BIBLE DOCTRINE 3
THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF
JESUS
God’s Word
teaches:
The virgin birth
of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God as well as His crucifixion, death,
burial and bodily resurrection - Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Romans 1:4; I
Corinthians 15:3,4.
One
of the most important facts concerning Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of
God, is that He was born of a virgin. The virgin birth confirms Christ’s Deity
and clearly distinguishes Him as the only sinless man conceived without Adamic
depravity.
The virgin birth is thus an essential
doctrinal truth which must be upheld for its fact and significance. Disputing
this cardinal doctrine is by implication, denying Christ’s Deity and His
distinctive nature. It was this distinctive spotlessness that disqualified
every other man from satisfying God’s demand for substitutionary death. He
therefore became the spotless Lamb of God found in fashion as a man. Men say – can there be such things as
miracles? Is there not an antecedent improbability that the order of nature, as
we know it, should ever be changed? To receive and believe the record of
Christ’s birth by a virgin-mother is to settle the whole question of the
miraculous.
God was the first to unveil the virgin
birth of Christ, when He referred to Him as the “seed of the woman” (Genesis
3:15). This was God’s allusion to the fact that Christ would be conceived by a
woman who had never known a man. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “Behold, a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son…” (Isaiah 7:14). The word ‘virgin’ as
used in this reference has obvious meaning and can be nothing else but a woman
that has not known a man. Luke, in his gospel narrative, recorded that the angel
Gabriel was sent to Mary, a virgin betrothed to a man (Luke 1:26, 27). Matthew,
in his gospel, narrated that after Mary had been espoused to Joseph, she was
found with a child of the Holy Ghost before they came together (Matthew 1:18).
He further recorded that Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her
first born son, and he called his name JESUS.
Jesus, during His earthly ministry,
sometimes referred to people as His mother, His brothers and sisters, but never
referred to any mortal man as His father
– not even Joseph (Matthew 12:49,50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21). He always
referred to God as His Father and this is another proof of His virgin birth.
The Bible says that Joseph was a just man (Matthew 1:19). If Joseph had known
Mary before Christ was conceived or was responsible for the conception, he
would not have been thinking of putting her away, nor would he have qualified
to be referred to as a just man. On the other hand, if Mary as an espoused
virgin had conceived through a strange man, it would have been right for Joseph
to have her out of the way (Deuteronomy 22:13-21; Matthew 19:9). The angel also
would not have prevented Joseph from putting her away. The angel even bore
witness that what was in her was conceived of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:20).
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
That was the announcement of the coming of the one only true virgin’s child.
God bears witness to His approved
ministers in various ways. Some of the signs that were recorded concerning
Christ were also recorded concerning a few other messengers of God. A voice
from the cloud witnessed to the ministry of Christ, but that was not as unique
as the virgin birth because we see a similar witness in the ministry of Moses
(Numbers 12:5-8; Matthew 17:5). And angel announced the conception of Christ,
but we also know that the birth of Samson and John the Baptist were announced
by angels (Judges 13:2-5; Luke 1:11-15,26-33). However, Moses, Samson and John
the Baptist had earthly fathers. They were all descendants of Adam’s fallen
race. The virgin birth is therefore a unique sign from the Lord, conferred on
Christ and Him alone. No other living soul had ever or will ever be conceived
by a virgin. The virgin birth is not the only historical event that confirms
the deity of Christ. His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection from the
dead do even more. The Old Testament is
replete with prophecies concerning Christ’s crucifixion. And these prophecies
found fulfillment in the event on the cross (Genesis 3: 14,15; Psalm
22:6-8,16,18; Isaiah 53:3-6). Christ also foretold His crucifixion and death
while He was yet with His disciples before it came to pass. Christ was despised
and rejected of men. As He hung on the cross; passers-by railed, and wagged
their tongues at Him. Even His supposed friends forsook and abandoned Him at
the darkest hour of His life. A crown of thorns was plaited and placed on His
head; stripes from barbed whips were laid on His back. He was wounded all over.
His crucifiers drove long spikes through his hands and feet and pierced His
side because of our transgressions. Apostle Peter brought the verity of His
crucifixion on the religious sadists that perpetrated the act in His defense of
the healing of the impotent man (Acts 4:5-10). Apostle Paul also preached it
(1Corinthians 15:1-4). His crucifixion opens the floodgate of temporal and
eternal blessings for man.
Jesus Christ, the Pascal Lamb of God
hanged on the cross of Calvary until His life expired. His death became a reference point of events,
time and date for the past, present and future. The soldiers on guard certified
Him dead to Pilate before His body was released to Simon of Arimathea for
burial. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses witnessed His burial in a sepulcher
(Mark 15:43-47). The event on the cross is important to every man (Hebrews
2:9). Broadly stated, there are seven things Christ purchased for us through
His death at the cross: forgiveness and full salvation (Luke 23:33,34),
sanctification and holiness (Hebrews 13:12), a home in heaven (Luke 23:43),
healing for all (Isaiah 53:5), deliverance from, and defeat of principalities
and powers (Colossians 2:14,15), cancellation of every curse (Galatians 3:13),
full and perfect redemption (Ephesians
1:7; Colossians 1:14).
The bodily resurrection of Christ is
mentioned 104 times in the New Testament.
But did Jesus rise from the grave?
First, the soldiers who were detailed to watch the tomb following the
fear that the disciples might “come by night, and steal him away, and say unto
the people, He is risen from the dead” (Matthew 27:64), knew that Christ’s
resurrection was a physical reality. Second, the Jews knew that the
resurrection was not a concocted story.
It cost them a great deal of money, in their attempt to stop soldiers
from spreading the news (Matthew 28:11-15).Third, for years, the apostles
proclaimed the resurrection in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus was
crucified and where three days after, He rose from the dead. The story of the
resurrection has since the historic event spread unchallenged. Speaking to the Jews on the day of Pentecost,
Peter said, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts
2:32) and nobody rose up to challenge him. Fourth, in Mark’s gospel, Jesus
appeared to Mary Magdalene, who went and told Peter and other disciples “as
they mourned and wept. And they, when
they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not” (Mark
16:10, 11). Again, Jesus appeared to two
of the disciples (on their way to Emmaus). Yet, when “they went and told it
unto the residue: neither believed they them” (Mark 16:13). In fact, their fear
and unbelief was such that Jesus, on one occasion, upbraided them (Luke
24:25-27). By far, the greatest proof of Christ’s resurrection is His bodily
appearance to His disciples at different times.
It puts to rest the erroneous doctrine of spiritual resurrection.
Jesus is incomparably greater than any
other prophet either before or after Him.
Why? Because He (Jesus) was
“declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4) if teaching was the only thing
that made Jesus the Son of God, He would not be different. Founders of other religions taught good human
principles as well. If ascetic life,
miracles, wonders and signs were the only things that made Thomas to call
Jesus, “My Lord and my God,” founders of other religions would also be qualified
to be called “God” because they too lived ascetic lives and worked signs and
wonders. But, no, it is the resurrection
that made all the difference. Because of the resurrection, Jesus has been
declared to be, not only the Son of God but also, the Saviour and Judge of the
whole world, of the living and the dead, the Jews and the Gentiles, the Barbarians
and the Greeks, the Hindus and the traditional worshipers. Whoever therefore shall call upon Him today
shall be saved.
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