Listen:  132.3

Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” We have two miracles of God recorded in this wonderful chapter which these blessed words refer to. In verses 26-31 we see the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary and announcing that she would conceive and give birth to a son whom she was to call JESUS. Mary was astonished at this news and responded, in verse 34, with these words, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” Gabriel then informed her, in verses 35-36, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.”  What marvelous words fell upon Mary’s ears that day when she learned that she, a virgin, would supernaturally conceive and bear a son by the power of the Holy Ghost! And then to reassure Mary that God was able to do the impossible, she was told that her cousin Elizabeth had already experienced the miracle of conceiving a son in her old age. What was an absolute impossibility with men was possible with God!

You may recall a similar incident recorded in Genesis 18 when an angel appeared to Abraham and gave him some startling news about his wife Sarah. In verses 10-12 we read, “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”  We can well understand Sarah’s unbelief for she was past the years of bearing a child, but she was leaving out one important factor: GOD! In verse 14 we have the Lord responding to Sarah’s laugh of unbelief with these precious words, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”  May our hearts and minds ponder those blessed words, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The answer to that question is an obvious “No, nothing is too hard for the Lord.” He is not limited by the natural laws that govern us, for by His power He can perform miracles, which are “super-natural interventions of God.”

I’m reminded of an even greater miracle than causing a virgin or a woman with a dead womb to conceive, the miracle of New Birth. By God’s grace and by His power He is giving eternal life to those that are spiritually dead.  Listen to the words of Paul in Ephesians 2:1 and 5, “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…Even when we were dead in sins, hath He quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved.)”  The tragedy is that men do not seek God or His gift of eternal life. Jesus said to the men of His day in John 5:40, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Because of sin, men refuse to come to Christ for eternal life, but does this stop God from blessing men?  Again the answer is “No,” for what is impossible with men is possible with God! To illustrate this we have, in Luke 18:18-27, the account of a rich man who refused to be blessed with eternal life. In verses 22-23 we see that he was blinded to his need of eternal life by his riches and this in turn led the Lord Jesus to say in verses 24-25, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” These words astonished the disciples and in verse 26 they asked, “Who then can be saved?”  This question was met with the Lord saying, in verse 27, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”  Praise be unto God for His matchless love and grace that has purposed some to be saved, and for the power of God that brings it about. If left to ourselves, none would be saved; it would be impossible. But as we have seen, “…with God nothing shall be impossible”, so by His matchless grace He works in the hearts of men, convicting them of their sin and creating a desire to be saved. Finally, He reveals to them His only begotten Son and the work that was done on Calvary’s cross in order to give them the gift of eternal life.  What a God we have, who can bless men in spite of themselves!  Let us never, for one moment, doubt His love, or the power He has to bring about the impossible!  (132.3)  (DO)