BIBLE DOCTRINE 3

THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS

 God’s Word teaches:

The virgin birth of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. The crucifixion, death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ - Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Romans 1:4; I Corinthians 15:3,4.

The virgin birth teaches that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was miraculously conceived by the Virgin Mary. Prophetically, this was foretold in the Old Testament and became literally fulfilled later in the New Testament. Genesis

3:15; Isaiah 7:14. The virgin birth is thus an essential doctrinal truth, which must be upheld for its fact and significance. Disputing this cardinal doctrine is by implication, denying Christ’s Deity and His distinctive nature as the only sinless man, conceived without Adamic depravity. It was this distinctive spotlessness that disqualified every other man from satisfying God’s demand at Calvary. He therefore, became the spotless Lamb of God found in fashion as a man.

God was the first to unveil the virgin birth of Christ when he referred to Him as the seed of the Woman; Genesis 3:15. This was alluding to the fact that Christ would be conceived by a woman who had never known a man. The prophet Isaiah in his proclamation said, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son ..." (Isaiah 7:14). The word virgin as used in this reference, has obvious meaning and can be nothing else but a woman that has not known a man. Luke in his Gospel narrative recorded that the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin, betrothed to a man and that the virgin’s name was Mary (Luke 1:26,27). After the announcement, Mary herself plainly said how shall these things be, seeing I know not a man? (Luke 1:34). Matthew in his Gospel, narrated that Mary was espoused to Joseph and that before they came together, she was found with a child of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:18). He further recorded that Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born Son, and he called His name JESUS.

Jesus sometimes referred to people as His mother, His brothers and sisters, but He never referred to any mortal man as His father, not even Joseph (Matthew 12:49-50; 22:41-46; John 8:54-58). He always referred to God as His Father and this is another proof of His virgin birth. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, wrote that in the fullness of time. God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. This was still pointing to the fact that Christ was born of a virgin (Galatians 4:4). The Bible says that Joseph was a just man (Matthew 1:19). This means he was not a transgressor of God’s law.

If Mary as an espoused virgin had conceived through a strange man, it would then be right for Joseph to have her out of the way (Deuteronomy 22:23-24; Matthew 19:9). The penalty was even more grave than merely putting her away. The angel even could not have prevented Joseph from putting her away. The angel even bore witness that what was conceived in her was of Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:20).

On the other hand, if Joseph had known Mary before Christ was conceived, or was responsible for the conception, it would be unlawful for him to put her away (Malachi 2:14-16). The scriptures would not have qualified him as a just man if he were transgressing the Lord’s commandment. Joseph was instructed to take her as his wife. The virgin birth of Christ was a unique sign from God. The prophet Isaiah was very clear and definite about it (Isaiah 7:14); it distinguished Him from any other mortal and marked Him out as the only true Messiah.

God bears witness to His approved ministers in various ways. Some of the signs that were recorded concerning Christ and His ministry were also recorded concerning a few other messengers of God. The virgin birth however is probably the most unique and unprecedented sign. A voice from the cloud witnessed to the Ministry of Christ but that was not as unique as the virgin birth because we see a similar witness in the Ministry of Moses (Numbers 12:5-8; Matthew 17:5). An angel announced the conception of Christ but we also know that the births of Samson and John the Baptist were announced by angels (Judges 13:2-5; Luke 1:11-15,26-33). Moses, Samson and John the Baptist were all God’s messengers but they all had earthly fathers. They were all descendants of Adam’s fallen race. The virgin birth is therefore a unique sign from the Lord, conferred on Christ and Him alone, and no other living soul has ever or will ever be conceived by a virgin.