The Wonder of God
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?”
Luke 1:30-34
The Wonder of God
Christmas is a sentimental time, filled with images of decorated fir trees nestled beside glowing fireplaces. It’s the most wonderful time of year, as just about every secular song and advertisement proclaims. Santa, colorfully wrapped presents, and twinkling lights appeal to our desire for the wonderful, and even the magical, and there is something in that. As image bearers of God, we are the only in creation who can indeed look up on a dark, clear night and wonder about the multitude of stars in the sky and perhaps about one particularly brilliant one.
And yet the wonder of Christmas started not with modern sentiment and desires of nostalgia, but with one age-old question that will never be found written on a Christmas card: “How can this be?”
As Luke tells us, the birth of Jesus is announced by the angel Gabriel appearing to young Mary and telling her of her favor with God and that she is going to give birth to a son, and not just any son, but the Son of the Most High. Mary ponders this weighty announcement and then marvels out loud, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Her present circumstances are facts, and yet while she expresses the current reality, her simple question rings with wonder. How can this be? Not unbelief, but wonder, and the two are as different as the fish of the seas and the stars of the sky.
Mary does not doubt or rebel at this unnatural and unexpected announcement, but in agreement with the power of God, she wonders as a daughter of Adam bound by rules of earthly humanity, how could this be possible. It is a question carried by faith that bridges the known physical circumstances to the mysterious and incomprehensible plans of God. In this question, the earthly and divine are on a collision course that will light up the world forever. Immanuel, God with us. Jesus, fully man and fully God. The perfect Adam, the willing sacrificial lamb, the suffering servant, the resurrected savior. How can this be? Oh, the beautiful wonder of it all.
How can this be? It is one of the most captivating questions that any of us could ever ask. And we should. It is the question launched at creation, and like a shooting star of faith, still lights up the heavens with the glory of God. The ancients of old asked the same questions: How can it be that Abraham, a childless old man would have descendants as many as the stars in the sky? How can it be that Jacob, a deceiving scoundrel, would be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, a promised nation. How can it be that one of Pharaoh’s very own household would be the one to raise his staff over the waters of the Red Sea, leading the Israelites to freedom? How can it be that a pagan prostitute would help facilitate the first victory of the Israelites in the Promised Land and be an ancestor of Jesus Himself. And the list could go on and on. So many questions, every one a point of faith like the Star of Bethlehem leading the wise men to a manger where they surrender their most precious gifts to the baby king. Like Mary who ponders and wonders and surrenders to the will of God what she does not fully understand.
That is the beauty of wonder. Every wonder about God should lead us to surrender. Mary is endowed with the favor of God because she does what is impossible for any of us to do outside of His favor and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. She is not favored to be good; she is favored to be a bondslave of the Lord, as she declares her own self to be in Luke:
“Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
How can it be that this young woman, barely more than a girl, declares herself to be a slave of the Lord? Especially when doing the will of God will outwardly bear the very appearance of rebellion against it? It will seem impossible to those around her, and she knows this, yet she also knows that what the angel Gabriel tells her is true, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
For Mary, her identity is not in doing what she perceives to be good and right, but in the knowledge of her total ineptness to do and be anything good in and of herself, a knowledge eclipsed in her heart by the truth that the most powerful God is Good and Perfect and Sovereign over every impossibility.
“Impossible!” roars a world to the wonders of God as the prophesies of His will lap quietly over the shores of time, all while a silent star begins to draw the worshipers to the foretold birth. The wise men begin their trek, the shepherds on watch sit gazing at the night sky, and Mary and Joseph slowly travel at a donkey’s pace to Bethlehem, the praises of Mary still echoing,
“My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.” Luke 1:46-49
A convergence of wonder and surrender takes place in Bethlehem as the impossible plans of God break forth and shine upon a dark world. The heavens erupt in worship to the Mighty One, the stars a backdrop to a heavenly host praising, “Glory to God in the Highest”(vs, 14). Uncontainable worship fills the vast sky, and on earth it flows from hearts captivated by a God who even allows us wonder, “How can this be?”
May we marvel at the wonders of God, surrender to His will, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. May our desire for the wonderful and the marvelous this Christmas lead us to our desire for the Wonderful and Marvelous God. May our lives be a brilliant star of His grace pointing others to the baby king, born in the shadows of a dingy and dirty manger, yet the only Light of the world.
–Amy Ingram