What an exciting time of year. It’s when most people think about giving to others; when they decorate their homes and plan for family and friend get-togethers. And Christians proclaim, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” However, do we gloss over the many incredible miracles as we stand before a Nativity scene?
How was it possible that a virgin should conceive—and bring forth a Son Who was both man and God? And yet, even after giving birth, she was still a virgin. That’s because this conception was without human means. It was a supernatural act of God.
Before proceeding, please consider the following words. Can you explain them to your friends, family, and others with whom you come in contact: Nativity, Spirit versus Flesh, Incarnation, Sin Debt, Manifest, Begotten, Emmanuel, Espoused, and Deity?
It’s the incarnation.
This Nativity represents the moment in time when God, Who is Spirit (a Spirit doesn’t have material substance as does the flesh) sent (begot) Himself to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ and put on human flesh and blood. This is called the incarnation. However, even stranger it may seem, Jesus has always been: … whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2 I [Jesus] am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8
But, there’s even much more to ponder. Why did God lower Himself to 
voluntarily be subjected to the cruel, inhumane treatment of man—even to be nailed to a cross until He physically died? It was because of a love no person can understand or give; yet, that love was designed for every person. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
It’s about our sin debt.
God knew that each of us would sin. Sin is two-fold: physical and spiritual. Man can “pay” for his physical sin debt by repenting from it—turning from sin and to the LORD. True repentance includes both godly sorrow and having nothing to do with the aforementioned committed sin: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs 28:13
However, what we do by repenting only absolves the sin debt physically. It’s only Jesus Who can pay for the spiritual part of our sin debt. That’s what Jesus paid when He (God manifest* in the flesh) willingly shed HIS blood by permitting man to nail Him to a cross (and He subsequently arose from the dead and walked on this earth after being sealed in a tomb for three days and nights). *Clearly apparent to the sight
Why the Nativity?
Because God is a Spirit, man cannot observe Him in the way that Jesus was able to demonstrate. This manifestation of God in the flesh was initiated when Jesus, after being birthed through a married virgin, was laid in a manger. This miraculous “begetting” of Jesus by His Father God is told throughout the recordings of both Old and New Testament writers. Two of the most well-known New Testament accounts of the Nativity (the human birth of Jesus) are given through Matthew, a tax collector, and Luke, a physician.
Who is the begotten?
Before we explore the Nativity in more detail, it’s important to consider some of the writings in the gospel of John. Another way of expressing this mysterious phenomenon of God being manifest in the flesh (in the person of Jesus Christ) is through a study of the misunderstood word begotten. You’ve likely heard or quoted the familiar verse from John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. A distinctively characteristic aspect of John’s writings is to bear record that Jesus and God are One. I and my Father are one. John 10:30
It’s the apostle John who makes it clear that God sent (begot) Jesus into the world. Yet, begotten is a word many do not understand even though John, through the words he carefully selected, included more than 40 references that define for the reader the meaning of Jesus being the only begotten son—not the only son BUT the only BEGOTTEN son. Many Bibles have removed this vital distinction (begotten) from the book of John (either directly in the text or through footnotes), but the word (only) begotten is in the underlying Greek texts from which Bibles are translated.
As noted in the box at the left, the Greek word for only begotten has two important distinctions: mono (meaning one) and gengee (begotten). Thus, we must understand that Jesus wasn’t an only son but the only begotten son. Many parents have an only son, but they do not have THE only begotten son (sent forth from) of God.
Below are a few of the many contextual Scriptures from the book of John which confirm the fact that God SENT Jesus into the world. As you read through the gospel of John, make a note of others you find.
Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.
God AND Jesus were in the beginning of recorded time: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh [Jesus], and dwelt [lived] among us … the only begotten of the Father [God] … John 1:1, 14 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 This is a lot to digest and contains facts many gloss over; some misunderstand, and others even reject.
God is with us.
Jesus is called Emmanuel which means God with us. This is explained by the angel of the LORD to Joseph, the man to whom Mary (the young married virgin who gave birth to Jesus) was engaged (espoused): Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23 This miraculous incarnation of God the Father was foretold more than 700 years before Jesus came to this earth. This is recorded through the prophet Isaiah: … Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14.
God was manifest in the flesh through a miracle never before or since duplicated. The announcement of this miraculous manifestation was recorded even before the time of Isaiah. This was in the Garden of Eden when the serpent (Satan/Lucifer) tried to usurp himself above God by falsely convincing man (Adam and Eve) that God’s Word is subject to change by man without repercussions. The serpent told Eve that man would not die if he transgressed (changed or sinned against) God’s Word: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Genesis 3:4. However, both Adam and Eve did die.
The Seed of the woman announced a future, one-time, supernatural event.
