In this message we are considering the subject of The Miracle of Life.  To begin I call your attention to the statement found in Luke 2:21.  We will come back to it a bit later in this message.  The Bible says:
 
     “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

 
           Life is truly amazing.  Our world contains a wide variety of living organisms from the microscopic to the larger members of the reptile world.  The animal kingdom consists of many creatures that fascinate us with beauty and unique characteristics.  And of course, mankind stands apart from all other creatures.  Mankind possesses a quality of life that is clearly superior to and quite different from all other life forms.

    Over time the observation of life in its various forms gave rise to a well-established law in science.  It is the law of biogenesis.  This law states that living organisms develop only from other living organisms and not from nonliving matter.  Anything that is alive came from something else that is alive.  This law states that life did not come from dead chemicals.  There is not one example from observational science of anything dead producing life of any kind.  Random chemical processes do not produce life.  The folly of macro-evolution is once again exposed by what we know to be true from observational science.

     It follows if life cannot be explained in natural terms, then there remains only one other option.  Life is the result of supernatural causes, or we might say life is a miracle that proceeds from an all wise Creator.  I am glad to inform you the Bible reveals to us in detail the personality and power of the one true, living God who is Creator of all things.  His name in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim meaning the all powerful One.  Indeed, he is the all powerful One and nothing demonstrates His omnipotence more clearly than the vast universe He holds in his hand. 

     As well, He is known as Yahweh.  This is the common Hebrew name for God in the Old Testament occurring over 5300 times.  It is translated LORD (all capitals) in several English translations of the Bible.  We first learn of this name in Exodus 3 when Moses asked God by what name He should be called.  The Lord answered, “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:14).  Yahweh is basically a shortened form of “I AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3:15).  This name of God conveys the idea of His eternal self-existence. 

     In a word, God possesses life in himself.  He draws life from no outside source, rather He is the life.  As Creator it is in his power to give life to non-living materials.  God gave creatures shaped from non-living matter life. 

     In Genesis 1:20 we learn God created from the waters marine creatures and birds of the air after their kind.  He shaped their unique bodies from dead elements and then gave them a certain level of consciousness, or life.  The verse says, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life.” 

     Likewise, we read in Genesis 1:24 that God created from the various earth elements the living creature after his kind.  This included cattle, creeping things, and beasts like the various dinosaur kinds, etc.  Again, God shaped their bodies from dead elements and then gave them a certain level of consciousness, or life. 

     All the sea creatures and land animals possess this aspect of life in contrast to plants.  Plants have no nephesh (no consciousness and are not “alive” in that respect).  However, the living creatures possess consciousness at various levels as determined by God’s design.

     With that said, we come to the creation of mankind.  The Bible makes a statement about mankind that is not true of the plants and the living creatures shaped from the sea and land.  God said of mankind, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27).

     No let’s establish a clear picture of God’s action when he created Adam the first man.  The Bible says, “And the LORD God (Yahweh who has life in himself) formed man of the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7a).  Now pause for a moment in your thinking. 

     The Lord formed Adam from the dust of the ground.  Thus, you might say the Lord sculptured a body for Adam.  However, he lay there lifeless.  A full head of hair. Perfectly proportioned facial features.  The appearance of muscle tone in his chest, arms, and legs.  While he appears to be asleep, that is not the case at all.  This man is not alive.  He has a heart, but it is not beating.  He has lungs, but he is not breathing.  All his vital organs are ready, but something is missing.  His body is fully prepared like a house to live in, but there is a vacancy sign on the front door.  No one lives there yet!

     Then the Bible says God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”  In that moment Adam awoke bearing the image and likeness of the Lord God.  He awoke with a consciousness designed to commune with His Creator.  As the image bearer of God Almighty his life stood in contrast to that of all other living creatures.  No plant or animal is made in the image of God or in His likeness.  For this reason, human beings should be viewed as the crowning jewel of God’s creative activity.

