## Article VII: Of the Virgin Birth

## Isaiah 7:14

I. The Prediction of the Virgin Birth.

A. Old Testament Prophecies,

1. Some Old Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled.

a. Gen. 12:1-3 - God's promise to make a great nation.

b. Gen. 17:19-21 God's promise that Sarah would bear Isaac.

c. 2 Sam. 7:12-16 God's promise that Solomon would build the Temple.

2. What would it mean to us as Christians if God had failed to fulfill these prophecies?

a. Our beliefs as Christians would be meaningless.

b. The very foundation of our faith would crumble.

c. The Word of God would not be reliable at all.

3. Note some Old Testament prophecies about the virgin birth.

a. Gen. 3:15 - the "seed of the woman"

b. Is. 7:14 - "Born of a virgin"

B. The rejection of it's significance.

1. Modernists and liberals reject the doctrine of the virgin birth.

2. They want to reduce Jesus Christ to little more than a great teacher.

3. For them to accept the virgin birth would require them to accept that Jesus is God.

4. They are particularly critical of Is. 7:14.

a. RSV, "Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son..."

b. The Revised Standard Version was completed by the educational division of the National Council of Churches.

c. How does this verse accomplish their goal?

5. Their basis for this change is translating the Hebrew word "Almah"

6. The men who translated for the RSV were religious liberals and modernists.

7. Like cults who choose to revise God's Word, they render it how they want it to read.

C. Our reasons for accepting the Virgin Birth.

1. Many outstanding Hebrew scholars support it.

2. The Septuagint, Old Testament in Greek, translates it as virgin.

3. But are these good enough reasons? NO

4. NOTE: Mt. 1:23: there is no question about the word used for virgin here - it can only mean a woman who has never had relations with a man.

5. The Holy Spirit inspired both Old Testament and New Testament writers and He affirms that Jesus Christ was virgin-born.

II. The Fulfillment of the Virgin Birth.

A. Jesus Christ was born without a human father.

1. NOTE: Mt. 1:16, 1 ... of whom was born Jesus" refers to Mary alone.

2. NOTE: Mt. 1:18, "...before they come together ...

3. NOTE: Mt. 1:25, "...knew her not..."

4. All of these verses point to nothing but the virgin birth.

5. Gal. 4:4 is the partial fulfillment of Gen. 3:15.

a. Gen. 3:15, "the seed of the woman"

b. Gen. 4:4, "made of a woman"

B. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

1. Consider the Jewish custom of marriage. Mt. 1:18-20

a. The betrothal would compare with our engagement period only a stronger commitment.

b. Then an interval existed before the marriage was actually physically consummated.

c. It was during this interval that Mary became pregnant.

d. Joseph had two options,

1) He could make a public example of her for her obvious infidelity.

2) Or he could privately put her away by a bill of divorcement.

e. The Lord supplied Joseph with an explanation and a third option...to marry her.

2. Both Mary Joseoh received the same message.

a . NOTE: Luke 1:26-38

b. Mary couldn't understand how that she, a virgin having never known (sexually) a man, could conceive and tear a child. v 34

c. The angel Gabriel told her that the Holy Ghost would bring this to be.

d. He further assured her that "with God nothing shall be impossible'',

3. Neither Mary or Joseph question the message from God,

a. Joseph "...did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him ..."

b. Mary said, "...be it according to thy Word ..."

III. The Significance of the Virgin Birth

A. Is the virgin birth an essential doctrine to the Christian faith?

1. In other words, can a person be a true believer in Christ and yet deny that He was born of a virgin?

2. The answer is NO.

a. To deny that Christ was virgin born is to deny:

b. That the Word of God is true.

c. That Jesus was the Son of God.

d. That He could die a sacrificial death.

B. The doctrine of the virgin birth is vitally connected to many other Important doctrines. NOTE: John 10:31-38

1. The authenticity of the Scriptures

a. Liberals see the virgin birth as a "symbol" of Christ's uniqueness and they deny that it happened literally,

b. If the Scripture is not reliable in this area - how can it be trusted at all?

c. Mary accepted God's Word through the angelic messenger, we also need to accept God's Word.

2. The actuality of the miraculous.

a. Humanism sees man as the center of the universe and magnify him rather than God.

b. They are also evolutionary in their concept of nature and therefore they refuse to accept the miraculous.

c. However, we cannot view the virgin birth of Christ as a normal development.

d. Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."

3. The appropriateness of His person.

a. Heb, 2:9-18 - In order to redeem man, Jesus Christ had to become a man,

b. The virgin birth was a vital part of God's plan of redemption

c. The Saviour was born into this world without sin.

d. 2 Co. 5:21 says that He knew no sin.

e. I Peter 2:22 says that He did no sin.

f. He was God's Lamb without blemish and without sport. I Pe. 1:19

g. By the miracle of the virgin birth, the eternal Son of God was united with human nature and only through this union could redemption be accomplished.

Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost, in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman. He is both the Son of God and God the Son. Reason and science would tell us that this is a biological impossibility, but the Word of God makes it clear that it had to be in order for us to have a Savior who could redeem us from Sin. Once again, I challenge you 'Where is your faith?' in men or in God? (Luke 1:37) "For with God nothing shall be impossible."