Son of God and Son of Man

The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” —Luke 1:35

When an ordinary day in her life became extraordinary because of a heavenly messenger and his message, Mary could do nothing else but wonder with trouble what this meant. After the angle pronounced her as favored by God Himself, and told her that she would conceive a child while yet retaining her virginity, Mary had one obvious question, “How shall this be…?” And this is the same question that we have today about the birth of Jesus Christ. How is it possible for a woman who has never been in a physical relationship with a man, to conceive a child? The angel answers Mary, affirming that it would indeed be without the creative process of sexual reproduction between a man and a woman. However, there would still be a child! The Holy Spirit would be the one doing the creative act.

 

This thought mystifies and even repulses many, because we immediately draw parallels with the human act of reproduction. But let me take you back to the beginning and the very act of creation. Who was it that was superintending the creation of the universe, making things ready for God to speak specifically? Was it not the Holy Spirit Himself (Genesis 1:2)? When the Holy Spirit Himself was operative in the creation of the world, it should not surprise us that Christ who existed eternally, is brought down into the womb of a virgin as a man, by the selfsame creative agency of the Holy Spirit

 

The question then should not be “How is this possible?” but “Why was this necessary?” Christ’s coming to earth was not merely God visiting humanity. It was God becoming human. He had to become human to be, as the Scriptures teach, the Son of man—that is the Son of mankind. By virtue of being born of a woman, He takes on the characteristics of humanity. He is the Son of man. But He is not merely the Son of man. Hear Gabriel’s reply to Mary, “… the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” There was no man and the creative act of producing a child, was done by God, the Holy Spirit. There is no human sinfulness in Jesus Christ’s conception. So, He is the Son of God. He is then both Son of God, and Son of Man – God in human flesh.

 

Friends, this is mysterious, for we cannot wrap our minds around it. This is marvelous, in that it is the marvel of all marvels, and did come to pass. But more than mysterious and marvelous, it is magnificent. Mary’s response to her cousin Elizabeth, a few months later when she recognized the miracle Mary was a part of, is correctly called the Magnificat—for it magnifies God. While the birth of the Son of God and the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, is a marvelous mystery, it should cause us to magnify God—believe in His miracle working power, and trust Him to work with the same power today.

 

The coming of the Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus Christ, should cause us to praise and thank God, because God became one of us. He came to live the life of a human, experience all that we experience, and save us from the sin and death that plagues the human race. The Son of God came as Son of Man so that mankind can have the life of God: holy and eternal, without sin and death. Marvelous too is this, that the same Holy Spirit who conceived the baby Jesus in Mary’s womb physically, will conceive Him in your life spiritually if you come to Christ and trust Him today.

—Kenny Damara