The Great Question at Christmas

"... In his gospel Luke tells us who Jesus was .... Was he a man like every other man? Luke's answer is that he was not. Luke tells how the angel Gabriel went to Mary and told her that she was supremely blessed among women; that she was going to bear the Son of the Highest, and that he would be great. He would occupy the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there would be no end. Read it all in the first chapter of Luke's gospel. Mary was perplexed and asked how this could be since she was a virgin.

"Gabriel said: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' (Luke 1:35).

"That is what Luke tells us and this means that Jesus came into the world. He was not just born like everybody else. He came out of eternity into time; he came from heaven to earth. This is Christianity. Whatever may be your moral and political views, the question confronting you is this: How are you related to the fact that the babe of Bethlehem is the eternal Son of God?"

-- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Authentic Christianity, Vol. 1 

(Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1999), 8-9.