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Our fourth child and 3rd daughter, Sarah Love, was born 3 weeks ago. As she made her entrance into the world, Our Nurse, Jennifer, looked at us with amazement saying, "You have a miracle baby, she's a miracle!" I thought she was just being nice because everyone thinks their baby is a miracle. Jennifer went on to tell us that Stephanie's (my wife) umbilical cord had two knots, and the cord wrapped around Sarah's head twice! The Nurse and Doctor both told us that they had never seen two knots like that before. If one of the knots had been a little tighter than it was, the blood circulation would have been cut off, and Sarah would've died. I immediately looked at my wife in shock and told the Nurse and Doctor, "We have a lot of people praying for this baby right now. This is an answer to prayer!"

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The birth of a baby is an amzing thing. God creaated this incredible process from conception to delivery. Many people would claim babies are a miracle from Him. Many people would say, "How can you not believe in a God after you experience a baby's birth?" Although I understand what people are saying, the birth of a baby is a normal, ordinary occurance. RC Sproul said it this way:

"I hear people, often those with a fine understanding of the Bible, saying that the vibrancy of a flower or the birth of a child is a miracle. They are not...there is a difference between God's ordinary interventions into our reality and His extraordinary ones. Miracles, by definition, are the intentional and unusual interventions of a Holy God, disrupting the predictable and drawing attention to Himself (What's in the Bible?)."

What Sproul is saying here is that the birth of a baby is an ordinary intervention into our reality compared to a true miracle that is an extraordinary, intentional, and unusual intervention of God that disrupts the predictable and draws attention to God. What happened 3 weeks ago was something that disrupted the predictable. Hopefully if our Nurse and Doctor aren't Christians that this "miracle" drew them to God because only God could explain the fact that Sarah survived this. Although Sarah is our miracle baby, her birth and every other baby born in all of human history, holds no comparison to the birth of Jesus Christ. 

The story of Christmas gives us 5 miracles that revolve around the birth of Jesus.

1. The Angels

Angels are spiritual beings without physical bodies (Hebrews 1:14; Psalm 104:4). Gabriel apeared to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream (Matt. 1:20). An angel appeared to the Magi in a dream (Matthew 2:12). An angel and a multitude of angels appeared to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20).

The fact that these angels appeared to Mary and the shepherds, and in dreams to the Magi and Joseph reveal something supernatural, out of the ordinary was happening. To have a spiritual being without a physical body appear and give instructions reveal God was doing something special.

The angels prove this was not an ordinary baby. The angels prove Jesus was a miracle baby.

2. The Virgin Birth

Although many people question whether the Virgin Birth even happened or not, the Bible is clear that it did. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, telling her she was going to the mother of the Son of God, she asks, "How will this be since I am a virgin (Luke 1:34)?" If Mary wasn't a virgin, why would she ask the angel this question?

Gabriel answers her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...For nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:35-37)." Matthew 1:18 says, "Before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." An angel tells Joseph in a dream to take Mary as his wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:21).

Because Jesus was born from a woman, we can say He was 100% man. Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit we can say He was 100% God. If Joseph was His biological father, we would question whether or not Jesus was 100% God. The church throughout the ages has affirmed the virgin birth is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. To question the virgin birth would be to question the accuracy of Scripture. 

Christian Scientist William Lane Craig said, "If I really do believe in a God who created the universe, then for Him to create a Y chromosome would be child's play (The Case for Christmas)."

3. The Dreams

There are 5 different dreams in the Christmas story.

  • An angel appears to Joseph in a dream, telling him to marry Mary (Matt. 1:20).
  • The magi were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod (Matt. 2:12).
  • After the magi left Joseph and Mary, Joseph is told in a dream to escape to Egypt from Herod (Matt. 2:13).
  • After Herod died, an angel told Joseph in a dream to go to the land of Israel (Matt. 2:19-21).
  • When Joseph heard Herod's son, Archelaus was ruling in Judah, he was told in a dream to go to Nazareth (Matt. 2:21-23).

When we have dreams, we normally forget the specifics within a few days. These 5 days were memorable and convincing enough to follow them.

The 5 dreams of the Christmas story prove this was not an ordinary baby. The dreams prove Jesus was a miracle baby.

4. The Star

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There have been several explanations of what the star of Bethlehem could've been.

  • Some say it was a supernova or a comet. This would not have been the case because we are told that Herod didn't see the star (Matthew 2:2). A supernova or comet would've been easily seen in the sky.
  • Others say it was a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction is when a planet passes closely by a star or by another planet. This wouldn't have happened because the Bible describes this star as a single star, not a combination of stars and planets. (Matthew 2:7-10).

The star that led the Magi to Jesus seems to be one of those incredible miraculous acts of God - specifically designed and created for a unique purpose (see Dr. Jason Lisle's "The Star of Bethlehem").

The star proves this was not an ordinary baby. The star proves Jesus was a miracle baby. 

5. The Baby

Perhaps the most magnificent miracle of the Christmas story was the fact that God came into this world as a baby. This makes the story so personal and relatable. After all, everyone loves babies. Babies change lives.

This baby would one day grow up to be a miracle worker Himself. We know of 38 miracles that Jesus performed (including the virgin birth, resurrection, and ascension). This miracle man would do things that were out of the ordinary, drawing people to God Himself.

The miracles of this baby proves this was not an ordinary baby. The miracles prove Jesus was a miracle baby.

Nothing changes lives like a baby. As we approach Christmas, let your heart prepare room for this miracle baby.

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