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Outline 029 of 100 · Luke

Be It Unto Me According to Thy Word

Luke 1:26-38, 46-55 — Faith's humble surrender to God's impossible promise

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Gabriel announces to a young, unmarried Mary that she will conceive by the Holy Ghost and bear the Son of the Highest, a promise utterly beyond natural explanation. Her question, 'How shall this be?' is not doubt but honest inquiry, and the angel answers with the assurance that 'with God nothing shall be impossible.' Mary's response models the posture of saving faith: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' She does not need to understand the mechanism of the miracle; she simply surrenders to the word of promise. Her subsequent song, the Magnificat, magnifies God's mercy to the lowly and His scattering of the proud, showing that grace always exalts the humble and humbles the self-sufficient. This narrative previews the entire gospel: an impossible promise, a humble faith that receives it without demanding proof, and a God who delights to work through the lowly rather than the powerful.

  1. I. The impossible promise announced

    • A virgin shall conceive by the Holy Ghost
    • Beyond natural explanation or merit
    • "With God nothing shall be impossible"

  2. II. The honest question of faith

    • "How shall this be?"
    • Inquiry, not unbelief
    • Faith seeks understanding without demanding proof

  3. III. The surrender that receives grace

    • "Behold the handmaid of the Lord"
    • "Be it unto me according to thy word"
    • Faith rests wholly on God's spoken promise

  4. IV. The song that magnifies grace

    • "He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden"
    • The mighty put down, the humble exalted
    • Grace flows to those who know their need
The appeal

God may be asking you to trust a promise you cannot fully understand or explain. Like Mary, will you surrender in faith — 'be it unto me according to thy word' — and let Him work the impossible in your life?

Key points

  • Faith does not require full understanding, only surrender to God's word.
  • God delights to work His greatest purposes through the humble and lowly.
  • Every impossible promise finds its 'yes' in a heart that trusts rather than demands proof.

Key passages

  • Luke 1:37-38
  • Luke 1:46-49
  • Genesis 18:14
  • 1 Corinthians 1:27-29