Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-12-23
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
For Dec. 24. Luke 2I-2O
BY DIR. MARION MCH. HULL

and yet keep His word to Jeconiah
by jeremiah (22:30). When He made
the covenant with David He prom
ised him that his dynasty should
last and not be replaced. Later
Jeconiah sinned so previously that
He said mo man of his seed shall
prosper, sitting on the throne of
David, and ruling any more in Ju
dah." Here God had set Himself
problem. David's son must rule
forever Jeconiah's son David's
direct line could never rule any
more. With man. this problem
would have been impossible, but not
so with God. Joseph is the lineal
descendant from David through Je-
coniah; JOseph's son alone has the
right to rule, but cannot. Jesus had
David's blood in His veins from
Mary; Mary was married to Joseph
just before His birth, making Him
Joseph's legal son, but not his &C
tual son-and the problem is solV-
ed. This babe was a sign, an evil
dence that this thing is from God.
This babe was born of a virgin,
and therefore a sign. Many are
denying the virgin-birth now; I'M
fortunately many Of them are those
who have taken upon themselves
the vows of the ministry-and be-
cause Of them, many, many others
are rejecting the virgin birth, and
! thereby making shipwreck of their
lives; for this is absolutely founda-
tional. Without it faith has no
ground upon which to stand.
That little body in that Bethle-
hem nlanger was prepared by the
Holy Spirit. Heb 10:5-"a body
hast thou prepared me-" Never is
it said that Joseph begat Him. Only
once is Joseph spoken of as His
; father luke 2:4S) and Immediately
He speaks of my Father" Mary
| probably used that expression be-
/ cause she had never told the twelve
year ole boy of HIS origin; but He
| knew.
The infancy narratives in Mat
thew and in Luke agree and supple
ment each other, and bear all the
| ear marks of truth. They were
written when the facts could be
easily verified. Luke got the intl-
mate details which show Mary's feel
| ings and inner life, from Mary her
self The account met with the uni
versal approval of the early church
and was not doubted at all until
after Marys death, and the next
generation tried to find some other
way to explain the wonderful life of
Jesus. These narratives could not
! have been invented by the writer's
! They would not have cared to have
: invented them, for the reason that
they would have brought Jesus and
| His mother and Joseph into shame.
| 1iI1Cr of
the kind would have been told; it
would have been unnecessary and
weakening to the story. If these
| narratives are not true as they
| stand then we have no assurances
that anything else recorded by Mat
| thew or Luke is true. We must ac-
cept this, if we accept any. We
must reject all if we reject the truth
of this.
| This baby must have been born of
a virgin if we are to understand
| His subsequent life. According to
the virgin-birth. the birth of Jesus
+ was a definite act of creation by
means of which an entirely new man
was brought into being. This hui
man life began in the oVum of this
virgin. developed through all the
different stages of growth to maturl-
! ty. The result was a body different
| from any other body. yet alike in
every respect but one. This body
was prepared by a new creation act
. to encompass the Spirit Of the Gre
atOr. Himself. When you consider
the whole life of Jesus, you must
either accept the truth of the virgin
birth or else explain how q man. the
! offspring of another man and wOm
! an, could live Il life so totally differ
ent from every other life and par
! tiCularly from that of his parents.
! Like produces like; that is why ,Ie-
sus was like God and unlike all 9TH
er men.
Gods Gift
This body was a sign, an evidence
that this thing was from God; for
can you believe it as YOU look back
into that manger in Bethlehem
that first Christ-time?-th little
baby was the one who was before
the worlds came into being; in fact
''all things were made by Him, ana
without Him was not anything made
that hath been made John 1:3). All,
would you think it?-that little ba