Nothing Will Be Impossible With God

The Folly of Declaring Miracles Impossible

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

In the name of Jesus, Amen. Impossible. Alright, impossible. It's kind of a big word. And I would note, you know, I've been on the planet for a while. You know, I'm 54 years old, and I remember the modernist liberals.

The modernist liberals who denied that miracles were possible. These were people who would say things like this. It is impossible, absolutely impossible, that God would create the universe in six literal days.

That's impossible. And then they would say things like, and it's impossible for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea on dry ground while there's water on the right and on the left. That's impossible.

In fact, one of the most ridiculous liberal ideas is that the Yom Suf of the Hebrew scriptures in Exodus. That's the Yom Suf, the Red Sea. They claim it really needs to be understood as this marshy wetlands.

It's up near the Nile Delta. And it's a tidal, you know, marshland. And when the tide comes in, it can be as deep as three feet. And they claim that that's the real place where the miracle took place.

And I remember the late Dr. Walter Martin going, well, what an amazing miracle that is. God drowned the entire armies of Pharaoh in three feet of water. That's even a bigger, yeah, you get the whole point.

But modernist liberals, all these things that are impossible. It's impossible, impossible that virgins conceive and give birth. It's impossible that corpses rise from the dead on the third day. And here's the weird bit about all of this.

These yahoos said these things and made these bold assertions about what's impossible. While sitting and standing behind pulpits in churches across the country in Western civilization. And every church that listened to these yahoos has been burned out, the best way I can put it.

You know, every church that has adopted this liberal idea of the impossibility of what God can do. They have these massive cathedrals, right? And 50 gray-haired ladies show up on any given Sunday. And they're flying the rainbow flag today, all right?

So you get the idea. You would probably do well to like zip it regarding what you think is possible and impossible. Because I've noted this, is that everybody out there who so boldly asserted what's impossible when it comes to what's in the Bible.

You know what? They had this, they had really, really, really small ideas about what was possible and impossible. And really grandiose feelings about how important their intellect was, okay? You know, narrow-minded, small, and then ginormous intellect.

This is the claim. But I would note that God has this amazing thing that He does. And that is that He humbles the proud. And He exalts the lowly. That's a major theme of our Gospel text tonight. And so as we consider the impossibility of the circumstances here, I would note, I don't have a problem believing that the Virgin conceived and bore Christ.

Jesus, the Son of God. And that she was visited by an angel. And that Jesus is none other than God in human flesh. Because quite frankly, I, my brain isn't that big.

All right?

I'm just not that smart. Maybe I'm just lazy. That's my problem.

I'm lazy.

I'm just going to go with the guy who rose from the grave on the third day after he was crucified and appeared to over 500 people. I'm going to pretty much go, since he rose from the grave and the people who went to their graves, martyred for confessing their faith in Jesus Christ and claiming that they were eyewitnesses of His resurrection.

Who am I to contradict them? I'm just some guy who came along 20 centuries later.

All right?

2 ,000 years later. And I couldn't even tell you what Jesus looks like or how tall Peter was or how youthful John was and what his exact height was. I couldn't tell you if they had big smiles, if they were missing teeth or anything like this.

Couldn't tell you a thing about him. Because I'm Johnny come lately. And so are you. And so we would be wise to put away what we think is possible and impossible and take on this wonderful, humble attitude of faith that Mary has.

Mary, the Humble Handmaiden Favored by God

Because God in His wisdom chose this girl. She's probably a teenager.

What?

Maybe 14, 15. Yeah, they got married pretty young back then. And she's betrothed to be married. And, you know, everything's going okay in her life. But she lives in the small, obscure village of Nazareth.

Okay?

Which maybe at the time had 50 families.

50. Okay?

And you'll note that Joseph, he's a direct descendant of King David. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You'll note that the tree that was the grandiose monarchy of King David has been lopped off, kind of like Nebuchadnezzar.

And now, all of a sudden, this dead stump of the Israeli monarchy of the kings of Judah. A new shoot is about to sprout up from the stump of Jesse. And if you sit there and say, well, that's impossible.

Knock it off.

Okay?

Who are you to say what's possible or not possible? In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel, six months since Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this woman who was barren and old and dried up and passed menopause. She now has conceived and she's six months into her pregnancy with John the Baptist.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel, that same angel was the one who appeared to Zechariah in the temple. This is the same angel, by the way, that spoke to Daniel while he was in exile in Babylon. And so this angel, I mean, he stands in the very presence of God.

And you sit there and go, well, that's impossible.

Uh-huh. Really? Okay.

Sure. All right.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Miriam. Miriam. That's her Hebrew name.

And he came to her and said, greetings, oh, favored one. The Lord is with you.

