The Virgin Birth

The doctrine of the virgin birth holds that Jesus’ birth was the result of a miraculous conception whereby His mother, Mary, conceived a baby in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit; without a human father. There is importance to this and there should not be head shaking at such an event. This is the Messiah we are talking about it and the detail that He was born of a virgin happened because Isaiah said He would be, “Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14). This very same verse is quoted by Matthew in his Gospel of Jesus. If we ask the question as to why this all happened, it is because God said that it would be so. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet.” (Matthew 1:22).

Jesus’ miraculous birth tell us much about His nature. That He was born of a woman demonstrates that He was indeed human and became one of us. The second member of the trinity, the Son, God incarnate took on flesh. “And the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Christ’s humanity, however, was not precisely the same as ours. We are born with Original Sin, Christ was not.

The virgin birth also relates to the deity of Christ. While it is certainly possible for Deity to enter the world in a manner other than a virgin birth. The miracle of His birth points to His deity. The announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary underscores the point. When he told Mary, she would conceive a son. Mary was perplexed, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). Gabriel’s answer to her question is of decisive significance for our understanding of the virgin birth. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most-High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35). Only moments later Gabriel adds, “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37).

Today we have many medical practices that help with conception and some go through artificial insemination to conceive, as incredible as those medical practices are, they are not miraculous. They are modern non-miraculous variations of conception, there is nothing more commonplace in nature than the normal conception of a baby. For a woman to have become pregnant who has not had sexual intercourse with a man is not only biologically extraordinary, it is clearly against the laws of nature. But Mary’s child was not generated by Mary, herself. The “father” of the baby is the Holy Spirit. The language in Luke of the Holy Spirit coming over and ‘overshadowing’ Mary echoes the act of creation in Genesis when God’s Spirit was hovering over the waters. That hovering, an overshadowing, a brooding was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's act in creation, God’s power, His Ruach [spirit, breath] was instrumental in the creation of the world and in the baby that Mary would conceive.

This reveals that this baby was a special creation with His Father being God Himself. This is not meaning that Jesus was a created being, such as the Arian Heresy that denied the deity of Christ. This is how we can say, “Jesus, is truly human and truly God.” Those who do not believe in the Virgin Birth usually do not believe that Jesus is the true Son of God. Thus, the Virgin Birth is a watershed doctrine, separating orthodox [right belief, correct doctrine] Christians from those who do not believe in the resurrection and atonement; as Jesus’ being born of virgin allowed Him to accomplish all His perfect works that fulfilled the Law. For if He was not truly human and truly God, then he was not sinless, and everything falls apart.