Luke 1:27-35
There Is A Difference
It may be hard to believe, but it is Christmas. Trees are up.
Lights are out. Presents are being purchased. Our neighborhoods
have had two Christmas parades. It’s here.
Sadly for Christians, Christmas is being hijacked more and more each
year. Many have complained for years that Christmas has become too
commercialized, with the emphasis on spending money and buying
present rather than on Jesus. Major retailers now instruct their
merchandisers not to say "Merry Christmas" but "happy holidays," they
say so as not to offend the non-Christians; however, they definitely
want Christians to give our money to purchase gifts as about 70%
of their sales come from this time of the year. A couple of years
ago, a few stores even advertised their Christmas tress as holiday
trees. Many who want to celebrate the "holiday" will not allow any
Bible verses, manger scenes, Christmas songs, or even the Christmas
story!
What is happening? Not meaning to sound like a conspiracist, I
believe the anti-God forces of this world are attempting to tell the
world that Christmas is just another holiday. It is like
Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, or Ground Hog Day, just another day
that was randomly picked to have a party or celebration.
However, Christmas is not just another day because Jesus Christ is
not just another person. Jesus is Messiah, God, Savior, and
Redeemer. Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is different in every way imaginable.
1. His past, present, and different.
2. His nature, blood, and heart are different.
3. His love, meekness, and humility are different.
4. His power, commands, and expectations are different.
5. His birth, life, and death are different.
6. And the list goes on.
Jesus is different and Christmas is the celebration of His coming
into the world. If we are not going to celebrate that, there is no
reason to have a holiday at all!
Let’s consider some areas in which Jesus was and is different.
I. Jesus’ conception was different.
A. Jesus was born to a virgin, that is, Jesus was born to a woman
who had not been with a man.
B. There are several things you need to know about the virgin
birth.
1. It is impossible. A human being cannot be conceived
without a mother and a father. That means everything
about the real Christmas is supernatural. It is a work
of God.
2. Holding to that doctrine is not just important. It is
absolutely critical. Without it, we have no Savior.
Why is it important?
a. Because the Bible says it is so and if the Bible
lies, it is worthless.
Isa 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.
Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent…
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s
name was Mary.
b. Because if Jesus’ conception was different, then
Jesus was different. If His conception was not
different, then Jesus was not different.
(1) Jesus would have been just another man.
(2) Another man could not die for our sins.
C. When it comes to the virgin birth, you either believe it or
you do not.
1. This is one of those "faith issues."
2. There is no physical proof that Jesus was virgin born,
just like there is no physical proof that Jesus is God,
that He arose from the dead, or ascended back to heaven.
3. And there never will be.
4. Accepting Jesus as the Christ is and will always be a
matter of faith. You have to believe!
5. And as I have said hundreds of times, "If you do not
believe, you cannot be saved."
II. Jesus’ construction was different.
A. By that, I mean the body that Jesus had was constructed
differently from our bodies. If Jesus is virgin born, His
body had to be different.
B. Why? Because Jesus’ body was missing the earthly Y
chromosome.
1. I love it when something I learned in school helps me to
prove Bible truths!
2. Way back in the day when sex education was about biology
and not perverted sex, we were taught that the cells of
our body have 46 chromosomes in them.
a. These 46 chromosomes pair up to produce who we are.
b. One of those pairs determines our sex, male or female.
c. The chromosomes are referred to as X and Y
chromosomes.
d. If that pair of chromosomes are both X chromosomes,
that the person will be a girl. If that pair is one
X and one Y, then the person will be a boy.
e. The only place to get that Y chromosome is from the
father.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/chromosome/9
3. Jesus did not have an earthly father from which to get an
X chromosome. So…
a. Jesus should not have existed at all!
b. If somehow He did exist, He should have been a girl—
HE WAS NOT.
c. All of this means that God did something supernatural!
4. Scientifically speaking, we would suppose that God put a
Holy Y Chromosome into the body of Mary.
a. That seed had to come directly from God.
b. That seed was planted on a DNA level or lower!
c. So that even the DNA of Jesus was different.
C. If you were to take a sample of Jesus’ blood and put it under
a microscope, I believe it was different!
1. I don’t know how it would be different, but it would be.
2. The DNA of a pig, a dog, a cat, a rabbit—even two people
are different.
3. How could holy DNA and human DNA be in the same blood and
it not be different?
III. Jesus’ heritage was different.
A. Jesus was conceived without a human father. Rather, He was
conceived by a heavenly Father.
1. Jesus used this terminology often (59 times).
Mt 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.
Lu 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as
my Father hath appointed unto me;
2. Jesus called God the Father not because He came AFTER
the Father or because He was INFERIOR to the Father,
but because Jesus’ earthly body was created by a DNA
seed from God.
3. Jesus’ earthly body had God’s seed in it.
B. This meant that Jesus had nothing of man’s sinful nature in
Him.
1. The sinfulness of man is passed down through the father.
Ro 5:12 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:
2. God holds the man accountable for sin being in the world,
not the woman.
a. You have heard the joke, "Where would man be without
woman?" The answer is, "In the Garden of Eden."
b. It is true that woman sinned but she was deceived.
Man sinned by choice, with his eyes wide open.
c. So it is by man’s seed that sin is passed down.
d. If women could conceive children without men, they
might be able to produce a sinless race.
C. All of this means that sin was not passed down to Jesus.
1. You and I, like the Psalmist, are conceived in sin.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and
in sin did my mother conceive me.
2. That does not mean that sex is wrong. It means that even
at very moment that a human being is conceived, he is a
sinner because his father’s seed brought sin to him.
a. That is why babies die. In fact, many more than you
and I realize because most never attach themselves to
the wall of the uterus.
b. That is also part of why we believe that life begins
at conception, nothing needs be added to create who
and what we are, a sinner under the condemnation of
God.
3. But Jesus was not a sinner. He never committed a sin nor
was He born with man’s sinful heritage.
IV. Jesus’ soul was different.
A. When the seed of a man and a woman come together, a new soul
is created.
1. That soul is a new existence, a new life.
2. Sadly, because the father is a sinner and the father’s
seed is necessary to create the life, that new soul is
a sinner as well.
B. However, none of that happened with Jesus.
1. A man and a woman did NOT come together.
2. Sin was NOT passed down to Jesus.
3. A new soul was NOT created.
C. Instead, an eternal Person simply moved into the body that was
fashioned by God’s seed and woman’s seed.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace
and truth.
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with
thine own self with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was.
D. Jesus was not a man. He was (and is) God in flesh.
1. Jesus had no sin in His conception.
2. Jesus never committed a sin.
3. Jesus had no earthly father.
4. Jesus was God come in the flesh, different from all others
who have ever been or will ever be.
Christmas is not just another holiday because Jesus is not just
another Person. His incarnation gave us what we needed most:
1. A visible God
John 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us
the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time
with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how
sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
2. A holy High Priest
Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
3. An earthly King
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
4. A sinless Sacrifice
2Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
This is what we are celebrating. We do not have to purchase, give or
receive a single present to do so. Neither do we have to have a
family gathering, a few days out of school, a day off work, a party,
a Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, or lights.
Everything we need we have in Jesus and that is why we are
celebrating!
