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This blog is all about the miraculous, virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and its implications for our lives today. As the Lord said through His prophet:

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means, 'GOD WITH US.'" (Mt 1:23)

The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ	Miraculous Birth of Jesus	Why We No Longer Celebrate Christmas
Bearing Christ Within	In What Year Was Jesus Born?	On What Day Was Jesus Born?
The Son of Man

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Author's note:  You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master. 

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ

Although the virgin birth of Jesus is a biblical doctrine that has been held by His followers since the first century, and established formally as part of the Apostles' Creed since the fourth century, it has been one of the most controversial topics of the past hundred and twenty years or so. It has also been widely misunderstood by many, and has caused some to stumble.  But you need not stumble over this or debate it.  It's supernatural, and cannot be understood with your natural, rational mind like you would understand a scientific explanation of how the human heart beats.

As the apostle Paul said, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (1Co 2:14)

Therefore, I would first like to present to you the Scriptural evidence or record, followed by my explanation of how it happened. However, before you read any further, I suggest you stop and pray, asking God to show you the whole truth and nothing but the Truth.  Humble yourself and acknowledge that you cannot understand this, except by the Spirit of God, who is the One who caused this supernatural event to occur.

Scriptural Evidence
"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 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; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' 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. 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 sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.' And Mary said, 'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her." (Luk 1:26-38)

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means, 'GOD WITH US.' And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." (Mat 1:18-25)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." (Joh 1:1-4)

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, 'This was He of whom I said, "He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me."'"  (Joh 1:12-15)

"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man." (Joh 3:13)

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (Joh 3:17)

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." (Joh 6:38-39)

They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" (Joh 6:42)

Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me." (Joh 7:28-29)

"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.'" (Joh 8:14)

"And He was saying to them, 'You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.'" (Joh 8:23-24)

"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.'" (Joh 8:58)

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (Joh 10:17-18)

“For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father."  (Joh 16:27-28)

Jesus prayed to the Father, “They knew with certainty that I came from You and they believed that You sent Me.” (Jn 17:8b)

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Php 2:5-8)

When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, (Luk 3:23)

The Birth of Christ Prophesied in Advance
Just as the prophet Isaiah accurately prophesied many other things about the life of Jesus Christ, including his crucifixion, death, and resurrection (Is 53), he also prophesied the virgin birth of our Lord seven hundred years in advance.

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:14)

The virgin's Son would be called Immanuel, which when translated, means "God with us."

Now here is the description Isaiah gave of this male child, called Immanuel, who would be born of a virgin:

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."  (Isa 9:6-7)

The virgin's Son would be called "Mighty God," which is "El Gibor" in Hebrew.  The word "El" literally means God. This name, El Gibor, may also be translated, "God-man," "Mighty Man of war," or "Mighty Warrior."  I like all of them, and I think they all describe Jesus well.  According to Isaiah, He would also be called "Eternal Father," and He shall reign on David's throne forever and ever.  The only Person who could be called "God with us," "Mighty God," "God-man," and "Eternal Father," and who could reign forever would have to be God Himself. And that is exactly who the virgin's Son, Jesus Christ is. He is God.

How it Happened
Now I would like to explain how it happened, not scientifically, but supernaturally, based on Scripture.

He existed eternally in the form of God before He was born, and was not created. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. Therefore, the very human life of Christ in the womb came into existence through the Life in Him.

He had the power to empty Himself when He left heaven, and to take up His human life on earth, then to lay it down at the cross, and take it up again at His resurrection.  He did all of this on His own initiative, because God sent Him from heaven to earth. The zeal of the LORD of hosts accomplished this.

Just as His own children are not born (again spiritually) of blood, nor the will of the flesh, not the will of man, but of God, likewise, Jesus was born physically not of the will of the flesh, not the will of man, but of God.

The Child born to Mary was not of her own doing or Joseph’s doing. Mary was a pure virgin, who had found favor with God. Although it was supposed that her holy Child was the son of Joseph, His Father was God in heaven.  He was not of this world.  He came from above at God's command, and He knew where He came from.

