With Christmas fast approaching, I fully expect the Discovery, Learning and History channels to be littered with special presentations on Jesus of Nazareth. From my experience in watching said programs, most will analyze archaelogical evidence seeking to disprove what the Bible teaches and we believe about the birth of Christ.
One belief that is sure to come under fire is the fact that Jesus Christ was born to Mary, who was a virgin... meaning she had not had relations with any man.
I, for one, still believe in the virgin birth. Here's why.
As mentioned earlier in my blog, Isaiah 7:14 says the LORD Himself shall give us a sign, that a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and call His name Immanuel (Which is interpreted as God with us.) In addition to being explicitly described as a virgin giving birth, this verse also teaches that the birth of Christ would be a one-of-a-kind event.
Now, the scientific mind will have trouble comprehending the conception of a child without the "knowing of a man" on Mary's part. Mary, in Luke 1, had the same objection. Here's how the angel responded:
Luke 1:35-37 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
The angel first explained to Mary how she would conceive. The Holy Ghost would form the child in her womb. Then, in verse 36, I think the angel was basically saying, "And if you can't believe that, check this out! You barren cousin Elisabeth is also having a baby."
The most profound statement then comes in verse 37, "For with God, nothing is impossible."
I wrote a series of columns in The Cherokeean Herald newspaper of Rusk, TX (of which I am a full time writer and columnist) which defended creationism... you know, God created the earth in six literal days and rested on the seventh. The million year old ice age fossils are really from a world wide flood 4,400 years ago... you get the idea.
A man then sent a letter to the editor saying such a position was one of a thick-headed person. He contended that it was easy to just have faith and say "God did it." It took science and reason to figure out how. But that's the point... we can't figure out how God does things. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than ours. All we need to know is that with God, nothing is impossible. This great big world was created in six days, because God spoke it into existence... it is not impossible. A virgin gave birth to Christ... it is not impossible. With God, nothing is impossible.
Now, having made a feeble attempt to defend the virgin birth of Christ, let's look at its importance. First of all, if Christ was conceived the way we were, by a man and a woman, then Luke 1 is inaccurate and can no longer be viewed as scripture, which makes the entire book of Luke suspect, as well as the book of Acts.
If the book of Luke is inaccurate in that Christ was born of a virgin, then we must also discard John 3:16, which says God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son.... A begotten son is one that is a blood relative. Joshua and J.J. are my begotten sons. If I adopt, that adopted child is not begotten. So, if Christ were the son of a man, then He is not begotten by God, which means that God did not give His only begotten Son, which would make John 3:16 false. Thus, the entire book of John would then have to be rejected as scripture. Eventually through this process, the entire Bible would be rejected as scripture. Therefore, if we accept the Bible as scripture, the inspired Word of God, then we have to accept the virgin birth of Christ. Otherwise, we deny His very nature and existence.
What about scientific evidence? What did Jesus say to Thomas? Blessed are those who believe without seeing. Sometimes, you just have to have faith and believe God.
Luke 1 is a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, and that is the beauty of studying both the Old and New Testaments. You can see the promise, then see the promise fulfilled.
God bless you. Have a merry CHRISTmas.
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