By Miranda Sharp

At some point God had a plan to provide a Redeemer for sinful mankind. The first we are aware of this is at Genesis 3:15, where we see the seed of the woman, that is a descendant of Eve, is the future Messiah.  Jesus Christ is prophesied throughout the OT, but does not come into existence until the NT where his birth was foretold by the angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).

In Luke 1:32-33 Gabriel says, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, and his Kingdom will never end” (cp. 1Chron 17:10-14).

Through a biological miracle God procreated Jesus in the womb of Mary, who was a virgin. “For this reason alone”, and no other, Jesus became the Son of God, descendant of King David of the tribe of Judah through Mary (Luke 1.35).  This was the moment when Jesus was begotten, that is, brought into existence. There is no pre-existence of Jesus Christ, and it is when we become aware of this fact through our prayerful study of Holy Scripture that we really get to know him as the human being that he was and remains.

Knowing the truth about who is Jesus, we begin to see him in a whole new light. The scriptures open up to us more fully and we see how the prophesies in the OT are brought clearly into focus in the NT through the Good News of the Kingdom of God. We see our future as heirs ruling with Jesus in the Kingdom on earth, and we are humbled to think of such a privilege to be with our King.

It is when we understand the true nature of Jesus Christ, that he is a man, and not a pre-existent God or part of a trinity, that we can really get to know him as our brother.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human” (1 Tim 2:5).