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Conception - The Power of God ...

Wed, Dec 23, 2015. What is the power of God? What is it that God can do? How strong is he? How far reaching is his power? What about miracles? What about his ability to influence fate and events, to influence nature? Do we think that this is possible? Is God reality? And if yes, then how?

Mighty One …

When we walk towards Christmas, we are often moved by the stories. And there are many good stories when it comes to Christmas, many stories which help us to be human and to help others. But the Christmas story is not that far away from other wonders in the New Testament. It is full of God's power and might, even though in its center we find a vulnerable little baby with name Jesus.

Are we willing to take God's power into our considerations, when we think about life and about this earth and its inhabitants? The bible does not leave a doubt when it comes to his possibilities. Indeed, many events described in the New Testament start to become plausible, when we take God's power into account. Let us have a look at the beginning of the Christmas story, where we see wonderous events starting:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born5 will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1, 26ff)

What do you think? …

How do you treat this story? Many people today shake their head, a virgin birth seems so unrealistic. And it is unrealistic, and strange - as long as we do not take the power of God and his truth, his love and his wonderful possibilities into account. God can do! Even if it seems impossible to us, unrealistic or implausible.

What is the main point here? There are several, of course. There is the historical dimension of the events. There is the story about God's love and salvation, about the “son of God”, the “word of God”, his special role. To me, the key point is that God is there, in the middle of our “ordinary” life, with his power. He does not leave us alone, but he is searching us, he is even coming to us in a fantastic way, in very human terms.

If we think about God as something remote or abstract, that would not be adequate to reality. Our Christmas story does tell a different kind of reality: God being very close to us. The creator is not far. He even chose to live with us, and he takes our life and our environment very serious. (RWEP) ... more texts