Introduction: The popular talk-show host Larry King was once asked whom he would choose, if he had the choice, to interview one person from any time in history. Larry King replied that he would like to interview Jesus Christ, and that he would ask Him just one question: "Are you indeed virgin born?" "The answer to that question," said King, "would explain history for me." Larry King is right.
The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, tell us that Jesus was born of a virgin.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Theologians call this verse the protoevangelion, the first mention of the Gospel in the Bible. This great hero who will crush Satan is not called Adam's offspring, but rather the offspring of a woman. This is a veiled prophecy about the death and victory of Christ.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
In this verse, the Hebrew word translated virgin is almah. This word is used seven times in the Old Testament. Professor J. Gresham Machen, Greek professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, and founder of Westminster Seminary, in his scholarly work "The Virgin Birth of Christ" comments:
"As a matter of fact there is no place among the seven occurrences of almah in the Old Testament where the word is clearly used of a woman who was not a virgin."
Four hundred years ago Martin Luther issued a challenge: "If a Jew or Christian can prove to me that in any passage of Scripture 'almah' means a woman who is not a virgin, I will give him one hundred florins, although God only knows where I will find the money."
The Old Testament was translated into the Greek language about the third century B. C. This version was called the Septuagint Version. According to tradition this translation was made by about seventy divines hence it has been designated as the LXX, the Roman numerals for seventy. Without doubt, those who made this translation were eminent Hebrew scholars and better equipped to translate the Hebrew than any modern Hebraist, as Hebrew was still a spoken language in their day. In the LXX almah in Isaiah 7:14 is translated by the Greek word parthenos, which always means virgin.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke emphasize the virgin birth:
Mat 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Mat 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Mat 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Mat 1:23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
Mat 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Mat 1:25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
And also our passage here in Luke:
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
Luke 1:27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Luke 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
Luke 1:30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
Luke 1:33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Luke 1:34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The Old Testament predicted that Christ would be born of a virgin. The New Testament testifies that the prophecies came true.
Some people, even ministers, don't believe in the virgin birth of Christ. Here is an article from the London Telegraph of December 23, 2002:
"Headline: British clergy have doubts about virgin birth
"More than a quarter of Church of England clergy do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ, a survey has found.
"A poll of 500 clerics found that 27 per cent privately reject the traditional story of Jesus's birth, which forms a key part of the Nativity.
"One vicar stated: "Writers at the time used to stress a person's importance by making up stories about their early life. I think that is exactly what has happened here." "A colleague added: "I do not believe in the virgin birth but I would not argue for that point of view in a sermon because I simply don't believe it is that important an issue."
It is stunningly irrational for a minister to make such a statement. It is truly shameful for a Christian pastor to know so little about his own Faith. There are three reasons the doctrine of the virgin birth is supremely important.
I. THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE BIBLE STANDS OR FALLS WITH THE VIRGIN BIRTH....AND CHRISTIANITY STANDS OR FALLS WITH THE BIBLE.
The Bible plainly and repeatedly teaches the virgin birth. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then the Bible is wrong. And if it is wrong about the virgin birth, it may also be wrong about everything else: Jesus' miracles, his atoning death and resurrection, and so on. If you deny the virgin birth, then it makes no difference what anyone believes about anything.
If the Bible is unreliable, then you may believe whatever you like about any doctrines or stories in the Bible. They may or may not be true. There is no way to know. This leaves us floating in Limbo. What knows what to believe? Any religion is equally good. In fact, you may as well make up your own religion.
Paul urged his son in the Faith Timothy to stay true to the Word of God.
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Tim 3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Tim 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
2 Tim 4:2 Preach the Word;
Peter teaches us that people did not make up the Bible, but rather men spoke God's Word under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
2 Pet 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.
2 Pet 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
King David wrote about God's Word in Psalm 119:
Psa 119:138-142 "The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy...Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them...Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true."
II. THE FULL DEITY OF CHRIST RELIES ON THE VIRGIN BIRTH. Jesus' father was God. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the second person of the Trinity, who became a human being to be our Savior. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then He was born of Mary and some unknown man, because Joseph denies being the father. If the virgin birth is not true, then Jesus is just another human prophet, and just another sinful man standing in need of a Savior.
John the Apostle writes about the incarnation of the second person of the Godhead in chapter one of His Gospel:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"
John 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
The virgin birth makes it possible for Jesus to be fully God, God in the flesh.
III. THE FULL HUMANITY OF CHRIST RELIES ON THE VIRGIN BIRTH.
Paul the Apostle emphasized Jesus' humanity in I Corinthians 15. There he called Jesus the "last Adam," and the "man from Heaven."
1 Cor 15:45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
1 Cor 15:46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
1 Cor 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
1 Cor 15:48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
1 Cor 15:49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
In the very early days of Christianity there arose heretics who denied the virgin birth, or any birth at all. They taught that Jesus was God who simply appeared as a human being. He never really was born. He never really died on the cross, or rose again, either.
Docetism (1st Century) -- (from the Greek word dokesis, which means to seem) Belief that Christ was wholly God, and his humanity and suffering only seemed to be real. Developed into Christian Gnosticism.
Monophysitism and Eutychianism (4th and 5th century) -- (named after Eutyches of Constantinople, d. 454) It removes the value of Christ's redemptive work, because it denies that Christ suffered as a man. He was just God masquerading as a man. He never suffered, he never died on the cross for our sins. He never rose again from the dead. It was all an illusion.
John the Apostle was already writing to counteract Docetism around 95 AD:
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1 John 4:3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
The virgin birth is God's explanation to us of how Jesus could be both truly God and truly man simultaneously. He really was God incarnate, and conceived in Mary supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. Thus truly God. He truly was the offspring of a human woman, He received a human body and spirit from Mary, and thus was truly a man.
Conclusion: The doctrine of the virgin birth is very important for three reasons:
If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then we have no Savior who died for us on the cross. During this Christmas Season, may our hearts be filled with a sense of awe and joy as we consider the virgin birth of Christ. Amen.