature to be our Saviour. It would already have been a tremendous condescension on his part if he had taken on human nature as a great and glorious king to rule upon the earth.
Remember how he enjoyed perfect and eternal glory and blessedness in fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He did not need anything. So to take on human flesh, however glorious it might be, would be a humiliation and a condescension.
But Saviour went many steps further. He humbled himself to an unimaginable extent. He chose to be conceived in the womb of a poor village girl. Her husband-to-be was a carpenter. They lived in the poor village of Nazareth rather than in the respectable city of Jerusalem.
We could go on to talk about His birth—how He was born in a stable and laid upon a smelly manger because there was no room for Him in the inn. But need we say more?
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
2 Cor 8:9
Our Lord did not only humble Himself. In choosing to be conceived in Mary’s womb, He also shows us how He had respect for the poor. Right from the moment of His conception, our Lord shows us how He is a compassionate Saviour who cared for the poor and lowly. Thus, He shows us how we must “condescend to men of low estate” (Rom 12:16).
Brethren and children, if you are ever tempted to look down on the poor and helpless, remember your Saviour. He was compassionate towards you. Are you compassionate? Do you give up your seat in the MRT? Do you buy the expensive keychain from those in need in the hawker centres? Do you support the foot and mouth artists?
b. Secondly, let me pull up again the survey that calls Singapore the most miserable city in the world. I mentioned that believers should not be miserable because Christ came to save us. But let me link it back to our text about the conception of our Saviour.
Our Saviour was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Oh, what a privilege was accorded to Mary! Thus, the angel declared that she was highly favoured by the Lord and blessed among women (v. 28). She was truly most blessed amongst women.
But years later, the Lord Jesus was preaching in Galilee when a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said unto him, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked” (Lk 11:27).
How did our Lord respond? Without hesitation, he replied: “Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (v. 28).
Can you see what the Lord is saying? Mary was highly favoured. She was incredibly blessed. But our Lord says that those who hear His word and keep it are even more blessed!
I find this to be remarkable. The Lord did not say that everyone who professes to believe Him is blessed. But He tells us that if we hear God’s word and keep His word, we are highly blessed. In a way, we should be even more blessed than Mary, who had the privilege of being the mother of our Saviour!
Beloved brethren and children, are you happy? Or are you miserable like many people in this land and worldwide? If you would be happy, you must believe in the Lord. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Rom 4:7). But if you want to feel genuinely and confidently happy every day, you must hear the word of God and do the word of God!
c. But finally, to add to your joy and stir gratitude in your heart, may I remind you of the great privilege you have to have the king of kings as your brother and friend.
Our Saviour came to save His people from their sins. He took on human nature not to represent the whole world, but to represent those who believe in Him and follow Him. He says on one occasion: “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mk 3:35).
By taking on our nature to live, suffer and die for us, our Saviour demonstrates irrevocably that He is “a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24).
Many of us are very lonely. Many of us have found that very few people are truly our friends. Even fewer still can appreciate how we feel and can sympathise with us. And how many would stick with us through all the changing scenes and trials of life?
But beloved brethren and children, if you are a true believer, you have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You have a brother who is truly a friend. He knows how you feel and sincerely empathises with your sorrows and pains. And not only so, but He is also able to help in times of need. He came to lay down His life for you. Will He not see that when you go to Him for help, He will receive and help you? Therefore, blessed are you beloved brethren and children, for you have a friend who sticks closer than a brother, who will never leave you nor forsake you, for He came just for you. Amen.
—JJ Lim