Born of the Virgin Mary...Continued from page 8

Please know I am not trying to sketch a picture of a God who is a genie, who every time you rub the lamp he jumps at your beck and call, working magic in your life. Much to the contrary. I am talking about a God who sees great possibilities in you and me and is able not only to make good things happen in our lives, but to stand with us in the tough times.

This summer, Anne and I spent a week with four other couples. We found out that, each night after dinner we were going to play gin rummy. I am not much of a card player, had never played the game before, and these couples knew precisely what they were doing. So, I went along with the program, as awkward as I was. At first, very frankly, I was incapable of playing the game by myself. You know what happened? Very graciously the others would hover over my shoulder, helping me arrange the cards, see the combinations, and play the game. Occasionally, I won with their help. Sometimes, I lost with their help. What I appreciated was the encouragement and the knowledge that came from outside.

C.S. Lewis, in a much more graphic way, gives a similar illustration. He talks about playing billiards. You have a nice green table, a cue, three balls ? a red one and two white ones. The idea is to hit the white cue ball with your cue and to make it collide with the red ball. A clearly discernable law of nature, or of physics if you like, will tell you that when the white ball collides with the red ball, the red ball will accelerate and the white ball will decelerate. The red ball will accelerate at the same rate that the white ball decelerates. The energy is simply transferred from the one to the other. That is law. All the naturalists will tell you that's the only way it will work . We can go further and say that it is impossible for the red billiard, when hit by the white billiard ball, to travel faster than the white ball is slowing down. C.S. Lewis says "not so." Because after I have hit my shot, I may realize I didn't hit it hard enough. So while you are turning the other way, I simply hit the red ball with my cue and I cheat. Then the red ball will go faster than the white ball is slowing down. And, in his inimitable style, Lewis says, "God cheats." God simply moves into the laws of nature what He has ordained and adds another factor.

What is a miracle? A miracle is God's supernatural intervention in the natural law. God saw what was needed way back in the Garden of Eden. Through the prophets of old, He predicted what would come, the Messiah. God, with His Holy Spirit, took human form in the womb of a virgin, and God has come into this natural order of our lives in the Person of Jesus Christ, who went to the cross on our behalf and now is present in the power of the Holy Spirit.

He is looking over your shoulder, helping you arrange the cards, seeing how they fit together. He is there, helping you learn the game of life, rejoicing when you do well and commiserating with you when you stumble. He is there moving that little red ball a little faster toward that pocket than you are able to do in your own strength.

That is what the doctrine of the virgin birth is all about. Jesus is not just another wonderful man. He is God Incarnate, yearning to have you accept Him as your Savior and your Lord!

____________________________________

John A. Huffman, Jr. is the Senior Minister at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA. He is a Senior Contributing Editor to Preaching.