Tragically, humanity, even today, has taken the advice of the serpent and changed God’s Word by rewriting it and by living in lifestyles God warns will keep such transgressors from inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven. Man worships other gods and develops his personal beliefs and idols. Yet God, in the Garden of Eden, set the record straight. He would, through the Seed of a woman (Mary), manifest Himself as Jesus. This would be initiated as a newborn baby placed in a manger, and His birth into this world would lead Him some 33 years later to go to the cross to conquer sin and death for all humanity.
And I [God] will put enmity between thee [the serpent/Satan/Lucifer] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [Jesus]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15. So right here in the beginning of recorded history, God lets us know that something supernatural will occur through the Seed of a woman. Yet, it’s a biological fact that it’s the man, not the woman, who provides the seed for the conception of a child.
What did this mean? There was to be a Seed (Jesus) Who would destroy the works of Satan; but THIS Seed must come from the woman (as recorded in Genesis 3:15). However, no woman can provide the seed nor can a woman bear a child and remain a virgin. Yet, as recorded in Isaiah 7:14, A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [spelled Emmanuel in the New Testament].
Thousands of years after the Genesis confrontation between God and the serpent, Luke recorded an exchange between the angel Gabriel and Mary (a virgin espoused to Joseph). Gabriel announced that Mary would bear a son and His name would be called Jesus. Chaste, humble Mary asked, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, 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 1:34-45
There would be a mysterious union.
Gabriel was announcing there would be a union of Deity and humanity when God would be manifest in the flesh of man through what the Holy Ghost implanted in the womb of Mary. Jesus would be fully God and fully man. If you have never studied this before, this will be a lot to try to understand; however, carefully study what the Scriptures proclaim. Recorded in Philippians 2:5-7 is this: … Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
John records in his gospel: Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 14:9
And without controversy … God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us [Jesus] … the only begotten of the Father … John 1:14
Forget not this important fact: “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because He not only had broken the sabbath, but also that God was his father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:18
What is the Word teaching us?
God was incarnated: God in human flesh and with blood … which he [God] hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28 This miracle was something which exceeded the power of man to produce—or to even comprehend. It was a miraculous union to be brought about in a supernatural way: Behold a VIRGIN shall conceive … Isaiah 7:14 This virgin (the espoused wife of Joseph) was to be the only one that ever was or ever shall be, a mother in this way. According to the original promise given in Genesis 3:15, there was to be a Seed, a human being, Who would destroy Satan; but this Seed (the sperm) must come from the woman instead of from the man.
Matthew prophesied: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23 Matthew understood that Emmanuel meant “God with us,” that Deity would be united with human flesh and with blood. He recorded the account of the miraculous conception of Jesus; that is of His being begotten by the Holy Ghost. God was the Father of Jesus, and Jesus was Deity as well as human. The name of Jesus spiritually applied means “God with us.” This tells us that Jesus was more than a man; that he was God as well as man.
Who but GOD could have foretold His story from the beginning unto the end? His revelation is further confirmed in the book of Revelation where Jesus states: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending … Revelation 1:8 … I am the first and the last. Revelation 1:17
… I am the first and the last. Revelation 1:17 This is the same “I Am” Who 
spoke to Moses in the wilderness at the burning bush. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Exodus 3:13-14
And Jesus said, I am … Mark 14:62 … and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. John 13:20
Have you made Jesus LORD and Saviour of your life?
Thus, as we bow our knees to give thanks, through this celebration observed in the month of December, perhaps we will think even more about the fact that only God could have such love played out over centuries of time with untold miracles upon miracles to bring to us this baby, conceived by the Holy Ghost, delivered through a virgin, laid in a humble manger, and grown to manhood in the flesh—to be hung on a cross for you and me.
(The conception of Jesus may have been in the month of December and His Nativity some nine months later.) For more information view our videos and teachings on our website on this and other related information: https://www.restorationofthefamily.org/a-dichotomy-a-child-a-son/
https://www.restorationofthefamily.org/a-perplexing-christmas-celebration/
This gift of love from God is far-reaching and complex. What does God’s gift of love provide for those who choose to accept it? Here are a few of the benefits:
Salvation (eternal life in the presence of the LORD vs. eternal torment),
Forgiveness,
A Peace that is supernatural,
Healing,
Deliverance,
Spiritual rewards,
Mercy,
Wisdom,
Understanding,
Righteousness,
Sin debt payment, et al.
If you have questions, need prayer, or would like to be added to our free email teaching distribution, please write to us. We are blessed when we hear from you. Restoration of the Family, PO Box 621342 Oviedo, FL 32762; RestorationOfTheFamily@gmail.com; www.RestorationOfTheFamily.org.
Judith Brumbaugh
President/Founder
Restoration of the Family, Inc.
