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Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Four reasons for Jesus' virgin-birth

Image result for virgin birth of jesus
Luke 1:35 "The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."

Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."

Introduction:

      Have you ever received a gift that you didn't know what to do with once you had received it?  Some gifts are that way. Whenever we consider the sending of the Son of God – the Lord Jesus Christ – His virgin-birth was the greatest gift ever given. Sadly, very few people grasp why God the Father sent the Son into the world to become man for us. So, why did the Son of God come into our world through the virgin birth? What spiritual significance did it have? Why does it matter to you? Today’s post will center on answering these questions.  

1. Foundational to human salvation - 
    Luke 1:26-31.
    
    We read in Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”  

     The victory of Jesus over Satan was never in question, since it was predicted He would, “bruise the serpent’s head”. Matthew 1:21 points us to the identity of the “seed of the woman” in Genesis 3:15, 

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 

     What the virgin birth achieved was the bringing-in of the Savior to accomplish the foundation of human salvation. But notice another reason for the virgin birth…

2. Fulfillment of prophecy - Luke 1:32- 
    33.

     J. Barton Payne’s, “Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy”, lists 127 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus in the course of His first coming. God’s prophetic plan included both good and ill decisions in the bringing about of His prophetic purposes. The question before us is this, “how would God deal with what otherwise would had been a major conflict in His prophetic plan?” 

     Prophecies in the Old Testament describe how God would bring about an ultimate descendant from David’s bloodline to sit on Israel’s throne. Yet, we also read of how one of David’s descendants sinned so badly that God cursed that very bloodline. Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 22:30

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man down childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.’” 

     In Joseph’s lineage, recorded in Matthew 1, we find the dreaded cursed-man, Jeconiah, that we read about in Jeremiah (see Matt 1:11). The value of Joseph’s bloodline was to provide legal proof that Jesus had rights to the throne of Israel. However, because of Jeconiah, this otherwise legal bloodline was also cursed. Thankfully, God had already “fool-proofed” the plan of salvation in both its historical, spiritual and prophetic portions. Joseph would not be the biological father of Jesus’ humanity. 

     However, Luke’s Gospel informs us that Mary was also a descendant of King David, reckoned by way of a different descendant of David, hence, a non-cursed bloodline. The virgin birth ensured Jesus’ humanity would both legally make Him heir to the throne while Mary’s made him biologically an heir to the throne. Only in Christ can all conflict cease, and thus, fulfill every prophecy. But notice a third reason for the virgin birth…

3. Fundamental to Jesus’ mission -            Luke 1:34-35.

    The prophet Micah wrote the following words over six-centuries prior to Jesus’ coming in Micah 5:2

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” 

     Jesus had a mission that required Him, as truly God, to also be, truly man. Other Old Testament scriptures allude to the pending virgin-birth, as we find in Jeremiah 31:22

“How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—A woman will encompass a man.” 

     Indeed, the one “encompassed by a woman” with respect to his humanity would also be eternally Divine. Jesus came to live, to die, to rise from the dead and ascend into Heaven. His mission was clear: pay the price for sin, defeat Satan and become the mediator between God and His people (see Luke 19:10; 1 John 3:8; 1 Timothy 2:5). But now let’s consider a fourth reason for the virgin birth…

4. Forwards us to the cross - Luke 1:36-
    38

     Luke 1:37 has an angel responding to Mary in her question of how she, as a virgin, to bring forth the Son of God in human flesh with the following statement: “nothing is impossible with God”. That word, “impossible”, as it appears in the original Greek text, occurs only one other place in the entire New Testament - Luke 18:26-27. Luke 18:26-27 reads this way, 

“They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” 

       Shortly after Jesus spoke those words to His disciples, He then made a prediction about His pending death and crucifixion within a span of a few verses. Notice how God’s ability to bring about the virgin-birth conception is tied directly to the salvation He would accomplish through Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Preachers of old have well said: “the shadow of calvary ever falls on the cradle at Bethlehem.” 

Closing thoughts:

So today we have learned four reasons for the virgin birth:

1. Foundation to human salvation
2. Fulfilled prophecy
3. Foundational to Jesus’ mission
4. Forwards us to the cross

Thank the Lord for the greatest gift that could ever be given – Himself as the Person of the Son, taking unto Himself a true, human nature, through the virgin-birth-conception.