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The Virgin Birth (A Chalcedon Christmas #1)

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INTRODUCTION

In our denomination, all churches are required to adopt three creeds into their statement of faith. Those three are from the time of the early church, and are the Apostles Creed (2nd century), the Nicene Creed (4th century), and the Definition of Chalcedon (5th century).

If all the great figures of history were little pinpricks of light, small twinkling stars, Christ arrived 2,000 years ago as something of a supernova. His life, death, burial and resurrection transformed everything, and those who accepted the reality of that manifestation of divine grace still had to grapple (and grapple for centuries) on how to talk about it. The basic outlines of the gospel story were set down in the Apostles Creed, but there were still questions. By the 4th century, the Church rightly insisted on the full deity of Jesus Christ (as well as His full humanity). But that created another question—what was the relationship of this deity to this humanity, and so that was addressed by Chalcedon.

This is why we recite the Definition of Chalcedon during Advent, and this Advent season I am going to be showing the scriptural case for certain elements of this Creed, as well as the importance of those elements. Today we are going to consider the crucial doctrine of the virgin birth— “as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin” (Chalcedon).

THE TEXT

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14)

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS” (Matthew 1:20–25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the passage from Isaiah, the word rendered as virgin is almah, which can mean either virgin or young woman. And in Isaiah’s case, with regard to its immediate fulfillment, the sign that he was offering to King Ahaz was a sign that involved a young woman and her young child, not a virgin. More than a few have pointed at this and said that it shows that the Christian insistence on a virgin birth for Christ is simply a pious superstition. But there was a double fulfillment involved, as Matthew shows us.

Joseph was betrothed to Mary and he was troubled about what to do. When she turned up pregnant, he knew as well as we do that this could not have happened unless Mary had been unfaithful to him. And yet, because Joseph was a righteous man, he was trying to figure out how to divorce her without humiliating her (Matt. 1:19). While he was mulling all this over, the angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and calls him a son of David. He also told him of Mary’s innocence by assuring him that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit (v. 20). The child was going to be a boy, and His name would be Jesus because He was going to save His people from their sins (v. 21). We are then told that this was in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy above (v. 22), but this passage was written in Greek, not Hebrew. Here the word virgin is the translation of parthenos, which means virgin, only virgin, and nothing but virgin. The result of this remarkable conception and birth was Immanuel, which means God with us (v. 23). That God with us there is the center of centuries of theological reflection and debate. When Joseph woke up, he obeyed the angel and took Mary as his wife—although he did not have relations with her until after Jesus was born (v. 25).

THE VIRGIN BIRTH OR THE VIRGIN MARY?

We know from elsewhere in Scripture that Joseph and Mary had at least six other children (Matt. 13:55-56). Although they did not believe in Jesus initially (John 7:5), two of the brothers went on to write books of the Bible (James and Jude). In fact, James is mentioned as one of the witnesses of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7). This means that for faithful Protestants, the confessional issue is the virgin birth. We do not hold to what is called the perpetual virginity of Mary, an understanding that makes his brothers and sisters into cousins or such like. But while we hold to the virgin birth simply, it is only fair to note that some of the Reformers did hold to Mary’s perpetual virginity (e.g. Luther, Calvin). But you will notice that in the Apostles’ Creed, as we recite it, there is a comma between Virgin and Mary.

BUT WHY A VIRGIN BIRTH?

In order to die for us wayward sheep, the Lord had to be two things. He needed to be a true Lamb, because the sacrifice needed to be one of us. But the problem is that if He were one of us, would He not be corrupted also, like we all are? The Lamb had to be one of our number, and yet the Lamb needed also to be spotless. This will likely come up later, but Gregory of Nazianzus said this” “For that which He has not assumed He has not healed.” But how could He assume human nature, which needed to be redeemed, without being contaminated by the state of the nature which needed to be redeemed.

We do not know precisely how, but it appears that the covenantal guilt for Adam’s sin descends to us all through our human fathers. And this is how God arranged our salvation, through a true man, but one who had no human father—“at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man.” Apart from a virgin birth, this would not be possible.

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4, NKJV). And why? So that you might redeemed from the curse of the law.

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Let Me Die the Death of the Upright (A Star Out of Jacob #1)

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INTRODUCTION

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we will spend the next four Sundays looking at four prophecies of the coming hope of Israel from an unlikely source: Balaam, the scoundrel prophet of Israel. Despite the circumstances, these are some of the greatest benedictions of Scripture describing God’s determination to bless Israel through the coming Messiah and in Him, all the nations of the earth.

