Immaculate Conception through Holy SpiritThe Immaculate Conception through the Holy Spirit is divine in nature.
The Archangel Gabriel was the messenger from God who announced to Mary she was going to be the Mother of child that was to be known as the Son of God.
The reality of the Immaculate Conception and God becoming Incarnate is what sets Christianity apart from other religions. God is a living, breathing God that desires a personal relationship with His followers.
The early Christians, also known as New Testament Christians, resolved themselves to mainly four convictions regarding their faith. These convictions where established by the early theologians, and the Council of Nicea brought these convictions into recorded doctrine around the time of 325 AD. These convictions were that; God is One, Jesus is God, The Holy Spirit is God, and that the three Persons in the
Trinity were three personalities of the Godhead. With God being an Incarnate God, and Jesus being God then one must understand the Immaculate Conception through the Holy Spirit in order to comprehend this concept of theology.
In the first chapter of St. Luke the story of the Immaculate Conception begins. Mary is a young Jewish woman, residing in Nazareth. The people of Nazareth are noted for their strength of faith and relationship with God. Around the age of 15, she was chosen to become engaged to Joseph of Nazareth, who was a carpenter by trade. This was custom for young women of her age in the Jewish culture. When the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and told her the divine news that she had been chosen by God in order to bear a child, the Archangel Gabriel went on to explain how this Divine event would occur. In the First chapter, verse 35 it states; "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."
With this understanding, the Holy Spirit placed the infant into Mary, thus meaning that Jesus had no biological father. The Divine act of the Immaculate Conception through the Holy Spirit confirms that God is a personal God, and that He became incarnate to connect with His children in order to offer redemption through His eternal grace. The key to Christian faith is that
Jesus Christ is different from other Saviors, or known gods of other religions. The fact that Jesus was human, and suffered in humanity at the crucifixion, then arose three days later proves that God is a living and breathing God that moves and interacts in the lives of His believers and followers. Without the Divine event of the Immaculate Conception there would be no Incarnate God. There would thus be no personal relationship with God.
Acclaimed theologian, C.E.B. Cranfield explains that "the virginal conception attests the fact that God's redemption of His creation was by Grace alone Our humanity, represented by Mary, does nothing more than just accept, and even that acceptance is God's gracious gift." God's grace has been documented throughout scripture, but none as sweet as the scriptures of the Immaculate Conception. This, for every Christian is the most moving part of Christianity. That God would humble Himself to become man, and to suffer for man in order to offer redemption.
SOURCES:
Sarfati, Jonathan. (1994) "The virginal Conception of Christ". Retrieved on June 4th , 2009 from
Creation Ministries International
http://creation.com/the-virginal-conception-of-christ
"Mary, the Mother of Jesus". n.d. Retrieved on June 4th, 2009 from
The Passionists Compassion.
http://www.cptryon.org/compassion/mary/mother.html
"Orthodox View on Immaculate Conception". (2009) Retrieved on June 4th, 2009 from the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippians.
www.antiochianarch.org.au/orthodox-view-on-Immaculate-Conception.aspx
"Immaculate Conception and Assumption". (1979-2008). Retrieved on June 4th, 2009 from
Catholic Answers.
www.catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Concepton_and_Assum.asp
Schihl, Dr. Robert. N.d. "The Immaculate Conception of Mary". Retrieved on June 4th, 2009 from
Dr. Robert Schihl
www.ewtn.com/faith/Teachings/maryc3a.htm
