Recently I did three posts where I devoted time to what I called "a flyover of the doctrine of the incarnation". All those posts are here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2025/10/post-1-flyover-of-incarnation-sons-pre.html, here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2025/10/post-2-flyover-of-incarnation-son-of.html, and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2025/10/post-3-flyover-of-incarnation-what.html. My goal in those posts was to provide readers with an introduction or "primer" to the doctrine of the incarnation to facilitate our continuing study of the Nicene Creed.
In our last post from our study in the Nicene Creed here Growing Christian Resources: Post #17 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed - "Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven", we began to explore the part of the Nicene Creed that confesses the mystery of Christ's incarnation. My hope is with that post and the other three posts on "A flyover of the doctrine of the incarnation", readers will find the next several posts upbuilding and uplifting as we continue to explore the Nicene Creed's confession of the Son of God's incarnation.
In 1739 Charles Wesley wrote the familiar Christmas Carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. Its second stanza is my favorite lines of all the Christmas carols we sing in a given season:
“Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th'incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.”
Today we continue our journey by noting the doctrine of the virgin birth, which is truly the gateway by which we enter into what the Nicene Creed confesses: "and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man."
The virginal conception of our Lord's humanity is the gateway into the incarnation of the Son of God.
St. Louis, Missouri is called “The Gateway to the West”. The early 19th century westward expansion would begin from there. In theological terms, the virgin birth is the gateway to the doctrine of the incarnation. The incarnation is the eternal Son of God, in undiminished deity, being united by the Holy Spirit in the virgin’s womb to undiluted humanity, thus forever being truly God and truly man.
The incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, is associated with the doctrines describing Him, including: His mission as the sent Son of God; hypostatic union to become the incarnate Son of God; his virgin birth to be the way to God; his earthly life to be the Savior from God; his cross to be the Lamb of God; then His resurrection, ascension, and soon return to prove He is God. All these doctrines become rejected if the virgin birth is denied. The inclusion of the virgin birth in the Nicene Creed communicates it to be an essential doctrine of the Christian faith.
The miracle of the virgin birth confessed by the Nicene Creed.
When you read and confess those words "and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man", it is evident that you are treading upon holy ground. Let's look at some key points about the virgin birth from the Bible to grasp why the Nicene Creed makes it an essential component of its confession of the incarnation of the Son of God.
1. The mother of the virgin birth. Luke 1:26-27
We read in Luke 1:26-27 “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” Notice with me….
A. Candidate for the virgin birth.
2x “virgin” in Luke 1:26-27 we see Mary twice called “virgin”. There is a complementary prophecy of the virgin birth in Jeremiah 31:21b-22 “Return, O virgin of Israel, return to these your cities. 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.”
The context of this prophecy involves the prediction of the New Covenant era, of which Jesus’ arrival heralded its embryonic beginnings. Notice there again that latter phrase in Jeremiah 31:22 “a woman will encompass a man”. The point here is that Mary was a proper candidate, at the right place, at the right time, as God’s choice vessel to bear forth the incarnate Son of God. Thus, a candidate for the virgin birth.
B. Converted faith through a new birth. Luke 1:28
Notice what the angel says to Mary in Luke 1:28 “And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” The phrase “favored one” or “to find favor” speaks of God selecting whomever to bestow grace, found over thirty times in the Bible. We read of Noah in Genesis 6:8 as “having found favor” with God. In other words, it indicates the person was at some point drawn and converted in saving faith by the Lord.
To have God’s favor is not due to God being moved by the efforts of the sinner, but rather God bestowing grace out of unprovoked love for the sinner. Darrell Bock in his commentary notes that Mary was a recipient of God’s favor, not a bestower of it. Mary had at some point responded to God’s call of grace into her heart. She was born again already by the time the angel found her. We know this to be true for the angel say: “the Lord is with you”. Hebrews 13:5 says of all true Christ followers, that “He will never leave you nor forsake you”. It explains what Mary was so receptive to this news. Mary then was the candidate for the virgin birth and was converted by the new birth. Thirdly, she was connected to King David by birth.
C. Connected to King David by birth.
Luke’s genealogy of Jesus traces His bloodline back through to David, to Abraham, and ultimately to Adam. Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17) proved Jesus has legal right to the throne of Israel through Joseph’s side of David’s bloodline. Luke’s account on the other hand has Jesus having biological rights to the throne of Israel through Mary.
The angel’s appearance to Mary meant she was not a random virgin, but a particular one. The virgin birth is not only indirectly connected to the New Covenant we saw earlier, but now we see how Jesus will fulfill God’s promise to David by deriving His humanity from Mary in His virginal conception – a bloodline to King David Himself. So, we have Mary, the mother of the virgin birth, a fit candidate, by faith converted to the Lord, and fully connected to King David in terms of lineage.