THE TEXT

“The Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here…’” (Num. 23:1-13)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The backdrop to these verses is famous: Balak King of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel apparently because he intended to go to war with them (cf. Josh. 24:9). On the way, the Lord’s angel confronted him, but only his donkey could see the angel. After beating and threatening the donkey, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and he spoke and then Balaam’s eyes were opened to see the angel. Having been severely warned by God, Balaam arrives and instructs Balak to set up an elaborate set of altars and offerings, and speaks this “parable” saying that Balak has called him to curse Israel (23:1-7). But Balaam asks how he can possibly curse whom God has not cursed, and how can he denounce whom God has not denounced (23:8)? Therefore, out comes a great blessing: Israel is a great and mighty nation that can be seen from the tops of the rocky crags of mountains, and Israel is famous among the nations – well known, unique, and not mistaken for any other nation (23:9). Israel is very numerous – who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can even number a portion of the dust of Israel (23:10)? Finally, Balaam insists that Israel is righteous and upright, and so blessed, that there could be no better death than to die among them: let my end be like his (23:10).

A PROVERB IN THE MOUTH OF THE KING

The word translated “parable” or “discourse” is the word for “proverb.” And while this word can sometimes refer to a “byword,” a sort of cautionary tale, clearly something more “proverbial” is going on here: there is deep kingly wisdom at work here. But it isn’t Balak or Balaam. Notice the layers of irony: Why in the world would a pagan king hire an Israelite prophet to curse Israel? Apparently Balak knows that Israel has the upperhand and he wants that mojo. Balaam would apparently be willing to curse, and yet all that can come out is a blessing on Israel (four times). Add to this the fact that Israel is not really in great shape. Remember the unbelieving spies and all the complaining in the wilderness (Num. 13-14), and even though Balaam couldn’t curse Israel, he was involved in the relatively successful plot to seduce the Israelite men with Moabite women (Num. 25, 31:16). This is all high octane providence, which is just another way of saying God is King over all. Sometimes people object to the doctrine of providence because they think that God will be harsh, unfair, or petty, but this story illustrates God’s abundant patience, overwhelming kindness, and amazing sense of humor. Left to ourselves, we seek and deserve cursing, but God the Wisest King works all things according to His counsel because He is determined to bless (Eph. 1:11).

Balaam is hired to pronounced curses, but the only thing that can come out is blessing: “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or who shall I defy, whom the Lord has not defied?” (23:8). And so it is in all things in this world: Joseph: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This same providence was at work in a Roman census that sent a young couple to Bethlehem, and an evil king’s plot to kill a young child (Mt. 2, Lk. 2). The center of this doctrine of providence is the Cross itself: “Him [Jesus], being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, yet by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay” (Acts 2:23). God is King, and this world is His proverb.

THE DEATH OF THE UPRIGHT

The final benediction of this first prophecy is really striking. One suspects layers of irony here as well. Many of the Israelites will be dying shortly after they fall into sin, and Balaam will die in battle (Num. 31:8). But the straightforward meaning of the blessing is that there is no better way to die than being among the tribes of Israel. Death is a curse (Gen. 3:19), and death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:25-26). And yet, the Bible also says that when a man puts on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ (1 Cor. 15:54).

Balaam’s blessing is that all would die the “death up the upright,” that all might have his end (Num. 23:10). This is Jesus, the seed of the woman, the descendant of Eve, the seed of Abraham, who came to crush the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Jesus is the upright one, the Righteous One, and in His death, He crushed the head of the serpent, the devil. He destroyed his power by taking all the accusations he could bring against us and they were nailed to His cross, taking away the fear of death (Col. 2:14, Heb. 2:14). The death of the Upright Man took away the sting of death (the law and our guilt) so that it is only “sleep” for those in Him.

CONCLUSION: TAKING UP HIS CROSSES

The call to follow Jesus is the call to take up His cross. He calls us to die, but if we can see that summons from the tops of the mountains where Balaam prophesied, we can see that call to die with Him as the greatest honor, the greatest blessing. Jesus was born to die, so that we might die with Him, so that we might rise with Him.

It has been said that everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mom do the dishes, which is just to say, the really hard part is choosing the right death. “Everyone dies, not everyone truly lives” is just another way of saying not everyone chooses the right death. You can lay your life down by helping with the dishes; you might also need to lay your life down to lead your family in cheerfully doing the chores. Your car might need fixing, but so might your five year old’s heart. You may be burdened with many cares, but have you considered that your cross may be to lay them down? This death is a blessing. Maybe not easy, but it’s always good.

Fundamentally the right death is the obedient death. Many of these deaths are straightforward (repent), but when it gets really gnarly, trust Christ our wise King who knows how to turn all things for our good. This is His story, and He knows the way out of every grave.

