How does it like the first step of something you never did before?
Do you remember your first step of a walk? You might not remember it, but there was the first step. You started the first step and now you can run. It is the same for the steps of faith. At first, you were scared to fall because you had never walked in faith. However, once you have started the first step of faith, the next steps are easier. If you have not started the first step of faith, I encourage you to make the first step of faith.
Let’s read Luke 1:26-38.
26: Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
27: to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28: And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
29: But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.
30: 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 name Him Jesus.
32: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David;
33: and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
34: Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35: 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.
36: And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her six month.
37: For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38: And Mary said, “Behold, the bondsalve of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
The word of God came to Mary
The message was so amazing. “You will have a son, He is the Son of God. The Lord God will give him the throne of David forever.”
It was an amazing message: coming of the Messiah
King David was the greatest king and Israel enjoyed its strongest days during his reign. Now, they were under Roman colonial rule. That’s why they were eagerly waiting for a king like David who can deliver them from the Roman empire. When they said, “son of David” it means, he was the messiah who could deliver them from the Roman empire.
However, the message was hard to accept. The Savior would be born through the body of a virgin. Note that the Bible emphasizes Mary was a virgin. Because Mary was engaged with Joseph but not united with him, pregnancy would be impossible.
The God’s message includes God’s blessing and the way of God to bring the blessing. The way of God for blessing is hard to understand for us. That’s why faith is required for God’s words.
However, that doesn’t mean you cannot talk back to God. Doubt is a natural response of a human. It’s not bad. Then, what is bad? Because of doubt, if you run away from God, that’s wrong. If you have doubts, read more bible and pray more. Let your doubt draw you closer to God. That is real faith.
Did Mary understand the virgin birth? That is why she asked back to the angel, at v34. “I am a virgin, how can this be?” The angel answered, “this will be done by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The angel told Mary that her relative Elizabeth also got pregnant at her old age. If God made Elizabeth pregnant by His power, He can make the virgin Mary pregnant. From smaller miracle to bigger miracle. This is how God makes our faith grow. And the angel confirm that her pregnancy would be by the power of God, a supernatural one. As you see here, as Mary brought her doubt before God, she was given more information and able to trust in God’s plan. Bring your doubt to God.
Mary’s entrusted her life to God
Mary said, “I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me.”
Mary might not fully understand what the angel explained in v35. Also she would suffer people’s mockery and ridicules. She might suffer a divorce from Joseph and living alone for rest of her life. But she entrusted herself to God.
She might say, “I don’t know why the Messiah should be born of a virgin. I don’t know why the virgin should be me. I know they will talk in whispers against me. I might have to live by myself if my husband doesn’t believe it.”
Also, all these expected difficulties are contrary to what God said, “favored one, the Lord is with you” “you have found favor with God.”
In spite of all these, she said, “I will entrust my life to you, whether it would be humiliation or glory, let this happen as you will, I am your bondslave.” This is faith.
This is the step of faith.
First, you have to understand God’s message: blessing and sacrifice (or danger).
What are the blessings in the gospel? The bible says, “You will be called children of God. You will have eternal life in Jesus Christ.” At the same time, Jesus asks to follow him. “Deny yourself and follow me.”
Second. After you understand God’s message and know it is true, what is the next? You are required to believe it. Believing means entrusting your life to God, in other words, commitment.
You should entrust your life to God’s disposal.
In following Jesus, in believing Jesus, what do you need to sacrifice? GPA, loss of money, losing life? Unless you take risks in following Jesus, your faith is not proven yet.
Even though you cannot fully understand God’s plan and His way, you can understand one thing very clear. What is it? The love of God is demonstrated on the cross. Trust God’s love. He plans the best for you. See the cross.
Once you have made the first step of faith, you need to make continuous steps of faithto move forward.
Why does God use the way of faith?
Why did God send Jesus through a virgin? One of the reasons will be that it should be God’s work, not human work.
As you live in faith, your acts of faith reveal the invisible God to the world. Without the confirm from God, no one sacrifice his or her life. Your sacrifice in faith is strong support for invisible God.
Therefore, the act of faith reveals God, the source of goodness, whom we put our trust.
Also, through Mary’s faithfulness, Jesus was born and raised. Jesus could die on the cross in faith that God the Father would raise Him up. Through Jesus’ faithful sacrifice, we were saved. Through our faithful ministry, someone will be saved.
Therefore, faithful sacrifice brought salvation to us.
Life comes from God; this is how salvation comes through faith. Because God is invisible. Faith is the only way to communicate with God.
CLOSING
Have you ever started the first step of faith? Start now.
If you have started the steps of faith, keep making more steps of faith as you know more about the Lord. Do not fear. Learn to trust in His goodness. Move forward to uncertainty with confidence in His words.
Keep coming to church, reading the Bible, and praying. Fear not any loss or sacrifice, God will compensate for it.