He came down (descended) from heaven into Mary’s womb. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.  The Child who was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. Her part was only to conceive Him in her womb by the Holy Spirit, and bear a Son. 

He had the power to take on any form He chose, so He took the form of a bond-servant. When He materialized as a tiny embryo in Mary's womb, He was made in the likeness of men. He was also found in appearance as a man. When they found Him at His birth, he appeared as a male child.  The Word of God became flesh.  God became flesh.

Joseph kept Mary a virgin until she gave birth to a Son, whose name was Jesus. He is called Immanuel, which means “God with us.”  Jesus is God with us, our Savior.

Rejecting Blasphemous Heresies
Now that I have explained what did happen, I would like to explain what did not happen.  There was absolutely no sexual intercourse involved.

The Scripture explicitly says that once the angel Gabriel had delivered to Mary the message that she would conceive, and had left her, she went to stay with her cousin, Elizabeth.  "Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!'" (Luk 1:39-42). 

She arose and went in a hurry to Elizabeth, not allowing any time for human intervention. When she arrived and greeted Elizabeth, she had already conceived, because John the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elizabeth, and she told Mary that the fruit of her womb was blessed. Although she was still a virgin when she arrived at the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth, she had the holy Child Jesus in her womb.  Therefore, no human intercourse occurred, just as the Scripture explicitly says she remained a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus (Mt 1:25).

There is yet further evidence to confirm that Mary went to the home of Elizabeth immediately after the angel Gabriel told her she would conceive a child.  Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth, who had been barren, was now in her sixth month of pregnancy (Lk 1:36).  And Mary stayed with Elizabeth for a period of about three months (Lk 1:56).  After Mary left, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist (Lk 1:57).  Elizabeth's six months of pregnancy that occurred prior to Mary's visit, when added to the approximately three months that occurred during her visit, spanned the total nine months of her pregnancy.  Therefore, this serves to confirm what the Scripture says that she was a virgin when she conceived the Lord Jesus.

Moreover, it would be blasphemous to assume that Mary engaged in any kind of sexual intercourse in a spiritual sense.  Nothing of that sort happened, because the Scripture says Gabriel told 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." (Lk 1:35).  There was nothing sexual about that, since her genital organs were not involved.  The first Adam was formed from the dust of the earth and God breathed life into His nostrils, so that he became a living being, without any human intercourse. Likewise, there was no sexual intercourse involved in the conception of Christ, the second Adam.  Rather Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, Who is holy, and the egg inside her womb was fertilized supernaturally in a holy manner.

Had the Lord been conceived in the natural way, He would have the DNA of both Mary and Joseph, and He would be the son of Joseph.  But as it was, He had only Mary's human genes, and He is the Son of God.  He was from His Father in heaven, Who sent Him.

This matter of His DNA has been confirmed by the late archeologist, Ron Wyatt, who discovered the ark of the covenant in a cave inside the hill called Golgotha.  It was directly beneath the cross holes he discovered atop the hill, which he believed was where the cross of Christ had been inserted.  He discovered a crack at the cross hole that ran down the side of the rocky hill, which may have been caused by the earthquake that occurred when Jesus gave up His Spirit.  Ron found a pool of dried blood on top of the lid that covered the ark of the covenant that had been hidden in a cave inside that hill for centuries.  He took samples of the blood and had it reconstituted in a reliable, professional lab, where it was tested.  As I have written about in my article, Ark of the Covenant Found - Part 1, the lab said it was very old human blood, but it only contained 24 chromosomes, rather than 46.  There were 23 from the mother and one Y chromosome. It only had Mary’s chromosomes, since there was no man involved in His conception, and the one Y chromosome from Yahweh!

What About You?
I hope this has helped to clarify the virgin birth of Jesus Christ for anyone who is confused about it or doubts it.  Don't try to figure it out or understand how He could have materialized inside of Mary's womb. Just believe it.  The Word of God said it, so it's true.  That settles it! Stop doubting and believe.

Jesus Himself said that He came down from heaven and that He is God's Son.  You must believe it.  "And He was saying to them, 'You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.'" (Joh 8:23-24). 

