God You Wow Me Because... The Beginning of the Gospel
John Ryan
12/24/2006

You Take My Breath Away - Rex Smith

You, I don't know what to say, You take my breath away
You're every song I sing, You're the music that I play,
And you take my breath away

1) Mary - You chose Mary, a young common poor peasant girl, to be the earthly mother of your Son Jesus. Not yet married, she is found to be pregnant by God and most amazing – she is carrying God's Son – Jesus. She believed and submitted to the craziness that would ensue. (Luke 1:26-38) There would be 90 miles of travel in the last days of pregnancy, birth in a cave in hay probably with animals, and no family to see, celebrate, or
encourage her. (Luke 2:1-7)

2) Manger Scene - You chose a cave be the birthplace of Your Son the King of Kings and probably animals to be His first audience as a King. (Luke 2:6-7)

3) John the Baptist - You chose to reveal yourself to John the Baptist (Jesus' relative – a second cousin or more removed) while he was in his mother Elizabeth's womb. (Luke 1:39-41)

4) Elizabeth - You chose to reveal yourself to Elizabeth, Mary's relative (probably great aunt), before you were born and she believed and recognized Jesus as LORD! (Luke 1:39-42)

5) Shepherds - You chose shepherds, some of the least revered workers in all of Jewish society, to be the first humans to give audience to your Son the King. (Luke 2:8-19) They were the first to worship Jesus as Savior. They were first to tell others they had found the Savior/Messiah.

6) Joseph - You chose Joseph, a young common peasant boy/man to the earthly father of Your Son Jesus. Amazing that he did not have her stoned, thrown out, or divorced. (Matt. 1:18-24) He obeyed God in every detail trusting - believing in the midst of an unbelievable situation. A baby born by God [which opened them up to severe ridicule], a baby who would be God, a baby who would be worshiped at birth and even several years later as a child, and on the run from Herod all the while. (Matt. 2:11-15)

"Would somebody please tell me the real meaning of Christmas!" - Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown Christmas Special

7) Magi - You revealed yourself to men who lived far away in a different land, a different culture, and who were surrounded by many who held different beliefs about God. These magi, astrologers / wisdom givers / magicians were obviously men who had been influenced by the One True God – Yaweh, and they access to the scriptures. Most importantly, they were spoken to by God to know that this star was the star of God's Son. They knew they were to worship Him. It wasn't just about a king to be worshiped or they would have worshiped Herod. They did not. This was about God revealing Himself to some most unlikely men.

8) Simeon and Anna - Two prophets in the temple who had long awaited the coming of God's rescuer were rewarded before their death by seeing the King of Kings as a baby and they believed. They did not doubt or get confused because a baby was brought to them. They told all who could hear – this is the One. (Luke 2:25-30, 36-38)

9) Jesus - There are many things to be wowed at in this story. However, the WOW of the story is Jesus – God's Son came to earth.

• You chose to come through a Divine plan constructed before the beginning of time. (Eph. 1:4) When Mary said "Be it unto me according to Thy word" (Luke 1:38), it meant that from then on, her life would be a part of the fulfillment of divine prophecy. God had promised that the Savior would be a human, not an angel (Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:16), and a Jew, not a Gentile (Gen. 12:1–3; Num. 24:17). He would be from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and the family of David (2 Sam. 7:1–17), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14) in Bethlehem, the city of David (Micah 5:2).

"Larry King, the CNN talk show host, was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'." from Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998, on ChristianAnswers.net

• You chose to come as a man. (Luke 1:30-31) He was to be birthed like all men (9 months in the womb, through a lady's painful birth, through the mess of the birthing process, delicate, small, helpless, needy, and dependent in every human sense – Luke 2:6-7). He was to be raised like all men (Luke 2:27, 40).

• You chose to come as all God. (Luke 1:31-35) He would be birthed by the Spirit of God and would be God (the Son Jesus). (Matt 1:18-23)

• You chose to come and rescue men from God's judgment on sin. (Luke 1:31; Matt. 1:21)

- God's judgment of sin required the physical and spiritual death of the guilty party.

- In order for Jesus to fully pay our penalty, He had to be all man to pay the physical death penalty. (Romans 6:23)

- In order for Jesus to fully pay our penalty, He had to be perfect, without sin, so He could take our place. A man guilty of sin would have been under His own judgment. That is why God birthing Jesus is so important and it comes under so much attack. If Jesus had been born solely by human parents He would have been under the judgment of sin as all our simply by being born. (Romans 5:12) However, being born by the Spirit made Him holy. (Luke 1:35)

O Come, All Ye Faithful
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus, to Thee be all GLORY giv'n;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!