Conceived by the Holy Spirit

What would the "ultimate boss" be like? We probably want a person who had worked our job, so the boss would understand us. We'd want a boss who had a heart for his/her employees. We'd want a boss who was smart. And, of course, we'd want our boss to carry some clout, to get things done.

What would the "ultimate Savior" be like? Wouldn't many of those same thoughts apply? We'd like him to understand us, we'd like Him to have a heart for us, we'd like him to be smart, we'd like Him to have clout.

Okay, who's smarter than God? Who has more clout than God? Wouldn't it be great if our Savior was truly God?

Sure!

Well guess what? Here we find another promise fulfilled. In Isaiah 7:14 God says, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" ("Immanuel" is a Hebrew word meaning, "God is with us.")

The fulfillment is found in Luke chapter 1, when the angel Gabriel comes to Mary: "Do not be afraid, Mary, ...You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."

Mary's perplexed: "How will this be ...since I am a virgin?"

Gabriel answers: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

There's another person in the mix -Joseph, the man who was engaged to Mary. When Mary shows up pregnant- and Joseph knows he's not the father- Joseph reached what seemed to be the logical conclusion: Mary had slept with another man. So he determined to quietly end their relationship. God then sent an angel to him, saying, "Joseph, ...do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Then God adds an explanatory note: "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1)

Who is Jesus? He's the "Son of God," He's "God with us." That means He's REALLY smart, and He has all the clout which you and I could possibly want I need. Most importantly, He has the ability to do what we needed Him to do -to save us from our sins. He can do that because He's God! Smart! All-powerful!

But what about those other qualities we'd mentioned, like being one of us, and having a heart for His people? Does Jesus have those qualities, too? Keep reading!

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