He is unique in that He is the only Person ever born this way.  And He wants you to be born from above also.  It is not enough to be born of the flesh, you must be born again of the Spirit.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (Joh 3:3)

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (Joh 3:5-8)

Have you been born again? If not, you must be, in order to see the kingdom of God. You cannot be saved any other way.  I want to share with you (at the end of this blog) how to be born again and know the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God with us, and whose name means Savior.

So why do people doubt the virgin birth of Jesus? It's because it is the truth, and the devil has whispered lies to them that this doctrine is not true.  Jesus said, "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." (Joh 8:45-47).

If you are not of God, you will not hear these words of God about the virgin birth of Christ.  But if you are of God, you will hear the words of God.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.  Repent of your sin and unbelief, believe on Jesus Christ, and be saved.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: Also see Miraculous Birth of Jesus, Is Jesus God?, The Son of Man, The Scripture Must Be Fulfilled, Three Stages of Christ's Earthly Mission, and The Bible is the Word of God, as well as the other articles on the Home Page of this blog. You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Why We No Longer Celebrate Christmas

If you are a disciple of Christ, questioning whether you should be celebrating Christmas, please allow me to share with you some biblical and historical facts to consider, which might help you make your decision.

I would like to share a letter I recently sent to a friend of ours, explaining why we no longer celebrate Christmas.  I hope this will also be encouraging to the growing number of people who are feeling the same conviction in their heart that we have. The letter states:

"I want to mention something to you, since you have mentioned Christmas a couple times to me.  It's not a problem with us if you want to celebrate Christmas, but we don't do so.  So you're probably shocked and wondering, 'Why not?!'  Well, in case you are thinking that, I want to share some of our reasons.

First of all, there is no place in Scripture where we are told explicitly, exactly what day Jesus was born on. And there is no place in Scripture where we are told to celebrate His birthday. Neither do we find any Scriptural record of the early Church celebrating His birthday. In fact, the date when the world celebrates Christmas is closer to the time when Jesus was conceived, rather than the time He was born. He was more likely born in the September-October time frame.

You can read more about this in my blog, called "The Birth of Jesus: On What Day was Jesus Born?" As you would have guessed, I have a blog about this topic, like so many other things the Lord has shown us from His Word.  We believe in living as Jesus did and according to His Word, not man-made traditions or worldly customs.

Christmas is really an invention of the Roman Catholic Church.  And it appears they chose it to fit into the time-frame of another festival that was celebrated by the pagans.  They did this with many of the pagan deities and festivals, replacing them with Christian themes and names.  All of the customs of Christmas pre-date (existed before) the birth of Jesus Christ. You can read more about that here.

Just like all the other man-made traditions of the Roman Catholic church, this one is not life giving.  We just don't see the life in it.  In fact, probably this holiday brings about more death than it does life.  It places so many burdens on people, even in the world, that they have to go shopping and buy all these gifts and they have to have a "merry Christmas".  Then if they don't have the money for the gifts or they cannot celebrate the holiday according to all the established customs, they feel very sad about it. It seems like this holiday drives people to copy the world and conform to the world, rather than be led by the Spirit and obey the Scriptures. This funny skit sums up what we mean.

To us, Christmas is just another day, and every day is alike.  Paul wrote, 'One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.' (Rom 14:5-6). Paul shows here that those with weak faith, who observe certain days, do so for the Lord. And those who regard every day alike do so for the Lord.

So I realize that was a bit of a long explanation, but we knew you would probably ask, so this is the best way we can explain it to you.  I hope you understand.

with love and blessings,
Len and Jennifer"

That's the end of the letter we wrote to our friend.  Actually she wasn't shocked like I assumed she may be.  Her reply said in part, "Yeah, I understand and I agree with this. It was cool though that you've written down for me these facts."

I'd also like to link to a similar letter that I just found online today by a sister in Christ, whom I have never heard of until now. It is excellent, and I highly recommend you read it.  She is an Ethiopian lady now living in the States, and it's amazing to me how the Lord led her to say very similar things to her friend that the Holy Spirit led me to say to ours.  I think it is just additional confirmation that the Spirit of the Lord has led us this way, in order to bring us into greater freedom.  And the Lord used her letter to encourage us.

