o the Virgin Mary here is far greater.

The Incarnation Announced.

We read in Luke i:35: "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, The Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing, which shall be born of
thee, shall be called the Son of God." Let us notice the two great
statements given about His incarnation. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon
thee." From the Gospel of Matthew we learn the full meaning of this
statement. "That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost."
Therefore His human nature was produced in the virgin by the creative
action of the Holy Spirit. Because His human nature was thus produced,
it was a nature without sin; not only did He not sin, but He could not
sin. He was sinless, absolutely holy, because He was conceived by the
Holy Spirit.

The second statement is: "And the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee." This is not a repetition of the same truth as contained in the
first statement. If this too would mean the Holy Spirit, we would have
to conclude that the Holy Spirit is the Father of Him who became
incarnate. We read at once after this second statement, "Therefore that
Holy Thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of
God." The power of the Highest does not mean the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is none other than the Son of God Himself. The eternal Son of
God, He who is God, overshadowed her and this overshadowing meant the
union of Himself with the human nature created by the Holy Spirit in the
Virgin Mary. He is called "that Holy Thing." He is something entirely
new, a Being which cannot be classified. And then we read again, "That
Holy Thing shall be called the Son of God." It does not say "shall be
the Son of God;" such He ever was. Incarnation did not make Him Son of
God. He shall be called Son of God; God manifested in the flesh. Much
time could be spent in adding to these remarks, or in reviewing the
different attempts which have been made to explain the great mystery. We
might also enumerate all the evil teachings and theories which are the
results of attempted explanations. But all this would be but waste of
time. No human mind can fathom the depths of the incarnation, nor fully
grasp the wonderful personality of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Far better it is to abide by these simple declarations of the Word of
God, than to enter into speculations, which can never solve this gr