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Reforming the Family

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INTRODUCTION

We understand that there is no such thing as a healthy Christian community without a large number of healthy Christian families. Just as you cannot have a good omelet without good eggs, so also it is impossible to have a cheerful town, or church, or community, when all the households are just little oases of misery.

THE TEXT

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:3–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

At the beginning of our passage, we are told (simply) to trust God and to do good (v. 3). The consequence of this is that you will dwell in the land and you will be nourished (v. 3). When you delight in the Lord, your desires are thereby calibrated (v. 4). Not only are they calibrated, but they are also granted. This is why Augustine could say something like “love God and do as you please.” The future is a big unknown, and God is the only one who holds it in the palm of His hand. That is why we must commit our plans to Him (v. 5), and He will bring it to pass. He is the one who will make your righteousness and your judgment shine like the midday sun (v. 6). Rest in the Lord, and rest in His timeline (v. 7). The wicked can seem like they are getting ahead because of how they cut corners, pursuing a “quick growth” prosperity. Don’t get worked up about it (v. 8). This is because God will cut off the evildoers, and those who wait upon the Lord will be the ones who inherit the earth (v. 9).

CONFESSION IN THE FAMILY

When we tolerate or nurture unconfessed sin in our lives, this makes it impossible for us to delight in the Lord. When we are disobedient, God’s hand is on us for chastisement (Heb. 12:11; Ps. 32:4), and God does know how to spank. But if we walk in the light as He is the light, we have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7). And in order to clear the way so that we can walk in the light, it is necessary for us to confess the ways we have walked in accord with darkness (1 John 1:8-10).

This is an illustration I use in my premarital counseling, and because I am not tired of using it, I am going to bring it in here. Imagine two houses, side by side. Five kids in each one, husbands work at the same company, they attend the same church, the wives are good friends, and they drive the same kind of van. The only difference you can see between the two homes is that one is immaculate and the other one is blitzed. But this difference is not created by how many breakfast bowls are used, or how many t-shirts are put on in the morning, or how many shoes are put on in the morning. That is all the same. The difference lies in when things are cleaned, picked up, and put away. That is where the difference is.

Now far too many conservative Christian evangelical households are (spiritually speaking) something like the closets at the crazy cat lady’s house.

COVENANT IN THE FAMILY

We live in the midst of covenant realities, and covenants are larger than the sum of their parts. Covenant realities are realities, which is another way of saying that your family is a thing in the world. It is not simply a “living arrangement.”

We as Christians are members of the new covenant, of course, as the prophet Jeremiah predicted (Jer. 31: 33ff). The Church is a covenant reality. But we are a covenant reality all the way down. Marriages are what they are by covenant. The faithless wife in Proverbs was faithless because she forgot the covenant of her God (Prov. 2:17). The faithless husbands in Malachi were faithless because they had dealt treacherously with the wives of their covenant (Mal. 2:14).

What is needed in many households is an understood structure for your obedience. Your family’s last name is a thing, a covenantal thing, an entity. And because it is an institution created by God, He is the one who writes the by-laws. He is the one who assigns the various offices, and He is one who gives us our respective duties.

FRUITFUL HONOR

Do you want to dwell in the land? Do you want to inherit the earth (Ps. 37:11)? What is the first commandment with a promise then? “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth” (Eph. 6:1–3). This required honor takes two forms. The first is the obedience that children should render to their parents. The second is the financial support that grown children must render to their parents: “But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:11–13).

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CALL SOMETHING CHRISTIAN?

Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, and is therefore omnipresent. He is everywhere present. But He is not present everywhere covenantally. And so what do we mean when we say something—like our household—is Christian? We should mean that Christ is present, and present covenantally.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

Is your home a Christian one? Have times of refreshing arrived there from the presence of the Lord?

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Sing Because He is There

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INTRODUCTION

Living as we do in insane times, we need to be reminded regularly of what we’re supposed to be doing. Otherwise, it is easy to get distracted by the next kamikaze clown car that pulls into town. We have said, and we will not get tired of saying, that our central duty is to worship the Lord, centrally here in corporate worship, but the point is for that gladness and thanksgiving to pour out into our homes and work. And it’s fitting that we take time periodically to make a point of that, as we do in our country for Thanksgiving. So this is a message about celebrating Thanksgiving in the presence of our enemies, Thanksgiving for insane times. Psalm 98 gives us glorious words to sing, to meditate on, to believe, and to live.

THE TEXT

“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory…” (Ps. 98).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This song calls out to everyone and everything to sing to the Lord a new song because God has done wonderful things right out in the open for everyone to see: the pagans and the house of Israel and all the ends of the earth have seen it (98:1-3). Not only should all the people sing, but all the earth should rejoice loudly, with strings and horns, because the Lord is King (98:4-6). Let the sea churn with loud praise and everyone on the sea and on the coastlands, and let the rivers clap their hands and the whole congregation of mountains should shout at the same time (98:7-8). All of this is “before the Lord” because He is there, and therefore He is judging the whole world in perfect justice (98:9).