Since this holiday is so popular with the world, even among those who don't know Christ personally, anyone who does not celebrate it seems rather strange.  But each person has to do for the Lord what they believe to be true and right. We're free in Christ to do so, and that's what we do.  Therefore, if you have faith to celebrate Christmas for the Lord, just allow others, who love the Lord, the same freedom not to celebrate it.

This is our personal decision as a family.  If you are considering whether you should celebrate Christmas, let me encourage you to read your Bible, learn the history behind the holiday, and seek the Lord in prayer about it.  He will be faithful to guide you. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all Truth, and the Truth will set you free.  He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Bearing Christ Within

Have you ever stopped to think about what it must have been like for Mary to carry Jesus Christ? She had the awesome privilege of carrying God’s Son, the Light of the World inside of her? She was also blessed to be able to carry the Lord of creation around in her arms as a baby. Imagine being able to pick up the Savior of the world and hold Him in your arms? It’s worth meditating on for a moment.

The Virgin Mary
This was no ordinary conception, since she was still a virgin. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would conceive and bear a son whose name would be Jesus, she was surprised.

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 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. (Luk 1:34-35).

The angel’s answer explains how this was possible. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit that she would conceive. Notice he said the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. This was how the Lord Jesus would enter her womb without any man’s involvement.

Who is the Mother of Jesus?
But now I’d like you to consider something that Jesus said when He was an adult, during His ministry.

On one occasion, while Jesus was speaking to a crowd, “One of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.’ But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.’” (Luk 11:27-28)

Do you see how Jesus responded when the woman tried to put the emphasis on Mary? He immediately contradicted her. He corrected her with the leading phrase, “On the contrary”. As Jesus saw it, those who are called blessed are those who hear God’s Word and do it.

Consider another occasion where Jesus spoke about His mother. "While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, 'Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.' But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.' " (Mat 12:46-50)

Do you see how Jesus responded, when He was told His mother and brothers were outside? He said that whoever does the will of His Father in heaven is His mother and sister and brother.

Each and every person must have his or her own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It goes beyond a human blood relationship, and it’s much deeper than that. When you repent of your sin and ask Jesus into your heart, you enter into a personal relationship with Him through His divine, sinless blood that was shed for you on the cross. When that happens, He takes up residence within you through the Holy Spirit. You become born all over again to a new life – a spiritual life that will never end.

And in this new life, you carry Jesus Christ around inside of you wherever you go. You don’t need to go to some building or shrine to visit Him. He’s right there inside of you. And the new heart He gives you will actually want to do the will of His Father in heaven. His Holy Spirit will enable you to do His will, whereas before it was impossible for you to do it.

Those who do the will of the heavenly Father like this can call Jesus their older brother. In fact, as Jesus put it, they are even His mothers – whether male or female -- in more than one way. First, a disciple of Christ is the mother of Jesus Christ in the sense that he or she carries Jesus within. When Jesus lives in your heart, you bear him inside your body wherever you go. The same awesome privilege that Mary had belongs to every true disciple of Christ. We get to bear Him inside of us.

Another aspect of being His mother is bringing Him forth into the world into the lives of others. If you know Jesus personally, and you do the will of His Father in heaven, you will want to see others come to know Him, too. You will pray for them and share the good news with them that they can know Him, too. As you do so, some will repent and invite Him into their hearts also. Another new birth takes place each time another person does so. So we have the privilege and honor of bringing forth Christ into the world!

Putting it All Together
So while Mary was the first person to be the mother of Jesus, she was not the only one to do so. Whenever anyone tried to put the focus on Mary, Jesus immediately corrected them. In fact, every true disciple is the mother of Jesus and bears Christ within. It all happens by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as it did for Mary.

If you already know Jesus, let me ask you a question: Do you go about life with the awareness that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, lives inside of you? This is the only way to live as a disciple of Christ. We need to have a constant awareness of His presence within us.

