Bible Reading:
Luke 1:26-38
26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32He 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:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35And 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.
36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Devotional:
There was a time when you could use the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ as a gauge of faithfulness to the teachings of the Scriptures. A man might hedge on or spiritualize many of the teachings of Scripture in order to be able to assent to them and yet at the same time entertain mental reservations about their authenticity. But the virgin birth? There was only one thing you could say about that: a woman gave birth to a child without having had intercourse.
The day we have described has passed. Now the Christian has to be more wary in accepting the word of theologians at large. The virgin birth itself can be assented to without being regarded as we have described it. There is a whole widening school of thought which would claim that this event, along with many of the other events of Scripture which we hold dear, occurred in a different plane. Their truth is not denied. It is just said that they happened on a different historical plane.
'I cannot understand that,' you say. Neither can we. But many claim that they can, simply because they refuse to believe that God's Word is everywhere true.
To the Christian, however, the virgin birth is the perfect answer to God's dilemma! He wanted to send into the world One who was fully God, in order that His perfect life and substitutionary death might be of infinite value and become the groundwork of salvation. And He Himself was the eternal Father of the eternal Son. He wanted to send forth One who was fully man, so that He could really represent us. He chose a human being to give birth to the Son whom He sent from heaven. It is beautiful! It is so integral to the Christian faith that to remove it from the Bible is to do violence to the perfect scheme of God.
We cannot accept the Barthian view expressed in paragraph two. Nor can we understand how such a conception as Isaiah prophesied (7:14) and Matthew and Luke define, could take place. Mary could not understand either, but she sang in verse 37, ' ... with God nothing shall be impossible!'
We are happy to have obtained permission to post as our current daily devotional Heirs Together of Life: Daily Bible Reading for Husbands and Wives, published by The Banner of Truth Trust. Don't be misled by the subtitle. As the book's "Preface" indicates (see below), although Heirs Together of Life is "especially prepared for couples,"the authors declare, "Since the basis for this guide is God's Word, we believe it would have value for any reader."
Charles and Norma Ellis are husband and wife and the authors not only of Heirs Together of Life (which was first published in 1980 and continues in print today), but also of Wells of Salvation (first published in 1985, and likewise still in print today). The latter contains a series of short studies covering the entire book of Isaiah, while the former contains a series of almost 200 short studies covering the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Both books by the Ellises can be ordered from the publisher, The Banner of Truth Trust. We trust that these daily Bible readings, posted daily on our site, will be helpful to you in your Christian walk before God. Whether married or not, all of us are members of families and members of the family of God.
Charles Ellis was educated at Wheaton College and Westminster Theological Seminary. Upon graduation from Westminster (where he earned not only a Th.B. but also a Th.M.), he was ordained to the ministry in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and pastored a number of OPC churches, including Immanuel OPC in West Collingswood, New Jersey; First OPC in Cincinnati, Ohio; Covenant OPC in East Orange, New Jersey; Knox OPC in Silver Spring, Maryland; and Lakeview OPC in Rockport, Maine. Less biographical information is available about his wife, but it is known that they served as parents of seven children. After retiring from the ministry, Charles Ellis went to be with the Lord in 2003, but he and his wife left us with a beautiful legacy in the two books they have given to the world, and we are proud to share the daily Bible readings from Heirs Together of Life here with you.
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