Mary, a virgin

     Perhaps this won't be the Christmas story you'd like to read, but I feel that this needs to be said...

    "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God, unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth.  To a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou virgin, who art highly favored of the Lord. The Lord is with thee, for thou art chosen and blessed among women.  And when she saw the angel, she was troubled at his saying, and pondered in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.  And behold, thou shalt conceive, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus.  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;".


     It seems, even in the Christian community, that there are many who discredit the virgin birth, or, at least, pass it off as of no value.  But I proclaim to you that not only was the birth of Jesus a gift to all mankind, but also a miracle wrought by our Heavenly Father.  Each of us were born by the will of a man and a woman, and in so doing, conceived in sin: "And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying, Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so, when they begin to grow up sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good."  But the Lord had a plan: "Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God has spoken it;  For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the eternal God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish;  Yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen, and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made;  For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice: but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood, which will atone for the sins of another.  Now if a man murdereth, behold, will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.  But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing, which is short of an infinite atonement, which will suffice for the sins of the world; therefore it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice;  And then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the Law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall all be fulfilled; every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.  And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal; and thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name;"


     So, no "human" could fulfill this role, only Jesus: " He was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Paul adds concerning this divine nature: "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; (For, before the law, sin was in the world; yet sin is not imputed to those who have no law.  Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. For I say, that through the offense, death reigned over all.  But the offense is not as the free gift, for the gift aboundeth. For, if through the offense of one, many be dead; much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, hath abounded by one man, Jesus Christ, unto many.  And not as, by one that sinned, is the gift; for the judgment is by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.  For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)".

      Bluntly put, Jesus HAD to be born of a virgin; of a woman, and by the Holy Spirit; half human, half divine.  No mortal could save us from our sins.  And anyone who claims it not to be true, or not of value, have no sure hold on the spiritual destiny of man, nor any grasp of the Divine nature, for IF Jesus were born a human, by the will of a man and woman, he would be born in sin, and there would be NO salvation for any of us!  Praise be to God that "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  We worship a LIVING God, that loves us, and is involved in our daily lives.  We live because HE lives.  Merry Christmas to all, God bless.                                                                                                                                                          

The Kingdom

      
     "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles which thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  John 3:1-7.

     Interesting dialog here.  A man named Nicodemus has a question answered by Jesus, but the question is not given.  What did he ask?  No one knows for sure, but the answer does give shed some light on that mysterious inquiry.  "Except he be born again" was the beginning of Jesus' answer, so it can be assumed that Nicodemus was asking what he must do to enter into God's Kingdom; a question each of us should be seeking daily.  What must we do?  Legally, to receive any inheritance, one must first be an heir.  How does that work?  Let's first consider the Kingdom we seek.

     So, what is the Kingdom of God, or Zion, as used in latter day terms?  To try to define such a subject would be like trying to define God Himself; any attempt at a definition is simply pointless because we would be limiting Him.  Jesus himself gave no concrete definition of this subject, but did leave us many word pictures throughout his parables.  Jesus' use of parables was, indeed, masterful.  Not only did he reveal truth, but he also CONCEALED truth; the truth that was revealed would cause the hearer to seek that which is concealed.  Because the only way to truly "see" the Kingdom is to have it revealed.  The Lord spoke of the Kingdom as a "pearl of great price", "a sower", "leaven", and "a mustard seed" to name a few.  Interestingly, none of these defined the Kingdom, but did give us a vision into the response of the Kingdom in the lives of those whom he referred. 

     My goal, with this thread, is not to define the Kingdom, or Zion, but to place a spark in your heart and mind to seek the reality of that which is promised to return to this world.  Though my few thoughts are limited by space and understanding, I know that the Lord has the ability to transcend this plane of existence and fill each of us with His light and wisdom.  The words of Isaiah speak volumnes of the wisdom of God, and our need to seek Him: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  In the 18th chapter of John, Jesus does give us this nugget during his conversation with Pilate: "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world;".  Two things: first, His Kingdom is not of this world-it is not present here as it is in Heaven.  Secondly, His Kingdom is not of this world-there is no kingdom present that can be used as a reference to His.  Confused?  Don't be.
     Throughout the scriptures, the Lord has given wisdom, and in this vein, I would like to offer three truths that we can glean.  First, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom.  The Roman letter reads "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.".  This spiritual kingdom is everlasting; its roots are in the eternal realm.  Second, Section 102 tells us that "the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ; therefore, let us become subject unto her laws".  Wait!  The Kingdom is both spiritual AND temporal?  Yes; it has to be!  Because it fulfills a divine concept: you cannot keep a spiritual law without expressing it temporally.  If I tell my family that I love them, without expressing it temporally, such as food, water, love, compassion, etc., it remains only words.  Such is also seen in Heaven.  "For God so loved the world, that He GAVE His only begotten Son".  The instrument of love is sacrifice; something that is expected from all of us.  The third gem is that this Kingdom is a Theocratic Kingdom.  This means that this Kingdom is ruled by a King, and he gives laws to us, but allows us the choice to obey or not.  Sounds a lot like agency, doesn't it?  We too often think that agency is a devise of this world, but it's actually not.  Remember, Satan chose to rebel while in Heaven-the eternal.  The Lord sums it up best: "Even so ye must be born again, into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye may be sanctified from all sin; and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come; even immortal glory."

     A lot to think about; a lot to seek.  But let me leave you with one parting thought.  When we consider Heaven, or Eternal life, we naturally think about the next life.  Death must take us before we taste such glory.  Not so.   John 3:36 reads "he who believeth on the Son hath everlasting life".  The emphasis I'd like to place before you is the word "HATH".  Hath is present tense.  So, if we believe on Him, we don't have to wait until death to begin to experience eternal life; we start to live it here, and it continues with us through eternity.  What Joy!  May we become a beacon of light, a picture of hope, to this dark world.  Behold, He cometh quickly.  God bless.