The Virgin Birth of Jesus

Luke 1:30-38

Did the Virgin Birth actually happen? Yes—and it is fundamental to your salvation. Jesus is not the Son of God because He was born of a virgin. He was born of a virgin because He is the Son of God.

The Mystery of Jesus’ Birth

Mary is a virgin—she is espoused to Joseph, but the marriage ceremony has not yet transpired, so they are not living together as husband and wife. Yet the angel Gabriel announces to her, “Mary, you are going to have a baby.” She asks a very pertinent question: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34b). 

“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…. For with God nothing will be impossible’” (Luke 1:35,37).

God is not bound by the laws He Himself created in the Universe He made. If you believe that God made the first man without a father or mother, out of clay that He formed out of nothing, can you have difficulty believing the Virgin Birth? 

Salvation Through the Virgin Birth

The Virgin Birth of Jesus and the incarnation (God made flesh) were both necessary for our salvation.

The First Adam

God gave Adam and Eve dominion in the Garden of Eden. They sinned, lost that dominion, and infected the entire human race with sin. 

Our dominion was lost by a man, so the only way it could ever be returned to us is by another man—and that other man is the Lord Jesus. (See 1 Corinthians 15:22,45.)

The Last Adam

Apart from the Virgin Birth, there is no hope of salvation. Why?

The Bible plainly teaches, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). Sin must be atoned for by shed blood. (See Hebrews 9:22.)

This dominion was lost by a man, therefore, it must be redeemed by a man. But not just any man will do. 

He must be sinless and innocent. No son or daughter of Adam can qualify. We are sinners by birth, by nature, by choice, and by practice. (See Romans 3:23, 5:12.)

If Jesus Christ had been born like we are, He would have been a son of Adam. Had He been a son of Adam, He would have been a sinner, and the only sin He could die for would have been His own.

Blood line is not determined by the mother, but by the father. The blood of Jesus was the blood of God—sinless and innocent. Jesus came to be born of a virgin so that He would be sinless. He was sinless in order to die a substitutionary death. He died a substitutionary death to atone for our sin. He atoned for our sin so that we might be born again.

The Majesty of the Christmas Story

“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David’” (Luke 1:30-32).

As the Son of God, Jesus shares the nature of God. Baby Jesus was as much God as if He were not man at all. He was the earthly child of a Heavenly Father, and the Heavenly child of an earthly mother. That little baby in  the manger was the mighty God of Genesis 1:1. (See John 1:1-3.)

Do you believe it?