Let me ask you another question: Are you bringing forth Christ into the world through your prayers, words, and actions? Through your life, others should be coming to know Him. This is evidence that you are His mother. Every disciple should be multiplying and reproducing disciples by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here's my final question to you, my friend: Are you focusing on Mary and putting emphasis on her? If so, you need to heed the words of Jesus. You need to realize that the one who is blessed among women and the one who is blessed among men is the person who hears God’s Word and observes it.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

In What Year Was Jesus Born?

Do you know where the terms "B.C." and "A.D." come from? They are directly connected with the birth of Jesus Christ. We essentially determine the current year based on how many years it has been since the birth of Christ. So in what year was Christ born? It seems like it should be pretty simple to determine. If the year is 2010, then you would think he was born 2,010 years ago, right? Well, close, but not exactly. In order to know what year Christ was born, we need to better understand how the Gregorian calendar was developed.

The Original Idea
It began in the 6th century with a Scythian monk, Dionysius Exiguus, who resided in Italy. He first suggested in his Liber de Paschate ("Book of Easter") that we count the years starting from the time of Christ’s birth. Interestingly his system was not adopted until the 9th century.

Dating from the creation of Adam
Prior to that, people living in the Christian world counted years differently. They either counted according to the reign of the Roman emperor, or based on the biblically calculated time since Adam, known as Anno Mundi (AM). The AM system was derived from biblical passages. If you read Genesis 5 for example, you learn that Adam lived to be 930 years old. You will also see that Noah was 600 years old at the time of the flood. And he was born when his father Lamech was 182, which was 1056 years after Adam. Using genealogies and birth dates, as well as the reigns of kings, and the period of Jewish captivity, you can calculate how many years there were from the time Adam was created.

An interesting aspect of the AM calendar was that based on their calculations back at the time of Christ, they figured it was roughly 5,500 years since the creation of Adam, depending on who’s count you used. So this meant the world would come to an end around 500 AD. This was because of their interpretation of the Scripture which says a thousand years are as a day to God, and a day is as a thousand years. They also knew that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. So they believed that the seventh day (or seventh period of a thousand years) would begin immediately after the first six thousand years from the creation of Adam. The seventh millennium was considered by early Christians to be the “day of the Lord.”

Dating from the birth of Christ
Dionysius developed another calendar based on the historical information available to him at the time. He set the year 1 at Christ's incarnation. This is where the term Anno Domine comes from, which means "The Year of our Lord. These days we just abbreviate it as AD. In this calendar, everything before Christ is referred to as BC. An event that occurred one year before Christ was born was called 1 BC (there was no year “zero”). But he made a mistake when he determined the year of incarnation. He was about four years off. This mistake was discovered after he developed his new calendar, but he did not correct it. This error persisted when it was implemented 227 years later, and still remains to this day.

Based on well-documented historical events that occurred around the time of Christ’s birth, we can determine the year He was born with a fair degree of accuracy. We know that he was alive during the reign of Herod the Great, according to the biblical record. And we know that Herod was associated with people like his life-long friend, Mark Antony, who is a well-known and well-documented historical figure. Consequently the year of Herod’s death is fairly well-established historically, especially in the works of the Jewish historian, Josephus. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “After an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, Herod died at Jericho at the end of March or beginning of April in 4 BC.”

Dating from the founding of Rome
At the time of Herod the Great, the year was sometimes counted from the day when the city of Rome was founded. So each year would be considered anno urbis conditae (this is Latin for "in the year of the founded city" and is abbreviated AUC).

Marcus Terentius Varro introduced this method in the 1st century BC. Each year of this system of dating began on Founder's Day, which was April 21. It was rarely used in either the Roman or the Julian calendar. The predominant method of recording the date of events in those days was simply to name the two consuls that held office in a particular year.

But later around AD 400, this AUC system was used by the Iberian historian, Orosius. Then around AD 600, Pope Boniface IV also used it, in addition to the Anno Domini era (he reckoned AD 607 at AUC 1360).

