THE VIRGIN BIRTH (from the archives of Shepherd to Sheep)

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

(Isa 7:14) … Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel…

(Luke 1:35) And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Larry King, the CNN talk show host, was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, "Jesus Christ." The questioner said, "And what would you like to ask Him?" King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me."

The Virgin Birth is the doctrine that Jesus was miraculously begotten by God and born of the virgin Mary without the agency of a human father.

Why is this doctrine so significant for Christians? Jesus was not born in sin; that is, He had no sin nature (2 Cor 5:21; Hebrews 4:15, 7:26). It would seem that the sin nature is passed down from generation to generation through the father (Romans 5:12, 17, 19). The Virgin Birth circumvented the transmission of the sin nature and allowed the eternal God to become a perfect man. Thus Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God offered for the sins of mankind (John 1:29).

Is there support for the Virgin Birth? The gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin and that Jesus was divinely conceived. The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, the two most widely used Christian creeds, affirm belief in the Virgin Birth. Consider also the Hebrew word translated virgin (‘almah) which means “a young woman of marriageable age.” The Greek Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made in the second century b.c.) translates the Hebrew word into a Greek word that expressly means virgin. Only in more modern times have Bible critics begun to try to cast doubt on this doctrinal truth that the Church has long since historically upheld.

Can a person be saved without believing in the Virgin Birth? (John 8:24) … for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Believing in the Virgin Birth will not only define history for a person but also define their eternal destiny. And if you have a hard time believing in the Virgin Birth, what other doctrines will you have difficulty with?

By the way…some believe the New Testament teaches that Mary remained a virgin (defined as the doctrine of “The Perpetual Virginity of Mary”), but it appears that she and Joseph had several children after the birth of Jesus: James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and sisters (Mark 6:3).

There is worth in a study of the Virgin Birth. Jesus was God when He came to earth. And this provides for your new birth! (Mat 1:21) …for He will save His people from their sins."

Louie