Text: Luke 1:26-38 Advent
SN: 0038 12/24/2023
Nothing is Impossible with God
“That’s impossible!” How many times have you heard or maybe even said those words? Think about some of the things that people have said would be impossible. If you went back a little more than a hundred years, people would have said it would be impossible to transport vast numbers of people by air across the oceans. It would have seemed like utter fancy to think that men would walk on the moon. Just think in our own lifetime. It was considered impossible for a powerful computer to be small or affordable enough to be kept in a house, let alone fit inside someone’s pocket.
All of these things were considered impossible, yet even these achievements pale in comparison to the impossible things that God has done on behalf of his people. Just think of some of God’s impossible acts. How he split the waters of the Red Sea and saved his people from the hand of pharaoh, how he provided mana and quail in the desert, how he made the walls of Jericho fall with a mighty crash, or how he destroyed the mighty Assyrian army as it surrounded the city of Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah. But all of these impossible acts of God pale when compared to the greatest miracle that God did for his people. The great and mighty wonder proclaimed by the Angel Gabriel to a meek and humble maiden: that God would send his one and only Son to be born of a virgin to save the world from sin. This incredible act of grace fulfilled all of God’s promises to his people and assures us beyond any doubt that nothing is impossible with God.
All of humanity faces an impossible problem. To earn the eternal joy of heaven, God demands that we live perfect lives free from any sin in accordance with his just and holy law. This is impossible. By nature, we are born dead in our trespasses and sins as enemies who are hostile to God. We can do nothing to save ourselves. We are truly lost and condemned creatures. The very inclination of our hearts is only to do evil all the time. Even when we have been reborn through the waters of baptism, we must still struggle daily with the sinful nature we have inherited from Adam and Eve. We sin each and every day and deserve only the wrath and punishment of God. We are far, so very, very far from the perfection that God demands of us.
Adam and Eve destroyed the perfection of God’s creation when they listened to the lies of Satan and ate the fruit that God commanded them not to eat. They destroyed their relationship with God and brought sin and death into the world. The way to heaven was closed to them, and they could do nothing to save themselves. But God, in his grace and mercy, did not want to leave humanity in this wretched state. It was impossible for us to restore our relationship with God, but nothing is impossible with God. He promised that he would send a Savior who would crush the head of Satan and destroy the power of sin and death. This is the great and impossible promise of God that echoed down through the long ages until Gabriel announced its fulfillment in his joyous proclamation to Mary.
Throughout the long years of the Old Testament, the people of God waited in hope for the coming of the Savior. God continued to renew his impossible promise and show his love and mercy to his people. God renewed this promise to Abraham. He took a man and wife who were nearly a hundred years old and made an impossible promise to them. He told Abraham to look at the vast array of the night sky and count the multitude of stars. God promised, “Now look toward the sky and count the stars if you are able to count them. This is what your descendants will be like.” What an impossible promise, but nothing is impossible with God. Abraham's descendants grew and multiplied into a great people. A people whom God rescued from the bitterness of slavery with his mighty hand. A people whom God saved again and again through his grace and mercy, even when they turned away from him. A people God preserved so that from them a Savior would be born. A Savior who would rescue all people from the horror of sin.
In time, God chose a young man from the tribe of Judah to be his anointed king. God made an impossible promise to King David. He promised, “Your house will stand firm, and your kingdom will endure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” What an impossible promise that only God could fulfill. We know that God did not mean that descendants of David would rule over Israel for eternity. The line of kings was broken, but God preserved the descendants of David so that the King of kings could be born from an insignificant young woman from the house and line of David. This was to fulfill another impossible promise God had made through the Prophet Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.”
The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to proclaim the time had come for God to fulfill his impossible promise. Mary had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior, the mother of God Most High. Mary wasn’t chosen because she was special or pure from sin. Mary was a sinner, just like you and me. There was nothing unique or special about Mary. God could have chosen a mighty queen or empress to be the mother of his Son, but instead, he chose an ordinary girl from an ordinary town. Mary needed a Savior just like us. God chose Mary out of pure grace. This is the same reason that God has chosen each of us.
What an impossible promise! What an impossible miracle that a virgin should be with a child, and not just any child, but the Son of God Most High conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus needed to be born in this unique and miraculous way to save us from our sins. Because Jesus was born of a virgin, he was free from the corruption of original sin. He could do what was impossible for us. He could do something that was only possible for God and live a life free from sin. Jesus placed himself under the burden of God’s holy law and kept all of its requirements for us.
In a truly profound and impossible mystery, Jesus Christ, who was the true God from eternity, was born as a tiny, helpless baby. He became Immanuel, God with Us, so that he could be tempted in every way as we are and yet be without sin. He lived a poor and lowly life so that he could understand what it was to be a human. So that he could feel our pain and sorrow and suffer for us. And then Jesus did something wonderful. He allowed himself to be tortured and crucified for us. He did this to fulfill the promise that God had made to Adam and Eve, Abraham, and David that a Savior would come to save the world from the curse of sin. On the cross, God died. On the cross, Jesus took all our sins upon himself and became sin for us. God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Dear friends, as we consider the Angel Gabriel’s words to Mary this morning, let us be encouraged and reminded that our God is faithful and keeps his promises. He kept the impossible promise to save the world from sin. He did the impossible and sent his one and only Son to be born of a virgin. We can be confident that God continues to do the impossible in our lives. We washed us and gave us new life through the waters of baptism. He is here with us as he gives us the forgiveness of sins through his body and blood and has given us the impossible gift of eternal life with him.
These are the promises of God that we can cling to during the darkest hours of our lives. When we face times of trouble and hardship, when we face times of pain and loss, we cling to the promises of God and know that he is continually by our side and will help, comfort, and support us every day of our lives. We can place our trust in God, cling to his promises with the same faith as Mary, and confess, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.”
Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.