SundayDecember 13, 2015 Phone: 570.829.5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message: Christmas-2015 Text: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23
Importance of the Virgin Birth
Introduction: One of the greatest Christmas passages on the Birth of Christ is found in Philippians 2:5-11.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Here the Apostle Paul presents to us:
In verses 7-8 A Son is BORN, this is the CRADLE; this is Bethlehem. This is the incarnation; this is the VIRGIN BIRTH.
In verse 8 A Saviour is CRUCIFIED, this is the CROSS; this is Calvary. Jesus set His face toward Calvary. He came to die. You cannot have Bethlehem without Calvary and you cannot have Calvary without Bethlehem.
In verses 9-11 A Sovereign is CROWNED King of Kings and Lord of Lords, here we have the CROWN.
From Heavens Glory to a CRADLE
From a CRADLE to the CROSS
From a CROSS to the CROWN in Glory
Truly we can say THIS IS THE BIRTHDAY OF A KING. The Christmas story involves threeepisodes:
The CRADLE, The CROSS, The CROWN.
We have the BIRTH, DEATH and GLORY of JESUS CHRIST.
We have a SON, a SAVIOUR, and A SOVEREIGN.
Now let’s center our attention upon the subject in verses 7-8, “A Son is BORN,” answering the question “Why I believe in the Virgin Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Throughout history, those who have been influenced by Satan proclaim a rejection of the “Virgin Birth.” Instead, they claim that,
Jesus is the illegitimate child of a Roman solider who had a love affair with Mary. (Jewish writings)
Jesus is the natural son of Joseph and Mary. He was only a master conspirator who thought He could be the Messiah. So, He purposely tried to fulfill the Messianic prophecies.
The virgin birth is a myth. This myth takes the reader out of this world of sober reality into the world of fairy tale.
Now we shouldn’t be surprised when the skeptics, atheists, agnostics, and religious liberals (today called Moderates) want to deny the inseparable virgin birth with the deity of Christ. If Jesus is God, He must be born of God.
Dr. Howard Kelly, the world renowned physician, noted scientist and one of the founders of John Hopkins Hospital was asked if he believed in the VIRGIN BIRTH of the LORD JESUS CHRIST as proclaimed in the scripture. He answered by saying,
"Yes most emphatically! To deny this teaching would be equivalent to rejecting other vital parts of the scripture, bringing into question the whole Bible as the Word of God. Yet there are those who say, "I cannot believe in a Virgin Birth because it is biologically impossible. To such I reply in Gabriel's words to Mary, "With God nothing shall be impossible."
To reject the Virgin Birth of Christ is to reject His deity, since they are synonymous. Many admit to the DIVINITY of Christ but do not acknowledge His deity. To contend that Christ was not born of a Virgin by the agency of the Holy Spirit is to reject Him as our Mediator at the right hand of God.
The incarnation involves two MIRACLES. When you try to take them out of the Christmas story, you lose it entirely.
The first miracle is that God could take upon Himself the full nature of man, yet retain the full nature of God. The Bible declares that He, Jesus is the GOD-MAN.
The second miracle is that a human body could be conceived within a mother’s womb without an earthly father. That is exactly how the Birth of Christ occurred. The miracle of the Virgin Birth was not the actual physical Birth, but the conception of Christ's earthly body.
Listen carefully to this statement:
"If you do not believe in the VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST, He died in vain. Because if He were not God, whose Father was in fact God, He did not have the ability or the right to claim to die for a lost race. So you cannot deny the VIRGIN BIRTH and call yourself a Christian."
The virgin Birth of Jesus is vital to our FAITH. A Christian genealogist said many years ago:
"I believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ. After years of medical practice, I find the normal birth of an average child a mystery so profound that my human mind can give no adequate explanation for it. Long ago, I came to accept the greater wonder of the incarnation of Jesus Christ purely on the grounds of FAITH."
Now what does the Bible record say? Follow me in your Bible and as you do, may I suggest you underline these verses and circle the important words.
First: Genesis 3:15,“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Here is the first mention of the Virgin Birth. Notice the phase, "the SEED of the woman." It’s the man who carries the seed not the woman, but here it refers to a woman's seed. The fulfillment of this verse is found in Galatians 4:4 where we read. "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth, His Son, MADE OF A WOMAN..."
Second: Isaiah 7:14,“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is a crucial verse to support the Virgin Birth. I say that because some translations use the words “young woman” instead of the word “virgin.”
The words "the virgin" in the Hebrew language is "ALMAH" referring to a "PURE UNMARRIED WOMAN."Seven-hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that a pure unmarried virgin would conceive and bear a son.
This couldn't just be a YOUNG WOMAN conceiving and bearing a Son.What kind of a sign would that be? Lots of young women have babies.
The point is that the Hebrew word "ALMAH" appears only nine times in the Old Testament and in eight of the times it is translated "VIRGIN." In other words, a VIRGIN is going to bear a son. Impossible?Well, that is the sign.
Also notice the word,"Immanuel." This word means "God with us." Now the question is -How is God going to come among us?The answer is "the virgin birth." How mysterious, how wonderful, how beautiful is the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament we see man made in the image of God.
In the New Testament God was made in the image of man.
Third:Jeremiah 31:22, we read “...for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.” Even the Rabbi's interpreted this verse to mean that the Messiah would not have an earthy father.
Fourth: Micah 5:2 Here we have reference to the PLACE of our Lord's Birth where we read, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth have been from old from everlasting.”
This verse shows us that Jesus is ETERNAL, PRE-EXISTENT. Jesus being co-existent with the Father is given to us in the Gospel ofJohn 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. the same was in the beginning with God.”
