Sunday, May 12, 2024. A special Mother's Day Message and communion with Russell Bailey.
And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47)
The NLT says, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” The TPL says, “My soul is ecstatic, overflowing with praises to God! My spirit bursts with joy over my life-giving God!” The Message Translation says, “I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.”
The word for rejoiced here means to jump for joy. It means to exult and to be exceedingly joyful. David danced when he was bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (2Sam.6:14). He was leaping and twirling about. What in the world was Mary so joyful about? She was far from what her name means – bitterness. She was deliriously happy, exceedingly happy, jumping for joy happy. She was “Price is Right” happy.
Why is this young virgin, unmarried Hebrew lady so happy? She’s pregnant! “Unmarried – pregnant – happy?” Those words don’t normally go together. “Virgin – pregnant – happy” in those days can only mean one thing. She has been made pregnant by God and her child is the divine and human Son of God! Mary is the Eve of a “new creation.” (2Cor.5:17) From her and her child will come a new race of people. Human race – for sure, but also a divine race! Her descendants through her son Jesus will be partakers of the divine nature and they shall all be called sons of God. “That you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2Pet.1:4) We have escaped the corruption of this present world means we don’t have the nature of sinners anymore. We do have unredeemed bodies for sure and that is the cause of our sin problem. It’s what the Bible calls, “the flesh” which is literally our body that is still aligned with this corrupt world. Everything wrong we were in Adam was crucified with Christ (Rm.6:6). That’s why Jesus is called the “last Adam.” (1Cor.15:45). As the first born of the new creation, Jesus is the “second Man.” (1Cor.15:47)
We now have God’s nature, which is holy. Therefore we are called saints. First John 3:1 says, “Now we are children of God.” We are not the “only begotten” as Jesus is, but we have been “born of God.”
Back to Mary. This is her song of praise to God because she has become a mother! Here’s what we can learn from this. This song is all about mothers and their relationship with God.
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