     Thus, mankind possesses a unique dignity as God’s image bearers.  Like the Triune God of eternity, mankind is relational in nature.  We possess the capacity for personal relationship with God and fellow human beings.  As Dr. Corey Abney writes in his essay entitled The Image of God:

     “People can know God, love God, and worship God.  We can also think, reason, and choose between right and wrong.  We have the capacity to look at the world and deduce that everything has a Creator (Romans 1:19-20).  The image of God is the defining mark of humanity that sets us apart from animals, plants, and grains of sand.  You can teach an animal tricks, but only man can learn truth.  You can make an animal work, but it is man who can worship.  Animals can see the sun, but man can glorify God for the beauty of a sunset.  Mankind has a unique dignity that is seen primarily in the spiritual ability to fellowship with God and others.  Both animals and man were created material and immaterial, but only man was created with a spiritual component as well.”

     My friends, the God who possesses life in Himself is the life giver and He has created mankind in His own image.

     At the beginning he made male and female and by his own design mankind would multiply and fill the earth
through the process of pro-creation.  However, as illustrated by the formation of the first man, life is more than just a biological process.  By design male and female provide the physical elements necessary for the formation of another human being, but only God can impart the living soul.  Thus, in the natural order each descendent of Adam is formed by God in the secret place of a mother’s womb.

     We should note the most famous passage in the Bible referring to the miracle of life in the womb is found in Psalm 139 where we read:

     “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).

     Brother Paul Taylor (respected Christian author amongst Biblical creationists) comments on these verses as follows:

“This is a pictorial account of the development of an unborn baby.  It refers to the formation of flesh (covering), internal organs (inward parts), and bones (frame).  None of these developments was hidden from God, though they were “secret” from people, indicating that we cannot directly see the formation of the unborn.  The concept of the “lowest parts of the earth” is a euphemism for the female reproductive system.  Even in this unborn state, it is clear that the baby is human, as God has already determined “the days fashioned” for the baby.”

     This passage is one of many in Scripture that references the unborn.  In each case the Bible speaks of the unborn as an actual person, a living human being already in existence.  God considers the unborn as fully human, as a real individual whom He has formed in the womb. The formation of a new human being is a continuum with a beginning at the moment of fertilization, or conception.

     Scientifically, we now know the blueprint for the house formed in the womb is settled at the moment of conception.  However, life is not simply the union of an egg and sperm in a mother’s womb, no more than dust formed into a full-fledged body is human in and of itself.  My friends, it is the impartation of the soul that constitutes human life in the image of God, and that must take place at the moment of conception when we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  At the moment of conception, a miracle takes place as a new human being consisting of body, soul, and spirit is formed by our marvelous Creator.

     So, the Scripture says in Psalm 139, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (unformed); and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.”  In continuance, that is, from the humble start of just a single cell containing all the DNA blueprint (God’s book) of the physical house to be fashioned for us, we eventually came to term and entered the world.
 
Conclusion

     Now I must finish were I began.  “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

     I ask you:  when did Jesus become a “person?”  When was the eternal Word clothed with a human nature?  Was it not in the moment when the power of the Highest overshadowed the virgin Mary and she conceived?  My friends, there can be no doubt about this.  Jesus did not become the Son of God the day of his birth, rather Jesus became the Son of God at the moment of his conception.  In that moment the Father prepared for him a body.  In that moment he was made a little lower than the angels so in time he could bear our sins in his body on the tree.
 
     I close with this important truth:  the procreation of every man and woman has a supernatural element in it as God gives life to a new human being.  No man has the right to arbitrarily take that life.
   

     The beginning of a new year brings many thoughts to mind.  It is quite natural to think of personal goals and the aspiration of a better life as the new year unfolds.

     However, there is one thing infinitely more important than any measure of temporal prosperity the new year has to offer.  Jesus sums it up with these powerful words.  He says:  “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  (Matt. 16:26).

