Your Birth Was a Miracle, Too
Advent Reflections on Luke 1
“You will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:76-79 ESV
A Chapter of Miraculous Births
The first chapter of Luke testifies that God is in the business of miraculous births. He is in the business of taking barren wombs and filling them with life, like he did with Elizabeth, and with Sarah and Hannah before her (Genesis 18:14, 1 Samuel 1). He hears prayers to bring new life into places where only emptiness exists.
Elizabeth’s womb was for all practical purposes, dead. The “way of women” had ceased to be with her. She and Zechariah had prayed and prayed for a child, but held in their hands only longing and tears. Zechariah, it seems, had completely lost hope. When the angel brought the good news that God had heard his prayers and was finally giving him a son, his jaded heart could not receive it without some proof.
Mary’s pregnancy was equally unlikely. She knew how the birds and bees worked. She believed the angel’s words, “You will conceive and bear a son,” but she couldn’t fathom how it was all going to happen. She didn’t even ask for this birth. But God brings life where he will, where it suits his purposes, where it is fitting, and where he finds a willing servant to receive it.
Your New Birth Was A Miracle
God is still in the business of miraculous birth today. Every time someone hears the message of salvation and responds with faith, a new life begins. Every time a sinner receives God’s great mercy, a miraculous birth occurs. Every day, people around this wide world go from death to life. They are “born again” (John 3:3), as they receive forgiveness of their sins through the Son of God sent to die on their behalf.
Whether your first birth into this world as an infant was uneventful or extraordinary, your second birth of faith is a miraculous birth. It is the stuff of Luke chapter 1. Though we were alive in our flesh, we were spiritually dead in our sin. We were enemies of God, separated from him, chasing after our own impulses and desires. “But God demonstrates his love for us in this, while we were sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
The same God who brought life to Elizabeth’s dead womb breathes life into the sinner’s dead soul to bring salvation. The same God who entered the womb of a humble teenager is the same God who is able to save those who seem impossibly far from Jesus. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
The same God who brought life to Elizabeth’s dead womb breathes life into the sinner’s dead soul to bring salvation. The same God who entered the womb of a humble teenager is the same God who is able to save those who seem impossibly far from Jesus. “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Miraculous Births Have a Purpose
Is your heart hardened like Zechariah, barely able to believe that God still hears your prayers? Or are you open and ready like Mary to receive what God is about to do, even if it seems impossible?
For King Jesus is coming back to reign forever over all the earth. Are you ready to receive what God is about to do? God sent John the Baptist, with a miraculous birth, to prepare the way for the first coming of the King, but who will prepare the way for his second coming? Who will turn the hearts of the people back to God? Who will give knowledge of salvation to those living in darkness? Who will bring the mercy of God in the forgiveness of sins to those living in the shadow of death?
Your birth into the family of God was a miracle. Don’t take it lightly. When God brings about a miraculous birth, it is always for his own special purposes. Consider carefully how God has set you apart, like John the Baptist, to bring light into dark places, to tell other people about the mercy of God, to prepare the world for his return.
Advent is a season, not only of remembering our Savior has come, but a season of preparing our hearts, and indeed, the whole world, for him to come again. May God use this season to remind you of your own miraculous new birth, and may he stir in you a desire to prepare the way for the arrival, the advent, of our coming King.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46)
Thank you, God, for giving me a miraculous birth into your family. Now I ask that you do the same for my friends and family who don’t know you, and for the nations sitting in darkness. O God, give me faith to believe in the impossible, so I might pray for them faithfully. Make me a faithful messenger, like John, to prepare the way for the return of my King.
“Your second birth of faith is a miraculous birth”. What a beautiful picture and truth to believe! Thank you Michelle for this reminder that God is still creating new life through His Son, Jesus.