Christian View 2022 - #41

It is not my intention to mitigate the majesty of the manger or the beauty of Bethlehem by a deep dive into doctrine - but, would you give me the latitude to lay a foundation for our faith in the Biblical background of the Christmas story.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus - has been down played, denied and held in derision by modern theology and liberal leaning church articles of faith.

Is this an essential doctrine? Does it have any significance in scripture? What truth is God wanting us to grasp?

Firstly, God puts the inspiration of Scripture on the line.

Is Isaiah 7:14 God breathed or not?

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Secondly, is prophecy reliable? If the Bible is “shakey” about His first coming; then, what about His second coming?

Thirdly, Paul links redemption and His being born of a woman …

Galatian’s 4:4 NLT

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”

You see, for Him to bear my sins and pay its penalty - it was required that He had no sin of His own

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Fourthly, God connects The crushing of Satan’s head with the Virgin birth - the seed of the woman

Genesis 3:15 NLT

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,and between your offspring and her offspring.He will strike your head,and you will strike his heel.”

When Satan encountered the Son of God - He never met anyone like Him …

John 14:30

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

There was no sinful nature - nothing that would demand the wages of sin - death. If He were to die - it would have to be His own decision.

All of those born of Adam received a sinful, Adamic nature. The fallen nature was in the fallen DNA of the first man Adam. He became the federal head of a race of sinners under the wrath and judgment of God. We are sinners before we commit a sinful act - sinners by birth and by choice.

Not so with Jesus.

Luke 1:35 - is Jesus rightful claim to start a new family on earth over which He is the federal head.

“The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.”

The baby born was holy - sinless!

To be in Adam’s earthly family - you had to be born of the flesh; to be in Jesus’ spiritual family - you must be born again - of the Spirit.

Paul draws the federal head of Adam and Jesus into sharp contrast.

1 Corinthians 15:47 NLT

“Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.”

His virgin birth gives Him this status of “the second man.The virgin birth is one of the essentials … without which we have no sinless sacrifice, no viable vicarious substitute - in fact, no salvation.

The carol rings true - doesn’t it …

“The Virgin’s sweet boy is the Lord of the earth

Ay ! the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing

For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King.”

Randy B. Leavitt

Pastor