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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Strong
When Weak "My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2
Corinthians 12:9). God told
Paul that His grace was all he needed to live God's will, and that in the
midst of his weakness due to his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Note
that God's power as seen in the above verse is inextricably connected with
His grace. This is why I
maintain that God's grace is a combination of His unmerited love directed
our way and His divine ability given to us to accomplish His will, something
I see in the birth of Jesus into humanity.
The angel Gabriel told
Mary that she would "conceive and give birth to a son" (Luke
1:31) who "will be called the Son of the Most High" (Luke 1:32).
Mary would have been around thirteen to sixteen years old when she
heard this news. Such a young
girl would have been pretty low on the totem pole of cultural significance
back then. Being both
culturally weak and a virgin, Mary had no clue how she could ever conceive
a child, so Gabriel explained it to her.
"The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you" (Luke 1: 35).
The birth of Jesus, then, was a demonstration of God's unmerited
grace being connected to His powerful ability that was sufficient to
accomplish God's will in the face of Mary's weakness. All of this is important
when considering the earthly existence of Jesus.
In today's terms, the DNA of Jesus was both human and divine since
His mother was Mary and His father was God.
For the record, Jesus did not become divinely human when He was
water baptized as some claim. He
was divinely human from conception. The
Holy Spirit's coming upon Jesus, not into Jesus, at His baptism was the
visible inauguration of His Messianic ministry. Another thing to note
about what Gabriel told Mary was that her son would be called "the
Son of the Most High." This
is important because in the Greco Roman world back then many emperors were
self-designated to be the son of God.
On the other hand, Jesus' designation as the Son of God was an
angelic pronouncement. Jesus,
not an emperor, is the Son of God.
The birth of Jesus helps
explain how God's grace works. His
grace, His love directed towards us who do not deserve it, has powerfully
productive implications as seen in 2 Corinthians 12:9.
Note that the Greek word "dynamis" is translated as
"power" in this verse. We
derive our English words "dynamic" and "dynamite" from
"dynamis." This is
why I say that God's grace is more than His love directed our way who do
not deserve it. It is also His
divine ability given to us to accomplish His will in our weak lives.
It's interesting to note
that the Greek word "etheneia" that is translated as
"weakness" in 2 Corinthians 12:9 above is also translated as
sickness, disease or infirmity throughout the New Testament. So,
whatever our weakness is, even if it's a physical disability that God may
or may not remove, His grace in all of its aspects can enable God's glory
to be seen in our lives. It's
being strong in the Lord when we are weak.
Scripture
Reference 2
Corinthians 12:7 "...or
because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to
keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn
in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."
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