Putting it All Together
We know that Dionysius Exiguus reckoned Christ’s birth to have occurred in 754 AUC, making it equal to AD 1. However, as I already mentioned, Christ was born during the time of Herod the Great, who certainly died in 749 or 750 AUC. Therefore, we can prove that Christ's birth actually occurred no later than 750 AUC. Because of this mistake regarding the date of Christ's birth, our calendar is off by about four years. In other words, if Christ was born as late as 750 AUC, that would place the Nativity shortly before the year 4 BC. That means that if the current year is 2015, then it is actually 2019 or so.

Now consider the six millenniums and how the early church believed that the seventh millennium would usher in the day of the Lord. In 1658 an Anglican archbishop named James Ussher, who lived in what is now Northern Ireland, calculated the chronology of the Old Testament. He reckoned the creation of Adam to have been in 4004 BC-- exactly 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. This means the 6,000-year mark was reached in 1997. Everything after that is part of the seventh millennium since Adam. If you believe as the early Christians did that the seventh millennium will usher in the day of the Lord, then for those who are serving Jesus Christ, these are exciting days that we live in.

In John’s epistle, written during the first century, he said it was the last hour when he wrote: “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (1Jo 2:18). So the last days really began during the first century AD. And if we were in the last hour then, we know for certain that we are now in the final minute before Christ’s return.

Finally, the signs of the times indicate very clearly that we are very close to the return of our Lord Jesus. As Jesus told us to do, "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luk 21:28). It's later than you think!!

Update: This article was originally posted December 26, 2010 and on July 31, 2018, I made a new discovery that corroborated my conclusion in this article. I happened to see Sid Roth's interview with Roy Reinhold, in which he explained how hidden Bible codes reveal the future. I highly recommend watching it! It was so amazing to me that I went to his website and found his five-part article on the Birth of Yeshua (Jesus), which he published on February 1, 2001. I was even more amazed to find that through his research into Bible codes, he discovered that the Lord Jesus was born in the Jewish year 3759, which is the fall of 3 BC. I'd say that is amazingly close, considering my article had not been published yet when his was written, and I did not even know about his article when I wrote mine. I was off by only 2 years with respect to the year of his birth.

Here are the links to the five-part article by Roy Reinhold:

Exact Date Of Yeshua's Birth, part 1
Bible Code Matrix of Yeshua's Birth, part 2
Angelic Announcement to Mary & Yeshua's Conception, part 3
Brit Milah at the Temple on the 8th Day, part 4 
Other Scholarship Proving the Exact Date of Birth of Yeshua (Jesus), part 5

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I also recommend reading On What Day Was Jesus Born?, Miraculous Birth of Jesus, and The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, as well as the other articles on the Home Page of this blog. You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

On What Day Was Jesus Born?

While reading God's Word a couple days ago on December 24th, I came across the verse in Luke 1 that said the angel Gabriel came to Mary in the sixth month of the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth, who was expecting John the Baptist. I wanted to learn more about when Jesus was born. So I went online and found a very good article that explains when John the Baptist was conceived and born.

Since Jesus was conceived six months after John, we know when He was born. It is most probable that Jesus was conceived on the Feast of Lights, which is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month known as Kislev (this occurs during the November-December timeframe). So Jesus was most likely born on the feast of Tabernacles on the 15th day of the month of Tishri (this occurs in the September-October timeframe).

On this holiday, all the Jewish people would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from far away. Since Bethlehem was only 5 miles from Jerusalem, it’s reasonable to expect that all the inns in Jerusalem and Bethlehem would be full of visiting pilgrims attending the feast. This would explain why there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inn and why she had to give birth to Jesus in a stable.

There is no place in Scripture where we are told explicitly, exactly what day Jesus was born on. And there is no place in Scripture where we are told to celebrate His birthday. Neither do we find any Scriptural record of the early Church celebrating His birthday. In fact, the date when the world celebrates Christmas is closer to the time when Jesus was conceived, rather than the time He was born.