A NEW SONG

While it is certainly fitting to write and compose new songs for praise, like Israel did on the banks of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) or when Mary did at the approaching birth of Jesus (Lk. 1), the fundamental point is that our gratitude and praise need to be new. Our hearts need to be new. This psalm is gloriously generic: “for wonders He has done.” Perhaps the psalmist is thinking of the Exodus or maybe other victories in battle or deliverances, or perhaps even creation itself. While this psalm does anticipate new acts of salvation, the emphasis is on new praise, new gratitude because God is there. A constant search for novelty often leads people away from Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). God’s mercies are new every morning not because God changes in the slightest but precisely because He doesn’t. New hearts sing new songs of thanksgiving because they see what’s right in front of them.

A PUBLIC SALVATION

As we have noted, this psalm doesn’t give any one particular historic moment for this call of praise, but do not miss the fact that this is a psalm of praise for past salvation in hope of ongoing and future salvation. “… his right hand, and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord has made known his salvation…all ends of earth have seen the salvation of our God…” (Ps. 98:1-3). But then, having called everyone and everything to celebrate that, the final verse says, “Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity” (98:9). This is a song of praise not for a moment where there are no dark clouds in the sky. This is a psalm of praise for when God’s people need justice and vindication. Why should we sing this new song of praise? Because God has acted in the past to judge and save (98:1-3) Because He is King (98:6), and He is there (98:9) and He comes to judge the world (98:9). This is not merely the justice of the end of the world (although it includes that). The kind of salvation this psalm is celebrating and anticipating is the kind He has done before, the kind that is “openly shown” and “all the ends of the earth have seen.”

THE RIVERS DO CLAP

While we know that all of creation groans in eager expectation, waiting for the redemption of mankind (Rom. 8:19-23), nevertheless, all of creation has always and will always still declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1-2). While it will one day be completely free of the curse of sin, the sea roars right now in praise of the King. The rivers clap their hands together now because Jesus is King. The mountains do shout joyfully in allegiance to their Maker. In other words, we call on the whole creation to sing with us right now, but they are singing already and the Bible says that in general, it’s people who need to catch up. Creation is telling the glory of God every day, and it’s people who tend to miss it, ignore it, or willfully suppress it (cf. Rom. 1:18-20). Thus, the existence of the glory and majesty and beauty and order of creation proclaims to us and the whole world that God is King: He is present and at work judging the world now.

CONCLUSION

If Israel could sing this song having creation, the patriarchs, the exodus, the judges, and some of the kings and prophets, how much more do we have reason to sing? We have all of that, plus the rest of the Old Testament, and the fulfillment of all those promises in Jesus: His birth, life, miracles, His teaching, His courage and compassion, His love unto death, His public trial, beatings, mockings, and crucifixion, His resurrection from the dead, ascension into Heaven, and the pouring out of His Spirit. We have the ministries and testimonies of the apostles, the early church fathers, the martyrs, the evangelists and missionaries for over two thousand years: His forgiving, saving, delivering, comforting, blessing – the wonders He has done.

What do you do when the world has gone mad? What do you do when it is dark? You smile and you sing before the Lord. That means you know He’s there. He’s present. And if He is here, then He sees and He is judging until everything is right. The central way you know this is because He sent His only Son into the world: that was the greatest victory, the greatest salvation, His full righteousness in the sight of all the nations. He remembered His mercy and truth at that point in history as the most public display that He will never forget His mercy and truth to His people. He came in person so that we (and the whole world) might know that this is His world.

So sing. No really: you have to sing. I don’t care if you can’t carry tune in a bucket full of holes. Neither can the mountains. Make a joyful noise. Men, sing. Sing in your homes. Sing around your table. Practice. Learn. Keep trying.

God’s goodness towers over the current darkness. Do not be distracted. Keep your eyes fixed on the King. And make a point to celebrate His towering goodness this week. Let your tables be filled with good things and laughter and singing before the Lord. He is King, and He comes.

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The Wise Woman

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Collegiate Reformed Fellowship is the campus ministry of Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho. Our goal is to teach and exhort young men and women to serve, to witness, to stand fast, and to mature in their Christian Faith. We desire to see students get established in a godly lifestyle and a trajectory toward maturity. We also desire to proclaim the Christian worldview to the university population and the surrounding communities. CRF is not an independent ministry. All our activities are supplemental to the teaching and shepherding ministry of CC & TRC. Students involved with CRF are regularly reminded that the most important student ministry takes place at Lord’s Day worship.

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