The gift of faith is given to us by God, by the powerful working of the Holy Ghost in all the Lord's people. Lost men are naturally helpless to believe the Gospel under their own steam, and yet in each of our believing hearts, there was first a powerful work of the Holy Ghost to convert us!
A large part of the miracle power of God in our salvation is displayed in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ to be our redeemer.
He was born of a virgin, and is our Immanuel, God with us!
Isaiah foretold these twin miracles about Messiah, Who came down to earth to save His people.
They are impossible events! Nobody can be born by a virgin! No man can be God manifest as a human being! Yet those are exactly the twin miracles that God promised to us through Isaiah.
Isaiah also reported God's promise that a child would be born unto us, and a Son given to us. That in itself is no miracle – it happens all the time.
But the names assigned to that child, that Son! Wonderful, counsellor, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! These are miracle characters in such a child, in such a Son.
But most astounding of all, that child, that Son, would be the mighty God! How can a male child be God? How can God promise to do such an astounding and impossible thing as this?
The promised Son is a real human being like us, made like His brethren whom He would save, and yet He is God of very God at the same time!
This is the repeated promise of Christ our Immanuel, of God with us!
These things are unheard of, outrageous, audacious, and quite simply unbelievable. They are impossible, and yet they are a part of God's mighty power to save His poor lost people whom He loves. |