Man.

Man is the Lord with her. And here's the thing. She's going to give birth to Emmanuel, God with us. In fact, the fact that Gabriel is saying the Lord is with you, kind of, you can hear an echo of that prophecy from Isaiah.

And he will be called Emmanuel, God with us. And boy, is God going to be with Mary. In fact, God's going to be riding in her womb for nine months. Absolutely amazing. Impossible, you say? Is it really now?

And so, greetings, oh, favored one. The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying. I always like to point this out. When human beings, sinful as we are, come in contact with holy angels, generally the first order of business is to get the fear thing out in the open and to be greatly troubled.

Because we human beings, we're sinful. And we're soiled with sin. In fact, I think of Isaiah, poor Isaiah. He had that beatific vision where he was shown what was really going on in the temple. And he said, oh, woe is me.

I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. In fact, God had mercy on him. Sent one of the angels, grabbed a coal from the altar and touched his lips and says, your lips have been touched by this coal from the altar.

Your sins are atoned for. And so, you'll know, order of business. You got to get the fear thing out. So, she was greatly troubled at the saying. Tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. You could just see this poor girl scratching her head.

And here's the thing. Mary hasn't been to grade school. She's not a girl of letters. This was long before girls were allowed to go to school and things like this. She's been with her parents learning how to cook and clean and care for kids and do all the things that girls do back then.

And you'll note that they didn't have grocery stores. She probably had to churn her own butter and make her own cheeses and grind her own wheat. And all the things that they have to do in order to eke out a living back then.

And so, this woman, she's not in a palace. She's in a podunk neighborhood. Bad zip code Nazareth. And she's trying to make sense of all of this. And so, the angel says to her, Gabriel says, do not be afraid, Mary.

Do not be afraid. Gives her words of assurance and comfort. You have found favor with God. Now, how does one find favor with God? One of the things I really loathe about the Roman Catholic way of exalting Mary, almost to a point where she's a goddess.

Okay, she can hear prayer and things like this. Is that they take away her sinfulness. They even say that her mother had to have an immaculate conception of her so that she can have an immaculate conception of Jesus.

They say that she was sinless at this point where she conceived Christ. And you sit there and go, no, no, no, no. How does one find favor with God without faith? It's impossible to please God. Oh, wait, there's an impossibility here.

And here's the thing. I'm not giving you my opinion about what's impossible. That's a direct quote from scripture. When scripture says something's impossible, pay attention, pay attention. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.

But Mary, because she found favor with God, the one thing we can say about Mary, she's a woman, she's a girl of faith. Although she may not be a girl of letters, she may be very humble as they come. She has heard the scriptures in the synagogue and she believes.

And as a result of this, she has found favor with God. And here's the thing. Everyone who trusts in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, they too have found favor with God. The same kind of favor.

Now, I'm not going to birth the Messiah and neither are you. That's a one-time event. It's a thing in the past, but it has ramifications for the present all the way to you and to me today. So do not be afraid, Mary.

You have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and you will bear a son and you shall call his name. I always have to think that she heard this in Hebrew. You shall call his name Yeshua.

Yahweh saves Yeshua. He will be great. He will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father.

David.

And listen to this. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. Holy guacamole. It's impossible that somebody would live forever. It's impossible that kings would reign forever.

Is it now? Be careful what you declare to be impossible and what comes out of your mouth is your opinion. We should only speak of impossibilities when the scriptures say something is impossible. And I would note this, that Jesus Christ, he bore your sins and mine on the cross.

This child that was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary so gloriously.

He grew.

He was born. He had to wear diapers like the rest of us. He nursed at his mother's breast like we all do. He had to grow and learn how to walk, say his first words, Abba, Abba, Father, Father.

Right?

He had to say his first words. He had to lose his teeth and get, you know, I'm sure at some point in Jesus's life, Jesus lost his two front teeth. And, you know, like every five, six year old kid does.

And then later his bicuspids and then his molars would come out. He went through puberty and his voice changed. He went through all of the things that we go through. And here's the thing. Because of who he is, the fact that he went through all of this, it's amazing.

Because God himself, rather than letting us fall into sin and be gone forever and cast us into the lake of fire along with the devil, as we deserve, it was God's gracious mercy and his great love for his creation that he didn't abandon them.

That the solution for sin was that he was going to come and get into the muck with us. Jesus knows what it's like to lose friends who had died. To lose his father who died before his earthly ministry.

He knows what it's like to see suffering and to suffer himself. Because he suffered and bled and died for your sins and mine. He knows what it's like to die. Because that's exactly what he did on the cross so that you and I can live.

