MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/4/2026
8:29 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The
Divine Child”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
1:31-33
Message of the verses: “And behold, you will conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will
have no end.”
This morning I begin what is a rather long section
which speaks of what the angel Gabriel said to Mary concerning the birth of the
Lord Jesus Christ, as she would be the mother of the Lord, a privilege that no
one else had or ever will have. As Mary
heard after Gabriel’s greeting for the first time she heard what the gracious
work of God in her life was going to be, and as mentioned she will be the
mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we
can be sure that Mary knew of only one way that she could ever conceive a
son—through sexual relations with a man.
Mary also knew that she had not had such relations, as her question in
verse 34, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” indicates. The concept of a pregnant virgin was utterly
inconceivable to her, an impossibility, a contradiction in terms like a married
bachelor, or a square circle.
Now let me quote a verse for you
from the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis 3:15 “15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise his heel.’” This
verse actually speaks of the virgin birth all the way back to when Adam and Eve
sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, and God immediately shares about the seed
of a woman which will eventually be fatal to Satan, and that seed of the woman
is Mary’s seed, Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes: “Nevertheless Gabriel’s stunning
announcement, in words fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy of Messiah’s virgin birth
(Isa. 7:14; cf. Matt. 1:23), was that Mary without the seed from a man would conceive
in [her] womb and bear a son. The
staggering promise of a divine miracle was far beyond her understanding or any
human comprehension.
“Then, with breathtaking brevity, in
one vast, glorious relation Gabriel succinctly summarized the entire ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ: His saving
work, righteous life, deity, resurrection, ascension, glorious return, and
kingdom rule. He began with the command
to name Him Jesus, the name that was the Greek form of the common Hebrew
name Yeshua (‘Yahweh saves’), which introduced the reality of Messiah’s
saving work. God is a saving God, and it
was ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10; cf. 2:11, 30, 38;
Matt. 1:21; 1 Tim. 1:15; cf. John 12:27; Rom. 8:3-4; 2 Cor. 8:9) that Jesus
Christ came into the world. His saving
work is the central theme of the New Testament (cf. Matt. 11:28-30; John 14:6;
Acts 4:12; 5:31; 13:23, 38; Rom. 5:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 1:5). In obedience to the angel’s command, Mary and
Joseph named their newborn Son Jesus (Luke 2:21).”
“‘to
seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10; cf. 2:11, 30, 38; Matt. 1:21; 1 Tim. 1:15;
cf. John 12:27; Rom. 8:3-4; 2 Cor. 8:9)
“10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
the lost.’”
“11 For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
“30 for my eyes have seen your salvation”
“38 And coming up at that very hour she began to
give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the
redemption of Jerusalem.”
“21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet:”
“15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of
full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the foremost.”
“27 ¶ "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall
I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to
this hour.”
“3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according
to the Spirit.”
“9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you
by his poverty might become rich.”
The next thing that Gabriel told
Mary that her son Jesus will be great.
Megas is the Greek word for great. Now once again the understatement is striking. But all the synonyms that could be added,
such as extraordinary, splendid, magnificent, noble, distinguished, powerful,
or eminent, would be equally inadequate, so I guess that there is not any human
words to describe how great our Lord Jesus Christ is. MacArthur adds “Adjectives and superlatives
are not used because they are superfluous.
His life will define great. And worshiping believers are always
aware that language is inadequate to express the honor and glory of His person.
“Unlike John the Baptist, whose
greatness was qualified as being in God’s sight (1:15), Jesus’ greatness is
unqualified. He is great in and of
Himself; His greatness is intrinsic to His very nature as God, and is not
derived from any source outside of Himself.
Jesus Christ is ‘far above all rule and authority and power and
dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one
to come’ (Eph. 1:21).”
Lord willing I will continue where I
am leaving off this evening in my Evening Spiritual Diary.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: Being reminded of the greatness of
my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ causes me to desire to live for Him each and
every day, knowing that is the best way to live my life.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to think about the greatness of my
Lord and Savior ,Jesus Christ.
3/4/2026
9:17 AM
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