2. The messenger of the virgin birth.
Luke 1:28-30
All of creation and history were used by God the Father in working providence to bring forth the Son of God into our world. We no less see this than by the Heavenly messenger and his prophetic message.
A. Heavenly messenger. Luke 1:29-30
We read in Luke 1:29-30 “But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.” The angel Gabriel is the heavenly messenger in view. Out of the multiplied trillions of angels, God sent this one.
Gabriel is found only four times in two books of the Bible (Daniel 8:16, 9:20-21, and here in Luke’s Gospel). Gabriel only appeared to help bring clarity and understanding to a particular prediction or Messianic message about the Son of God. Gabriel, we could say, was God’s special “press secretary” if you please.
B. Prophetic message. Luke 1:30-33, compare Isaiah 9:6-7.
I won’t comment more on Isaiah 9:6-7, since we did that already at the beginning of this post. Nevertheless, that text from Isaiah is on Luke’s mind here in Luke 1:30-33 “The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Isaiah 9:6-7 hearkens back to a grand covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7:13-16. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God promises David: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’
Jesus would begin to fulfill this promise from the moment His humanity (a Davidic humanity I might add) was knitted in Mary’s womb to His Divine person by the Holy Spirit. He is called “Son of David” in Matthew 1:1. Luke 3:31 identifies Jesus as “the son of David” by bloodline. Only a perfect heir of David had rights to throne of Jerusalem. This is why the Apostle Paul opened his greatest letter with these words in Romans 1:3 …”concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh”. A heavenly messenger brought forth a prophetic message to Mary, who herself was to be the mother of our Lord according to the flesh (compare Luke 1:43, Elizabeth’s reference to Mary). One more truth about the virgin birth.
3. The miracle of the virgin birth. Luke 1:31-37
Let me remind us of our definition of the incarnation offered in this message: The incarnation is the eternal Son of God, in undiminished deity, being united by the Holy Spirit in the virgin’s womb to undiluted humanity, thus forever being truly God and truly man. As you follow the remainder of Luke’s narrative in Luke 1:31-37, you find why I defined the incarnation in this way – its straight from the text itself.
Now before we unpack the miracle of the virgin birth, let’s first be clear on what a miracle is. A miracle is an uncommon act of God, not produced naturally, that occurs within a religiously significant context, that prompts wonder and awe in Him.
Providence involves acts of God, however God utilizes history and natural phenomenon, even men’s wills, to guide and bring about His most wise purposes. Miracles are to be expected in our world, since God created our universe out of nothing (Genesis 1:1), which by definition is a miracle (none of the physical laws, matter, or even time itself existed until He said it to be so). As the angel says in Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Let’s walk our way through this miracle.
A. Unique seed of a woman. 1:31a Cf Genesis 3:15, Jer 31:33.
Note in Luke 1:31 “you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son”.
B. Undiminished deity. 1:31b-32a
Note in Luke 1:32a “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”.
C. Undiluted humanity. 1:32b
How else could He have David as his ancestor lest he himself is “truly man for us”. Note Luke 1:32b “the throne of His father David.”
D. Unparalleled personality. 1:33
Notice Luke 1:33 a, first few words: “and He will reign…”. The incarnation involves a Divine person, a member of the Trinity. This is not two persons, nor a human person adopted later as “the Son of God” at His baptism. This is the Divine Person of the Son, having two natures, an unparalleled Personality.
E. Union by the Holy Spirit. 1:34-35
Note if you will the angels answer to Mary’s question “how will this be?” in Luke 1:35 “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.”
It is interesting to note that the verb translate “overshadow” is the same description of the presence of the Lord overshadowing the Jewish Tabernacle in the Greek translation of Exodus 40:35. We know that Christ’s incarnation was a work of the Holy Spirit literally bringing God to be with men (“Immanuel”, Mt 1:23; Isaiah 7:14).
F. Unlimited power of God. 1:36-37
When we come Luke 1:36, the angel makes
mention of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s conception of John the Baptist.
That act in itself was God’s Divine providence, a special providence,
working in and through the natural order of human conception. God is not only
the God of providence, but here, the God
of the miraculous. As we already saw in verse 37 “nothing will be impossible with God”.
Closing thought:
When we put all these thoughts together, we have a Biblical description of the virginal conception of our Lord = Undiminished deity of an unparalleled personality united to undiluted humanity by the Holy Spirit through God’s unlimited power. We have then the mother of the virgin birth, the messenger of the virgin birth, and the miracle of the virgin birth. This grand mystery and confession is the gateway to enjoying the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God.