Crucial to the deity of Christ is that He is God, God the Son, very God of very God. With the Father until the day He laid aside His glory and came to earth to be placed in a woman’s womb, to be encased in a man’s body.
Fifth:Matthew 1:16-25 please observe with me several areas of importance.
Number 1: Verses 16-17,“And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (17) So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
In Verse 16, the phrase"of whom"being in the Greek feminine gender refers to Mary, which clearly makes the conception that of Mary's alone.
Number 2: Verse 18,“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” This verse indicates that Mary and Joseph were actually married.
Number 3: Verse 19, “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.” The phrase "put her away privily" means divorce. Mary could have been stoned for having committed adultery.
Number 4: Verse 20, “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Notice the conception took place by the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that the conception is important to the virgin birth, not the birth itself.
Number 5: Verses 21-23, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (22) Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” This is the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14. Now the Greek word for virgin is "PARTHEMOS" the Hebrew word is "ALMAH" The meaning of both is the same - "A PURE UNMARRIED WOMAN."
Sixth: Verses 24-25,“Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: (25) And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”Even thoughJoseph claimed Mary as His wife, he did not consummate the marriage until after the Birth of Christ.
Someone said concerning “The Virgin Birth,”
“Men who reject the virgin birth scarcely ever hold a really Christian view of Christ. In the overwhelming majority of cases those who reject the virgin birth reject the whole supernatural view of Christ.”
However as Bible believing Christians we accept the Bible account that Jesus Christ was born exactly as Scripture states, born of the Virgin Mary. Someone wrote:
"The God who brought forth a motherless woman (EVE) from the body of a man (Adam), brought forth a fatherless Man (Jesus Christ), from the body of a woman (Mary). There are those who say that it makes no difference whether or not Jesus Christ was Virgin born. But it makes a profound difference whose Son He is. Only a divine birth could provide divine sonship, and only divine sonship could provide a divine Saviour, and only a divine Saviour could achieve and provide salvation for sinful man."
The Apostle’s creed, written around 140 A.D. to summarize in a concise statement the fundamentals of the Christian faith, states:
"I believe in God the father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary..."
Why is the Virgin Birth so important to our faith? Let me give you sixof many reasons why the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ is essential to our faith.
FIRST: The reliability of the scriptures depends upon the truth of the story and doctrine of the Virgin Birth.
You question the authenticity of the prophecies in Genesis 3, Isaiah 7, Jeremiah 31 and Micah 5 and the birth narratives of Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and 2, and you must abandon the doctrine of the final authority of the Bible in matters of FAITH and Practice.
Those who reject the miracle of the Virgin Birth sooner or later reject other doctrines like the atoning death, the resurrection, and the second coming of Christ.
SECOND: The Deity of Christ is related to the Virgin Birth.Jesus said in John 8:58, "Before Abraham was, I am." He was saying by the use of the words“I am” that He is God.
Like God, Jesus isOmnipotent. Jesus has all power as we read in Matthew 28:18,"All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth."
Like God, Jesus isOmnipresent. Only deity can claim omnipresence. When Jesus gave the GREAT COMMISSION in Matthew 28:20, He said, "…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Jesus is EVERYWHERE at the SAME TIME.
Like God, Jesus isOmniscient. He knows everything. He knows our thoughts. He has all wisdom. In Colossians 2:9 we read, “For in Him (referring to Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
Like God, Jesus forgives sin. Only God can forgive sin. In Mark 2:5 Jesus said to the sick one, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."
If the pre-existence and the Virgin Birth are DENIED, our Lord is reduced to the level of a religious genius, removed but little above Socrates and other sages. Praise God He was VIRGIN BORN!
THIRD: The sinlessness of Christ depends upon the Virgin Birth. If Jesus had been born of human parents, He would have been a sinner as we all are. Yet I John 3:5 tells us, "Ye know that Jesus was manifested to take away our sins."How could that be possible? It was possible because He was God. He is without sin.In II Corinthians 5:21 we read that Jesus “knew no sin."Jesus was the SINLESS SON OF GOD.
FOURTH: The atonement of Jesus rests upon the Virgin Birth. Because of the Virgin Birth Jesus is our Saviour.
In Hebrews 10:11-14 we read,“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
Thank God because of the Virgin Birth we can say with confidence John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that HE GAVE..."
A Son in the CRADLE as a BABE,
A Saviour on the CROSS as a REDEEMER, and
A Sovereign to be CROWNED as a KING
And we can sing with thankfulness.
He took my sins and my sorrows
He made them His very own
He bore the burdens of Calvary
and suffered and died alone.
FIFTH: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ depends upon the Virgin Birth.
In Romans 1:3-4we read,“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”
If the birth narratives can be rejected on the grounds of scientific criticism, the resurrection narratives can be deposed of in the same way. If this is true, then what hope do we have after death? As someone said, "The need for the Virgin Birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ hang together."
SIXTH: The hope of His return to earth rests ultimately on His supernatural Birth. If Jesus was born only as a human being, He died and was buried. And since there would have been no resurrection, therefore there will not be any SECOND COMING.
On the very first Christmas there was a farewell going on in Heaven. The Son said good-by to the Father, and their conversation was recorded for us in
Hebrews 10:5-7,“Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (6) In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (7) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”
In essence, Jesus said to the father,
"I realize that you have not been satisfied with the blood of animals, so you have prepared a body for me, (that is the virgin Birth) that I might go into the world and be the FINAL and ULTIMATE sacrifice. I will do it because, as it is written in the Old Testament, I came to do thy Will."