The Virgin Birth – Does it Really Matter?
Luke 1:26-38
There are a number of people who call themselves Christians and yet do not believe in the virgin birth. They fail to see the importance of the virgin birth. As more and more churches are abandoning the teaching of the historic doctrines of the faith in order to provide an intellectually, politically and socially acceptable gospel, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ is considered a nonessential. Regardless of what liberal theology would say the virgin birth is essential and recognition of the virgin birth is a core Christian belief.
What is the Virgin Birth?
• The Virgin Birth does not mean that Jesus was born in a manner different from any other child. He was born in exactly the same way as you and I.
• Nor, does it suggest that there was merely a miraculous conception as in the case of Sara or Elizabeth who were past age. Mary was a young woman, perhaps in her late teens, as was the custom then.
• It does not mean Immaculate Conception as taught by the Roman Catholic Church, for that dogma asserts that Mary was also conceived and born without original sin, a claim for which there is not a scintilla of Biblical evidence!
• Mary, who did not have any sexual relations with His earthy stepfather Joseph or anyone else, conceived our Lord in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then Mary gave birth to Jesus without a human father. – from The Meaning of the Virgin Birth by Dr. Richard J. Krejcir,
Why is the Virgin Birth Critical?
I. The Deity Of Christ
A. "If we do not believe in the virgin birth, we deny the very divinity of Christ, relegating him to simply a great human being, but not the Son of God, God Incarnate.
B. Jesus claimed to be Divine
1. John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
2. John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
3. Jesus was consciously identifying Himself with Jehovah of the Old Testament is beyond refutation.
4. In Exodus 3, when Moses asked God His name so that he could tell it to Israel, the answer was "I AM."
C. The Writers of Scripture claimed Christ is God
1. 2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
3. Hebrews 1:8 “But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
4. Galatians 4:4 “"When the fullness of the time came, God sent his Son born of a woman...."
D. The divine sonship of Jesus Christ depends on his virgin birth. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, who was His father? There is no answer that will leave the Gospels intact. . If Jesus was not born of a virgin, He had a human father. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father, He was human. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father and was merely human, He was not and is not God. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father and was merely, human and is not God, He is a liar.
E. “People often say about Him (Christ): “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. - C. S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity
II. The Veracity of Scripture
A. If one passage of Scripture can be proven false the accuracy and trustworthiness of the Bible falls apart.
B. Millard Erickson states this well: “If we do not hold to the virgin birth despite the fact that the Bible asserts it, then we have compromised the authority of the Bible and there is in principle no reason why we should hold to its other teachings. Thus, rejecting the virgin birth has implications reaching far beyond the doctrine itself.” - copied
C. The Old Testament prophecies speak both of the virgin birth and deity of the Messiah, Lord Jesus Christ.
1. (His Virgin Birth) Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
• Back in the Garden of Eden, God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). Throughout the Old Testament, posterity is kept track of through the man or the couple. But in Genesis 3:15 the promise stands alone because it emphasizes that the Messiah would be the seed of the woman ALONE, at least apart from a man. This is the first reference to the virgin birth of the Messiah. - copied
2. (His Virgin Birth) Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. ( Hebrew - almah Greek – parthenos – Matthew 1:23)
3. (His Deity and Virgin Birth) Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
4. (Pre-Incarnate Existence and Deity) Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
D. If there is no virgin birth then the character of the Word of God is in question for the Word of God plainly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin and is God robed in flesh.
E. The trustworthiness of the Word of God is seen in its fulfilled prophecies. Dr. Charles Ryrie says that according to the laws of chance, it would require two hundred billion earths, populated with four billion people each, to come up with one person whose life could fulfill one hundred accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. Yet the Scriptures record not one hundred, but over three hundred prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s first coming alone. - Today in the Word, MBI, December, 1989, p. 7
III. The Atonement for Sin
A. The depravity of man calls for atonement
1. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
2. God, in light of His divine righteousness and holiness, cannot simply overlook defiance to His infinite majesty, but require sin be punished.
3. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
4. Because of man’s sin nature, willful disobedience and inability to meet God’s righteous demands, if God were to save the sinner, He had to make provision for a substitutionary satisfaction as the provision for the sinner’s reconciliation with God.
5. Romans 3:20a “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight.
B. God, Himself was the only fit sacrificial offering to provide atonement. Atonement can only be provided by God himself. As sinners all men are disqualified.
C. Given God’s righteousness and our sin, we desperately needed a perfect atoning sacrifice. Only Christ could meet that requirement by becoming a man and in total perfect obedience go to the cross as the demonstration of God’s love for you and me.
D. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
E. The Holy One of God, entering our world in the form of man through human birth and suffering the sins of man, even unto death, became the means of salvation for all humanity, enabling the complete forgiveness of all who truly repent and turn to God.
F. You see, if there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. No sinless Christ...No atonement ... no forgiveness. No forgiveness ... no hope of heaven. No hope of heaven ... we would all die and go to hell. Thank God for the virgin birth. If you take away the virgin birth, the whole house of Christianity collapses like a house of cards. – Adrian Rogers
Does it matter? Absolutely, it’s because of the virgin birth that we have a suitable and sufficient Savior.