We know that the Jewish Feasts are types of Christ, and that Jesus was sacrificed as the paschal Lamb on the Jewish Passover feast. This is explicitly stated in Scripture. And it was no mere coincidence, but rather a fulfillment of the feast, in which a lamb was sacrificed and its blood upon the homes of God's people protected their first born children from the death angel who was passing over.

Likewise, it is reasonable to expect that Jesus was also conceived and born on Jewish feasts, as well. If He was conceived on the Feast of Lights, that would be appropriate, since He is the Light of the World, who came as a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory for God's people Israel (Lk 2:32). He came like the rising sun from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death (Lk 1:79). And if He was in fact born on the Feast of Tabernacles, what a perfect time it was, since it was a time of rejoicing and celebration of deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Leviticus 23:42-43)! Jesus has come to set us free from the bondage of slavery to sin. He has provided deliverance from hell, death and the grave for all who believe in Him!!!

Update: This article was originally posted December 26, 2010, and on July 31, 2018, I made a new discovery that corroborated my conclusion in this article. I happened to see Sid Roth's interview with Roy Reinhold, in which he explained how hidden Bible codes reveal the future. I highly recommend watching it! It was so amazing to me that I went to his website and found his five-part article on the Birth of Yeshua (Jesus), which he published on February 1, 2001. I was even more amazed to find that through his research into Bible codes, he discovered that the Lord Jesus was conceived on the first day of Hannukah or the Festival of Lights, just as I stated in this article. He states, "The matrix shows that as 24 Kislev was ending and 25 Kislev beginning, marking the beginning of Hanukkah, that the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived."

Then he states, "The matrix shows...1 Tishri as the exact day of Yeshua's birth." 1 Tishri is the Jewish New Year's Day called Rosh Hashana, meaning literally "head of the year." Rosh Hashana is know in English as the Feast of Trumpets, and it is marked by the blowing of the Jewish shofar, or ram's horn,  to commemorate the ram that God provided to Abraham in place of Isaac. This festival corresponds with going and telling the world that Yeshua Himself has become that ram and ultimately died in our place.

In 3 BC, 1 Tishri was on September 11. The center of the matrix that shows the Lord's birthday says, "Holiday of the Nativity" and "Sing (or Rejoice), My people." The complete matrix has many key words in it like "Yeshua (Jesus)," "Messiah," "Wonderful," "Counselor," "Son of Man," "born," "manger," "Beit (Bethlehem)," "Lekhem (Bethlehem)," "star," "angels," "shepherds," "Miryam (Mary)," and "Yosef (Joseph)." It also contains the words "Hakodesh (Holy)," "Ruach (Spirit)," "from heaven," and "to the earth," as well as many other key words that connect it with the biblical account of the nativity of Christ.

Reinhold goes on to state "Yeshua is the second Adam, and the rabbi's have long taught that Adam's birthdate was on 1 Tishri. So it is no coincidence that the second Adam has the same exact birth date." I had surmised that the Lord was born on 15 Tishri, and although he had also expected to find the same thing, he has discovered that it was actually 1 Tishri. I'd say that is amazingly close, considering my article had not been published yet when his was written, and I did not even know about his article when I wrote mine. I was off by 14 days from his findings with respect to the day of the Lord's birth.

Finally, his discoveries of the conception and birth dates of Christ in the Bible codes not only corroborated my conclusions, but he points out that "the conception of Mary was shown to be 271 days prior to the birth date," as would be expected, based on average gestation periods. And he discovered that the Brit Milah (dedication and circumcision) at the Temple--took place on 8 Tishri just as we would expect it to, according to Jewish custom that says it must be done on the 8th day. Glory to God! 

Here are the links to the five-part article by Roy Reinhold (part 2 contains the above information):

Exact Date Of Yeshua's Birth, part 1
Bible Code Matrix of Yeshua's Birth, part 2
Angelic Announcement to Mary & Yeshua's Conception, part 3
Brit Milah at the Temple on the 8th Day, part 4 
Other Scholarship Proving the Exact Date of Birth of Yeshua (Jesus), part 5

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I also recommend reading In What Year Was Jesus Born?, The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ and The Son of Man, as well as the other articles on the Home Page of this blog. You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.