     Clearly, Jesus teaches the soul can be lost in eternity.  Lost--how fearful the thought. To be lost is to die with no hope. Those who die lost will open their eyes in a place of outer darkness.  This place is outside the presence of God.  There is no light there and it follows there are no personal relationships there.  In that hopeless place the morning never comes to brighten the soul.  The day never comes, rather those who perish from the presence of the Lord must endure the darkness of an eternal night.

     What would a man give in exchange for his soul?  I assure you those who even now are engulfed in the torments of everlasting punishment would give the whole world but for one more opportunity to repent and be saved by His marvelous grace.
    
     I must hasten to tell you all men are by nature the children of wrath.  Said another way, by virtue of the fall of Adam everyone comes into the world estranged from God and under the curse of the lost condition.  We fell in our representative head—Adam.

     Thus, by one man many were made sinners. The fall of Adam introduced a spiritual reality that exists in the heart of every subsequent member of the race.  Each descendent of Adam is a sinner by nature.  Indeed, as the prophet says so concisely, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  (Jer. 17:9).

     I must say this kindly but hear me well: you are by nature a sinner.  Like everyone else, your heart was estranged from God even from your mother’s womb.  We all begin life with no spiritual life.  We are alienated from God and go astray from our mother’s womb (Psalms 58:3).

     The Bible says there is none good, no not one.  We discover very early in life that although we may pursue the good most of the time, we nonetheless yield to the presence of indwelling sin in many ways.  We are fallen and possess a nature incapable of meeting God’s standard of holiness.  We are thus lost in Adam.

     The Bible says all have sinned and all come short of the glory of God.  Can you accept the truth your own heart confirms, namely that you are guilty in the sight of God and are most certainly lost?  My friend, seeing your lost condition is the first step toward reconciliation with God.  In fact, as this realization floods your soul please know the goodness of God is at work leading you to repentance.

     While it is true all men are sinners and do not naturally seek the Lord, it is equally true the Lord seeks for us.  The Bible says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

     My friend, the Lord will deal with your heart.  He will come seeking for you just as He did the first Adam.  Upon disobeying the Lord, Adam and Eve attempted to hide themselves from the Lord among the trees of the garden.  But the Bible says, “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9).

     We are all just like Adam.  We run from God in our fallen state but thank God He comes looking for us!  The grace of God that brings salvation will appear to you in some season of your life.  Said another way, the Spirit of God will deal with your heart and draw you to Christ. 

     As the famous hymn so aptly says:
 
          Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
          I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see
          Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved
          How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
 
Be careful to listen my friend, lest you harden your heart and die unrepentant.

     Despite the goodness of God who in grace pursues a lost world, many persist in a lost condition.  Our world is characterized by the ungodly who war against God.  Think about the universities of not just America, but the world.  For the most part, God is pushed out of our so-called schools of higher learning while room is made for every fowl spirit bent on fostering rebellion against the knowledge of our Creator and Redeemer.

     Indeed, ungodliness is finding expression amongst both the cultured and the barbaric.  Nothing illustrates the lost condition any more than the cultured academic who articulates unbelief in his exalted place as a tenured professor at a leading university.  His students for the most part turn out to be learned men who proceed to occupy prominent places in society from which they can live out a life of cultured rebellion against the knowledge of God.

     Beware my friend, if your education has left you with no knowledge of God you are tragically lost.  It is time to humble your heart before God and come to the knowledge of salvation through His Son.  Such was the case with one of the greatest intellects the world has known.  Following his dramatic conversion to Christ, Saul of Tarsus became known as the Apostle Paul.  Once the grace of God opened his eyes to the knowledge of Christ and brought him to repentance, he wrote:

     “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
 
     Not only is our lost world characterized by the ungodly, but it suffers greatly from the problem of false spirituality.  Millions of misguided souls are very zealous of their special brand of false spirituality.  Our world is quite open to the deception spawned by the spirit of antichrist.  Let me say this as clearly as I can:  if you are involved in any kind of spirituality that refuses to confess that Jesus is the unique Son of God, God come in the person of the promised Messiah, then you are lost.
    