The Impossibility of Self-Salvation

God is up to something and it's so radical. It's so unexpected that your first response might be impossible. But it's not. It's absolutely glorious that God would humble himself and be born of a virgin in humble and mean circumstances in poverty in the middle of nowhere.

And then obey God's law perfectly for me and for you so that you and I can be saved. You know, when we talk about impossibilities, consider this one. A fellow came up to Jesus and he said, teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?

It's not a good question. It's a bad one. And so Jesus asked him, it's all right. Why do you ask? Why do you ask me about what is good? There's only one who is good. If you would enter into life, keep the commandments.

And he said, well, which ones? Jesus said, you should not murder. You should not commit adultery. You should not steal. You should not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. You should love your neighbor as yourself.

Quoting from the second table of the 10 commandments, the table that deals with our relationships with each other. But the young man said, well, all of these I've kept. Remember what Jesus said? There's no one good except for one.

This guy thinks he's good. He thinks he's the one. It's ridiculous if you think about it, right? Well, Jesus said, all right, well, if you would be perfect, go and sell what you possess and then give it to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven and then come follow me.

And when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. I guess he wasn't good after all, was he? Because it turns out he was an idolater. And his great possessions were the things that he trusted in rather than the God who he was speaking to.

So then Jesus said to his disciples, truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

And when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished. Of course they were, because the Pharisees were teaching, if you're rich, you're blessed of God, which means you're tight with him. And Jesus is saying the exact opposite.

So Jesus' disciples are astonished. And then they asked Jesus this question and pay attention to the answer. Who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

And in saying that, Jesus makes this very painfully clear. It is impossible for you to save yourself. It is impossible for you to attain the righteousness necessary for salvation. It is impossible. And don't sit here and tell me that it's impossible for the Bible to be true.

It's impossible for all those miracles to happen.

It's impossible that Jesus walked on waters. No, what's impossible is for you to save yourself. Because with God, all things are possible, including a virgin, a humble handmaiden in the middle of nowhere, for her to conceive and bear within her womb, the very son of God who has come to save us.

Because Jesus is going to do the impossible. He's going to live a sinless and righteous life. Perfect in all observance of God's law. At no point will Jesus falter. He will be tempted by the devil and overcome.

He will be tempted in every way that you and I are tempted and yet be without sin. So that he can be the sinless, spotless lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And so at this point, the angel Gabriel tells us that this child will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

His kingdom will have no end. And indeed, this is true. So Mary then said to the angel, okay, well, how will this be since I'm a virgin? I mean, the logistics are kind of important here. She hasn't actually been with a man.

And she's betrothed to Joseph, but they haven't consummated their marriage yet. So the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. And here it is. The angel Gabriel himself declares it. For nothing will be impossible with God.

Your salvation is impossible for you to accomplish. That's why you need a Savior. And that's why this story, this historical account resonates within our souls and gives us hope. This is a story that we like to hear every single year.

Every year when it comes around time for the birth of Christ to be celebrated at Christmas, we love to hear these words. Nothing will be impossible with God. And God himself in human flesh is going to accomplish the impossible.

Your salvation and mine. And so Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. No pushing back on saying, well, this is impossible. You'll know Zachariah, poor Zachariah.

He had to lip off to the angel Gabriel. How can this be?

My wife is old. She's past the age of dude. This is impossible.

And so the angel Gabriel silenced his foolish mouth for nine months.

Right.

Not so Mary. This humble woman, girl of faith. She just says, behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And here's the thing. When you hear the words of the absolution, when you confess your sins and you hear these words, I as a called and ordained servant of the word, I announced the grace of God into all of you.

And instead of by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins. Believe me when I tell you I have no special authority. This is an authority given to the church. These are keys given to all Christians.

But when we speak these words, we are communicating the verdict of heaven. The verdict of heaven is, is that you are forgiven. So let it be done to you according to the word of God. May you be forgiven because you are forgiven in Christ.

And more than that, the scriptures say that even though you were born and conceived in sin and children of the devil, I was too. That because of Christ becoming a human among us and then going to the cross and bleeding and dying for us, that we now are adopted and we are children of God.

Let it be done to you as you believe then that you have this great gift, that you are children of God adopted into his family. And also, also throw into the mix that you have been promised an inheritance in the new earth when Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead and set up his kingdom visibly, physically on earth in a world without end and a kingdom without end.

Just as the angel Gabriel said, because he was sent by God to say those words. I know it sounds impossible, but you too, just like Christ will live forever. May it be done to you according to the word of God.

Let your faith cling to these words. Let your faith be emboldened by those promises so that you can endure the suffering that we have to go through and endure today. But on the other end of it, the joys of heaven and the new earth await us.

Let it be done to us according to the word that God has spoken. Because with God, nothing, including your salvation will be impossible. In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

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