To conclude my series called "The Miracles of God", what better miracle to focus on for December than the Virgin Birth? I hope this poem and meditation bless you this Christmas. Love Lucy x
The Miracles Of God- The Virgin Birth.
Luke 1:26-38
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
“Descending from the woman and the Holy Spirit’s power,The Miracles Of God- The Virgin Birth.
Luke 1:26-38
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
Jesus came to break the curse of history’s darkest hour.
Yes, through the “Highly favoured one” our Saviour came to Earth.
The Son of God came down to man, behold, the Virgin Birth!”
1 Peter 1:18-19
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Insight and Reflection
There is so much to admire about the sweet and humble young Mary, and Scripture shows us many beautiful traits this woman possessed. Her willingness to surrender fully to God’s plan is nothing short of inspirational and the story of the Virgin Birth is one that continues to ignite hearts to this day.
God chose Mary to take on one of the most important roles in human history which was to help bring the Messiah to the world. We know through Scripture that she came from the tribe of Judah as the daughter of Heli, a direct descendant of Judah. It was prophesied that the Messiah would come from the line of Judah in Genesis 49 and Scripture also tells us that He would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 reads,
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
The virgin birth is one of the most highly criticised doctrines within the Bible and over the years, people have tried to pull it down many times. Even some liberal theologians have said that the virgin birth is “just a myth” or “an over exaggerated Christmas story” that maybe makes us feel good but shouldn’t be taken seriously.
There are some who say that Jesus was really the biological son of Joseph and that it’s not “a big deal” to disregard the doctrine of the virgin birth. When we study the rest of Scripture, however, we see that to deny the virgin birth is a very bid deal indeed!
The truth of the virgin birth is actually an essential doctrine to the eternal salvation for the souls of mankind. If Jesus wasn’t born of a virgin then He’s not our Saviour at all and so it’s imperative that we understand the meaning and importance behind this doctrine.
We read about the fall of mankind through sin in Genesis 3 and verses 14-15 of that chapter go on to tell us,
“So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.””
What we have here in this portion of Scripture is the first prophecy concerning the Messiah and straight away, the reference to the woman’s “Seed” gives us the indication that He will be born of a virgin. Not only is this section unique due to it’s prophetic nature but also because it’s the only place in the Bible where you find any reference to the “Seed” of the woman. When God’s Word talks about any “seed” in relation to a person’s descendants, the “seed” is always in reference to the father and the male side of things.
Whenever we read through any genealogy in the rest of Scripture, it always refers to the “male seed” and the descendants of the fathers. For example, Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob and so on and so forth. Every genealogy in the Bible follows this male format and the biological reason for this is because a woman doesn’t actually possess a seed, only the man does.
Women have eggs which are fertilised by the seed of a man, so Genesis 3:15 is the only place where we ever find the “Seed” of a woman being mentioned. This shows straight away that the Messiah, the Descendant of the virgin was going to be different from anyone else in history. God is showing us clearly here that the “Seed” of the woman, the Messiah, who would crush the head of Satan and bring salvation to the world, would be a Descendant of a woman only.
As soon as Adam sinned, God revealed His plan to send a Redeemer but made it clear that this Redeemer would come through a woman, not a man. Here in Genesis 3, we see the Bible foretelling us, even at this early stage of human history, that the Messiah would need to be born of a virgin. He would come through the genetics of a woman, combined with the power of the Holy Spirit.
As I mentioned before, it’s crucially important that we understand why Jesus had to be born of a virgin and it’s to do with how the sinful nature is passed down genetically through the generations. The Bible tells us in Romans 5:12,
“…through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men…”
This verse explains that sin came to all mankind through one man and so it’s through the seed of man that the sinful nature is passed down from generation to generation.
It’s interesting to note that even though Eve was technically the first one to eat of the forbidden fruit, the Bible consistently teaches that sin entered the world through one man, Adam. This is because God gave the direct command not to eat of the fruit to Adam only, not Eve. Also, Eve was deceived when she ate the fruit whereas Adam knew he was being disobedient and wilfully sinning. Therefore, Adam is held responsible for knowingly going against God’s direct command to him. This explains why the Bible tells us that sin is therefore passed on to all people through the seed of man.
Please know, I don’t intend this to sound like a “battle of the genders.” I’m simply highlighting the biological reason behind the biblical truth that we inherit our fallen nature through the male seed.
This brings us back to the point of why the virgin birth is so crucial for salvation. If Mary hadn’t been a virgin and Jesus had been conceived through Joseph or any other human father for that matter, then He would have inherited man’s sinful nature and would Himself, have been prone to sin. Adam’s sinful nature would have been passed down to any descendant and so Jesus couldn’t come through the seed of man, only the Seed of woman. This meant his mother had to be a virgin and Jesus had to be conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If Jesus had been conceived through the seed of any human man then He would instantly have been disqualified from being our Messiah. Jesus would have had a sinful nature like any ordinary person and couldn’t have been the Spotless Lamb of God. The Saviour of the world had to be perfect, untouched and untainted by sin in order to take on the sins of the world and die in our place. If He had come through the seed of man then He would have had to pay for His own sin too, rendering Him unqualified as our sinless Saviour.
This is why this doctrine is so important and it’s also why it’s attacked so much. If you can “discredit” the virgin birth then you can “discredit” the saving work of Jesus on the Cross. If Jesus wasn’t born of a virgin, He wasn’t perfect and therefore His death on the Cross becomes invalid and powerless to save.
The good news is, the virgin birth hasn’t and never will be discredited, though many have tried. The very fact that Jesus was Resurrected from the grave and reigns, alive and well in our hearts today, proves the truth about Mary. If Mary hadn’t been a virgin then Jesus wouldn’t have been sinless and the tomb would have remained closed. As it stands, the tomb is empty and the Saviour is Risen! Praises to the God of miracles! Praises to the Son of God who came as Man!
