Why The Virgin Birth
By Pastor Mitch Horton | December 2002 | Posted in • Archives | (0) Comments
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God,everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in human history. History has been called His-story, because the history and future of mankind rests on Jesus’ virgin birth. Phillips translation of Ephesians 1:9-10 reads, “For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan and it is this; He purposed long ago in His sovereign will that all human history should be consummated in Christ; that everything that exists in heaven or earth should find its perfection and fulfillment in Him.”
Adam’s sin brought to us the reign of death that separated us from God, brought blight upon our present, and doomed our future. Jesus, the God man, reveals God’s loving heart toward sinful man. In His virgin birth alone is our hope of fellowship with God restored, the blight on present life lifted, and our future hope restored. Without the virgin birth of Jesus, we are a doomed race!
Many believers don’t understand the crucial need for the virgin birth. In this issue, I will explain in simple terms its necessity. From heaven’s viewpoint and man’s need, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the only solution to the human problem.
One of the attributes of God’s nature is absolute justice. “Justice and judgment are the foundation of thy throne.” (Psalm 89:14) Adam’s sin caused all of mankind to become lawbreakers, and placed every human under Satan’s direct control. Satan, the THIEF, legally thwarted God’s purposes for mankind.His loving fellowship with His created human family.
God’s major problem was that every human born after Adam’s sin would be born under Satan’s control, and out of fellowship with God. God’s justice demands that a man legally pay the penalty for our sin. A man got us into sin, and a man had to get us out of sin. God could not create another human because the dust of the ground from which man was created had been cursed through the fall. An angel could not pay the price for man’s sin. It had to be paid by a man.
Every man born of two earthly parents is born without hope, and without fellowship with God. And he is dominated by the devil. An incarnation, that is, God coming to live in a human body, was God’s only answer to the plight of man’s sin. God Himself had to assume the obligation to pay man’s sin penalty if the human race was to be redeemed!
Jesus was the answer to God’s justice toward sinful man. Jesus was BOTH God and man. “For unto us a child is born.” speaks of Jesus’ humanity. “Unto us a Son is given”. speaks of Jesus Divinity. The incarnation of Jesus provided a way for God’s justice to be satisfied, and man’s original purpose on earth to be fulfilled. Because Jesus was a man, He could assume the obligation of paying man’s sin penalty. Because Jesus was God, He was born in fellowship with God, free from Satan’s dominion and control, and therefore could rightly bear the penalty for our sin.
Jesus’ virgin birth means that Jesus had no earthly father. Mary could not understand how she would become pregnant without being intimate with a man. Notice the narrative of scripture:
“Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ 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.” (Luke 1: 34-35)
Mary simply clothed Jesus with sinless flesh. His life source, the blood, came from His heavenly Father. This means that Jesus was actually GOD MADE FLESH. Jesus virgin birth means that He was deity and humanity combined. He was 100% God and 100% man.
In 1 Corinthians 15:45 Jesus is called the last Adam because He, like Adam, was born IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD! He was not tainted with the sin of Adam. And because He was not tainted with sin, He could stand in as man’s sin substitute. 1 Peter 2:22 reveals the fact that Jesus never sinned. That means he was a sinless human just like the first Adam before he sinned.
To state the case again, because Jesus was virgin born, he was a sinless human. He was free from Satan’s dominion and in fellowship with God. Because of God’s just dealings, man’s sin penalty must be paid by another man who, like the first Adam, was sinless. Jesus Christ could adequately pay our sin penalty only because He was sinless. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Christmas season is a wonderful time of celebration and joy. Most people have no idea of the true meaning behind the joy we sing and celebrate during this time of the year. I think that it’s great that this happens to be THE season of the year that everyone takes time to be with family and friends and to give of themselves and their resources to others. It’s even the time of year that “makes or breaks” many retailers. So many things in our culture are centered around the Christmas season. Instead of bemoaning the “commercialization” of Christmas, I believe that we should take this season as an opportune time to share the true meaning of Christmas with family and friends.
Because of the virgin birth of Jesus, our personal past, present and future has been eternally changed. His-story has changed our personal story from darkness to light.
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