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JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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"The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of<br />

the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called<br />

the Son of God'" (Lk 1:35).<br />

For this reason Jesus is called "the Seed of the Woman" (Gn 3:15).<br />

The Christian Church has from the beginning believed and confessed that Jesus Christ<br />

● "conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary" (Apostle's Creed)<br />

● "He was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary" (Nicene Creed)<br />

● "Of Mary the Virgin" (Chalcedonian Symbol)<br />

The Christian Church has stubbornly clung to this confession against the ancient error of<br />

the Ebionites, Cerinthus, some Gnostics and Arians, and liberal theologians of all shades and<br />

stripes. Their appeal to the "laws of nature" (that such a "miracle" is inconceivable) is silenced,<br />

once and for all by Luke's affirmation immediately following his account of this miraculous<br />

birth:<br />

"For nothing is impossible with God" (Lk 1:37).<br />

Mary herself was perplexed when she was told what was to happen to her:<br />

"How will this be since I am a virgin?" (v. 34).<br />

"The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of<br />

the Most High will overshadow you" (v. 35).<br />

Mary, knowing that by nature it was impossible that she, not knowing a man, should<br />

nevertheless conceive and give a birth. The angel agrees with Mary in this and simply teaches<br />

her to look to God's omnipotence. As to the "laws of nature," it must be kept in mind that God is<br />

not bound by them, but they are bound to God, since the laws of nature are nothing else than<br />

God's operation in and through His creation (Gn 1:11-12; Ps 104:13-14).<br />

This explanation satisfied Mary who responded:<br />

"I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as You have said" (Lk 1:38).<br />

The phrase "conceived by the Holy Spirit" does not mean that the Holy Spirit is a<br />

substitute for the human male in the conception and birth of Jesus. The Church has never held<br />

that the Spirit is the "father" of Jesus. There are many pagan mythologies about gods having<br />

intercourse with human females producing half-breed offspring which are a combination of both.

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