THE SEED FROM THE BLESSED WOMB

Luke 1:42: And she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

                                                                                                                                                                   

God has a wonderful plan for man when HE created man. In Genesis, Bible says that God created man in His own image to have fellowship with man. God handed over and gave man authority over all creation.

But Satan, a rebellious angel, thrown unto earth was not in favour of God’s idea (Rev. 12) and therefore he cunningly and subtly deceived Adam and Eve to disobey God. Since that mistake, man died spiritually; wickedness, fear, jealousy, pride and generally sin has been a desire of man. God in time had wiped out all mankind because of wickedness and disobedience (Noah’s time) but this sin has continued even to today.

In all these hopelessness of man, God Almighty, as good as He is, had thought of a plan to save sinful man and restore that wonderful relationship He had with man at the beginning of creation.

The plan

In the Old Testament, God has made promises to the effect that a ‘messiah’, who is God, coming in the form of a man will save Israel and mankind-(Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2). Some believed but did not know how. In the olden days, almost all things are by law cleansed by blood and without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). Therefore when anybody sinned in the old testament days, all he does is to buy a goat or bull, kills it and the blood used for cleansing by the priests at that time- but the sins are not wiped out completely and therefore the ritual was continued- I wonder those of us who can continue buying goat for sacrifice looking at the price of goat today.

It was therefore necessary that God use a better sacrifice to fulfill his plan to save man once and for all. How did God do it?

Jesus, the Lamb

With the prophesies that have been said about the coming messiah, most Jewish girls at the time were expecting to be the carrier of the ‘messiah’. But God’s plans are not man’s. Luke tells us that an angel visited a betrothed virgin, called Mary, with the promise of she carrying the ‘messiah’. The promise was so sure that when she visited and greeted her pregnant cousin Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mother), the baby leaped in her womb and she proclaimed under the influence of the Holy Spirit the words in Luke 1:42- Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. I believe all pregnant women will be glad to receive such statements.

Thereafter, Bible says that Mary conceived, not by carnal process but by the Holy Spirit.  Mary praised God for her choice, that as a no-body, the fruit of her womb will save mankind. Our God always uses the no-bodies for His purpose. Joseph, Mary’s husband to-be and a carpenter accepted the situation he found himself.  The baby Jesus was born in a manger in humility and bible says there and then an angel of God revealed the birth to shepherds on the field with their flock that night. A sign, in the form of a star was also shown in the skies for Wise men in the east, who traced the star to find Jesus- even wise men seek Jesus, what about you?  Satan knew the essence of baby Jesus, so he wanted to kill Him through Herod, a Roman King who did not see any other king than himself only. But God was bent on fulfilling His plan for mankind and therefore Jesus survived all the plans of the enemy, Satan.

Importance of the birth

Brethren, I want to assure you that the fruit that came out of the womb of Mary- Jesus Christ of Nazareth is good news for mankind because salvation has been made easy. Mankind has now a savior who can free us from the torment of Satan, the destroyer of mankind.

·       We need not buy goats and bulls any more to have forgiveness of our sins (Matt.1:21, Jn1:29, Jn3:17, Heb.7:27, 1John 1:7 ,1John3:5, John 3:16)

·       We need not pay any priest to enter into a holy of holies anymore, because Jesus our high priest has finished that sacrifice completely and now sits at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. Everyone of us can now speak to God through Jesus Christ.

·       God has revealed his character to humanity – John1:1-3

·       A perfect sacrifice has been achieved to remove mankind’s sins (a perfect lamb without spot or wrinkles

·       We now have a mediator unlike the levitical priesthood, who has to offer sins for himself and the people as well  (Heb 6, 9)

·       Jesus birth has also made available the Holy Spirit to mankind. Because through the death, resurrection and ascension, we now have the Holy Spirit- the guardian, counseller and power to live victorious Christian life in this sinful world.

Lesson from the Birth

Brethren the birth of Jesus Christ is good news for mankind because salvation has been made easy and this birth of Jesus is not about eating and drinking or picnics. Pleasure will only feed the flesh and for a short time, so why don’t we lay hold on the significance of the birth every day? As bible-believing Christians what can we learn from this wonderful birth and gift of God?

• Like Mary:  Lk 1:46-56 talk about the qualities of Mary (as in 1corin.2:27-29). If you want God to use you, be humble, eschew pride. Irrespective of her situation as a virgin, Mary was glad to be used, was ready for the shame and obeyed the angel’s voice. Do you hear God’s voice when He speaks to you? Or you only hear it when it is what you expect to do? Do you avail yourself willingly to be used by God for His good works?
• Like Joseph:  you should be obedient to God’s word, although not palatable. How many men will accept this situation? But Joseph obeyed God and accepted Mary as a wife and did not expose her to ridicule. Some of us are area FM/GBC, we are good at broadcasting bad news.
• Like the Wise men: you should seek Jesus till you find Him and worship Him as your King and not to expose Him or His seeds to be harmed. Are you seeking Jesus the right way? Is your lifestyle telling people good things about Jesus? Wise men even seek Jesus, what about you?
• Unlike Herod:  you should worship Jesus sincerely, irrespective of our position or title, as our King of Kings. Some of us are like Herod, we worship God cunningly and pretentiously-“with our lips but our hearts are far away”. We will be exposed one of these days so let’s be sincere with God. As a Christian you are light so be sincere with God and your neighbours.
• Like the Shepherds: you should put every treasured possession aside at the expense of Christ to use you. Obey His commandment and take the opportunity to proclaim Him everywhere and to everyone- that will be a better celebration. God needs people to preach Him to the world and to serve in the church. Why should your job, your marriage, your education or your friends prevent you from serving the Lord.
•  Luke 2:40, 52: Have you grown in the Lord Jesus Christ since you were born again? Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. Some of us are still babies! We want to be taught over and over again the basic principles of Christianity like salvation, bible study, payer, fasting, evangelism/witnessing, etc. (Heb. 5:11-14.KJV; 1 Corin. 3:1-6.KJV).                                   Trust in the seed from the blessed womb and you will have eternal life! Amen!