On Sunday, we considered the shadows/echoes of Christ’s miraculous birth in both testaments. Such shadows and echoes will become more apparent to us the more we read Scripture. One part of Scripture will call our attention to another, moving us to note correspondences that are more than mere accidental similarities in texts, but rather the biblical authors’ intentional use of ideas and phrases from other parts of Scripture so as to connect the passages theologically.
Likewise, our celebration of Christ’s incarnation will become richer the more we see its connection to all of Scripture, even to the opening verses of the Bible. A connection that we did not have time to explore on Sunday related to Gabriel’s description of Christ’s birth and how his words echo the first words of Scripture. Gabriel seeks to show how the virgin Mary would be able to conceive and bear a son. He said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-- the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
We noted Sunday why this miraculous birth was such an escalation from the shadows that preceded it. Prior miraculous births involved women unable to be impregnated by men due to their closed, lifeless wombs. Their wombs did not do what they were designed to do…produce life in the event of the normal fertilization of an egg. Yet, God promised these women that in spite of their age and past difficulties, He would miraculously cause their wombs to do what they were designed to do. He kept His promise, and sons were born.
With the birth of Christ, the miracle is of a much higher order. God went to a woman and promised that her womb would do what it is not designed to do…produce life in the absence of the normal fertilization of an egg. Hers would be a virgin birth.
We know enough about biology and genetics now to understand what this required. Jesus, being a real human being, had chromosomes and DNA like any other person. These require the input of genetic material from a mother and a father. However, in the case of Christ, in the absence of male genetic material, God had to create that material out of nothing.[1] This was accomplished via the Holy Spirit’s coming on Mary, the power of God overshadowing her. Mysteriously and miraculously, God brought life where there could be no life.
There is a connection here to the very first verses of the Bible. God created the world from nothing (In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth [Gen 1:1].) Where there was nothing, God brought something. The original form of the earth was shapeless and void. (The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep [Gen 1:2a].) Dead nothingness. There was no life because there was no mechanism for life. The rest of Genesis 1 records the power of God at work in the word of God to create life. In conjunction with that creation of life, the text notes that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2b).
As the Spirit of God overshadowed the formless and void earth just prior to the advent of life, so also He overshadowed the void womb of Mary, bringing about the advent of Christ.
Why might the Holy Spirit have inspired the correspondence of this language/imagery in the two texts? The gospel itself is the key. God’s original, good creation was tainted by the sin of Adam. As the pinnacle of creation, Adam was himself tainted, overcome by spiritual death, and separated from God. The whole of salvation history shows the determination of God to overcome sin and death that man might live with Him again in a new heaven and earth.
Paul notes in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 that Adam was a type—or preceding shadow—of Christ. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:21-22). As the creation narrative of Genesis 1:1-2 preceded God’s good creation which would be tainted by sin and death, so the birth of Christ signals: a coming new creation through His life, death, and resurrection; a reversal of the Fall; and, eternity in a new heaven and earth. Truly, the One who sits on the throne can say, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
Our celebration of His birth can only be enhanced when we read about it in the full context of salvation history…beginning with the first verses of Scripture! May the Lord move us to long for the coming new heaven and earth as we enjoy Christmas this weekend.
[1] This is not to say that the eternal Son was a created being. He always has been and always will be. However, His physical body was not eternal; it was “created” at His birth.
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