Conclusion

     All the things we deem so important at the beginning of a new year seem of no consequence in comparison to preparing for eternity.      

     Now I must ask you, are you lost?
 
     Lost. The word should send a shiver down the spine.  Lost and all because of neglect, or unbelief, or self-will against God.  My friend, if you persist in resisting the Holy Spirit one day you will be beyond the reach of God’s grace.  Think about that.

     This is without question life’s greatest tragedy.  While there are many heartbreaking tragedies in this life, none of them compare to the fearful reality of a soul departing this life unprepared for eternity. 

     Remember, not one soul must go to the place called hell.  And yet as the Son of God says, there will be few saved in comparison to the multitudes destined to face eternal separation from God.

     I close with the story of a famous man who is rapidly approaching the end of this life unprepared to meet God.  If I mentioned his name, everyone in this building would know him.  He is fighting a battle with cancer and in a recent interview I listened with interest to see if he would acknowledge the Lord.

     Instead, as far as death is concerned, he basically said he would deal with what comes when it happens.  He shared no assurance about heaven and in reference to God his statement clearly indicated he did not know the Lord in a personal way.  In fact, he could not speak about the Lord clearly at all.  While he was not disrespectful his comments left me with the stark reality this man is about to take a leap into the dark.  Clearly after almost 80 years on the planet and despite much learning, this man has successfully pushed God out of his thinking.

     I am sure he has the idea that if there is a God somehow everything will work out alright.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

     My friends, there is a God.  He is our Creator and in the person of his beloved Son, He is our Redeemer.  Furthermore, He has commanded all men everywhere to repent.  Those who fail to repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus will die in their sins.  Jesus says clearly, that if you die in your sins, you cannot come where he is.  Such souls are lost.

     It is time for you to surrender your heart to Christ before it is everlastingly too late.

     The foundation of Christianity is the doctrine of special creation.  The doctrine of special creation consists of God’s revelation to mankind of his creative activity as documented in the first chapter of Genesis. 

     Clearly God’s method of creation consisted of the power inherent in his Word.  He commanded and the physical elements comprising the heavens and the earth were brought forth.  In six literal days God in his infinite wisdom established a very good creation free from sin, death, and the curse.  The original creation was mature, complete, perfect, and can certainly be described as paradise.

     The first man Adam and his wife Eve dwelt together in that paradise.  So says the history recorded in the inspired Word of the living God. They enjoyed life in its fullest meaning.  Unfettered joy and contentment ruled their hearts as they walked in the light of life flowing out of relationship with their heavenly Father.  All was well.

     It is important at this point for us to pause and consider God’s motivation for the creation.  Of course, we would not know the heart of God concerning this matter except for the fact He has told us in His written word.  The following words from Holy Scripture grant us a measure of insight into God’s heart and into His plan before the foundation of the world.

     First, in John 17:24 as Jesus is praying to the Father he says, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

     In as much as Scripture reveals the Triune nature of the living God, we should properly understand relationship exists within the Godhead.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit abide in an eternal relationship with each possessing the whole of the one Divine Nature.  Thus, Jesus speaks here of the love existing between him and the Father before the creation was brought forth.

     It should be properly observed that God did not create the universe, an inhabitable planet earth, and mankind because He was lonely.  God is complete in Himself lacking nothing and needing nothing.

     Next, in Ephesians 1:4 the Word of God says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”  This verse grants insight into the eternal councils of God. 

   Before the foundation of the world, that is, before God moved to create the heavens, the earth, and mankind, He planned for a people whom He would redeem.  We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

     The Apostle Peter says the same in the opening remarks of his first epistle which says, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

     We are His elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.  Thus, God clearly planned for a people whom He would redeem.

     The Apostle Peter goes on to say in this same chapter,

  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;  

   But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20).

