Matt 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public
example, was minded to put her away privily. 20But when he thought on these things, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21And
she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his
people from their sins. 22Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God
with us. 24And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him,
and took unto him his wife; 25and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called
his name JESUS.

Jesus’ Birth and Our New Birth

What is the connection between Jesus’ birth and our new birth?

What is the relationship Jesus’ incarnation and our regeneration?

Could not God have simply caused sinners to be born again and then finally conformed them to
his own character in heaven, without sending his Son into the world?

Did there need to be an incarnation of the Son of God and a perfect life of obedience and a
death on the cross?

Christianity is not a kind of spirituality that floats from religion to religion. It is historically
rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Scripture says, “Whoever has the Son has
life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).

1 John 3:1–10 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called
children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not
know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but
we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And
everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice
of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared to take
away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who
keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you.
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of
sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of
God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of
sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born
of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

The new birth is to enable us to believe in the incarnate Jesus Christ. If there were no Jesus Christ to believe in, then the new birth would not happen. Look at 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ [that is everyone who believes that this incarnate Jewish man from Nazareth is the promised divine Messiah] has been born of God.” “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Faith is the sign that the new birth has happened.

The incarnation of the Son of God is necessary because the life we have through the new birth is life in union with the incarnate Christ. Jesus said, “I am the living bread

1 John 5:10–12 and keep in mind as you read that the Son of God here is the incarnate Son of God. “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.… And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

In other words, the new birth gives us life by bringing us into spiritual connection with Jesus Christ. He is our life. His new life in us, with all the changes that it brings, is the testimony of God that we are his children. And this life is the life of the incarnate Son of God. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.… And from his fullness [the fullness of the incarnate one] we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:14, 16)—that is new birth, new life.

If There is No Incarnation, There Can Be No Regeneration

So if there were no incarnation, no Christmas, there would be no regeneration for these two reasons: 1) If there were no incarnation, there would be no incarnate Jesus Christ to believe in, and that’s the aim of the new birth, and so the new birth would not happen. 2) If there were no incarnation, there would be no vital union or connection between us and the incarnate Christ, and so the new birth would abort because there would be no source of new life.

Why Christmas Happened

Two times in 1 John 3:1–10 we are told why Christmas happened—that is, why the eternal, divine Son of God came into the world as a human being. In verse 5, John says, “You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” So the sinlessness of Christ is affirmed “in him there is no sin.” And the reason for his coming is affirmed “He appeared to take away sins.”

The second part of verse 8, John says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” And the specific focus John has in mind when he says “works of the devil” is the sin that the devil promotes. We see that in the first part of verse 8: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” So the works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy are the works of sin.

So two times John tells us that Christmas happened, the Son of God became a human being, to take away sin, or to destroy the works of the devil, namely, sin.

“Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23). “The one who rejects