     And so, God foreordained the coming of His Son into this world before the foundation of the world.  What are we to glean from this revelation?  Clearly, God moved in creation of the world and with the creation of mankind in His image for the express purpose of securing a people unto Himself.

     Clearly the Lord knew mankind would fall.  He knew also in order to secure the salvation of the elect His Son must be sent into the world.  Yet, the Lord proceeded with the creation. 

    His motivation for doing so is clear.  According to the good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself, the Lord planned to have a people unto the praise of His glory!  He planned to redeem a people according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:11).

    This is the metanarrative through which we must interpret the history of the world and our present time.  It follows in order to have a people walking in faith in response to His love both angels and mankind must be created with the potential of disobedience. 

   I had a very good question this past week from a seventh grader in the Junior High Bible class I am teaching at FCA this year.  She asked the question, “Did God create sin?” 

    The answer is no, however, God did create both angels and mankind with the possibility of sin.  He shaped both with the possession of free will.  Said another way, love for God and loyalty to God is not mechanical. 

   For love to be genuine the potential for disobedience had to exist.  The mystery of iniquity which first appeared in the heart of Lucifer is nothing more than departure from love for God.  Lucifer’s pride flowed from disdain for God whom he sought to overthrow.

  And what can be said of the first man Adam?  His disobedience had nothing to do with deception.  Confronted with the possibility of disobedience to his Creator, Adam failed the test of faith and love when he took the forbidden fruit from the hand of his wife Eve.  Thus, sin entered the world and death by sin.

     But alas my friends, as all creation suddenly felt the pangs of a horrible change and as it appeared God’s very good creation was tarnished forever, the wheels of the hidden counsels of an infinite God began to roll. 

   The Bible says, “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

    With these words the Father promised to send His Son into the world to deliver His elect from spiritual bondage to death.  The needed deliverance, however, would come with a price.  The serpent would bruise his heel.  The heel wound speaks of the cross.  As the Hebrew writer says in the New Testament, it was through death he destroyed him who had the power of death that is the devil (Heb. 2:14).

  As Adam and Eve left the Garden the journey to the Bethlehem manger began. Each page of subsequent history turned on the hinge of the Father’s promise in Genesis 3:15.

  In time God raised up a man named Abraham who fathered the nation of Israel through whom the promised Savior would be born.  God in his wisdom and purpose drove history until under Rome as predicted by the old patriarch Jacob in Genesis 49:10 the sceptre of power departed from Judah upon the arrival of Shiloh. 

   Shiloh is related to the word for “peace” (shalom) and in effect means “the one who brings peace.”  It is one of many names for the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Thomas Grinfield penned this simple refrain on December 25, 1826, that summarizes the history leading to the manifestation of the Son of God:
  
'Tis come, the time so oft foretold,
The time Eternal Love forecast:
Four thousand years of hope have roll'd,
And God hath sent His Son at last:
Let heaven, let earth, adore the plan:
– “Glory to God, and grace to man!”
 
     It is no wonder all of heaven burst into praise when the promised seed of the woman lay wrapped in swaddling clothes in a Bethlehem manger.  The bible says:
 
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
 
     We should join the heavenly host and lift our praise to God this Christmas season! 

     In the fullness of time the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.  The love of God the Father for a lost world compelled Him to send us His only begotten Son.  The love of God the Son for a world of sinners compelled Him to leave His Father’s side with a passion to rescue His own from sin and death.

  And so, foreordained before the foundation of the world, the eternal Word took to Himself human nature in the person of the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Spurgeon offers this insight on the babe of Bethlehem as he writes:
 
Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman.  Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son. Oh, the wonder of Christmas.
 
     J.I. Packer writes:
 
The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child.  The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets.  Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.
 
     As the Apostle Peter says, “he was manifested in these last times for you.”  Do you understand the Lord Jesus came just for you? 

     Open your heart and receive God's gift to you this Christmas season--His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
 


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