Virgin Birth – Non Negotiable Part of Christmas

 

Ancient and modern skeptics have based much of their attack on Christianity on the Doctrine of the Virgin Birth.  The reason, of course, is that the Virgin birth would not only take a biological miracle, but makes Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of the Father. The Bible teaches the Virgin birth both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and is a very important part of God’s plan  Immediately after man first sinned, God not only placed a curse on man and the earth in which he lived, but also gave the first promise of the coming Redeemer.

 

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.

 

I. In This Verse God Tells The Snake Two Important Aspects Of The Result Of Sin:

 

1. There was to be two distinct "seeds"

A. seed of the serpent

B. Seed of the Woman

2. There was going to be a "battle of the seeds"

A. seed of the serpent will bruise the Seed of the woman’s heel.

B. The triumphant Seed of the Woman will  crush (literally) the head of the seed of the serpent.

 

Ii. This "Battle Of The Seeds" Is Seen All Through The Old Testament

A. Cain killing Abel

B. Moses saved out of the Nile

C. Most obvious in Scripture is when all of the Jewish boys sentenced to death at the time of Christ’s birth

1. Joseph had to take his family to Egypt

2. Thus saving the baby Jesus’ life. 

D. This also promises that this Redeemer

1. Who would gain the victory over Satan

2. Would be of the woman’s seed. 

E. All Through The Bible And All Through History

1. Everybody else has been the seed of some man, never of the seed of the woman. 

2. Jesus did not have a sinful father, but was born of a Virgin.

3. He was God in a man’s body – a biological miracle. This prophecy was made crystal clear in the book of Isaiah:

 

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.

Isaiah 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Isaiah 7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

F. The Virgin Obviously Points To The "Seed Of The Woman" Of Genesis 3:15

1. Very unique because it was a sign from the Lord Himself

2. This type of sign would not be necessary in any ordinary birth

a. The Virgin was going to bring forth One Who would be called Immanuel

b. Immanuel means "God with us".

 

G. The Hebrew Word For "Virgin" In Isaiah 7:14 Occurs Only Six Other Times In The Bible. 

1. Although its exact meaning has been debated,

a. Its usage is always consistent with the meaning "virgin"

b. In some cases this is the only possible meaning.

2. The scholars who translated the Old Testament into the Greek Septuagint used the standard Greek word for "virgin" in translating Isaiah 7:14. 

3. Matthew when he quoted this prophecy (Matthew 1:23) as being fulfilled in the Virgin birth of Christ. 

4. Isaiah 9:6 speaks of the "child born" as One who is also "The Mighty God". 

5. Micah 5:2 says that the One who is born in Bethlehem would also be One

"Whose goings forth have been from everlasting"! 

6. All of these prophesies point to a miraculous birth. 

H. It Was Promised That The Coming Redeemer Would Be A Descendant Of

1. Shem (Genesis 9:26)

2. Abraham (Genesis 22:18)

3. Isaac (Genesis 26:4)

4. Jacob (Genesis 28:14)

5. Judah (Genesis 49:10)

6. David (II Samuel 7:12, 13). 

I. The Line From Judah Proceeded From David To Coniah

1. Coniah was a wicked king

2. God said, "No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of the house of Israel."  (Jeremiah 22:17).

3. As always, the alleged contradictions of the Bible are all understood to be in harmony with the rest of Scripture with more study. 

J. Modern Scholars, Ignorantly Have Ridiculed God’s Plan Because The Genealogies Of Matthew 1:6-16 And That Of Luke 3:23-31 Seem To Disagree. 

1. The solution to this is that Matthew gives the legal and royal lineage from

a. David through Solomon and Conias, also called Jechonias,

b. Through Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. 

2. Luke Gives The True Biological Line

a. from David through Nathan to Heli, the father of Mary.

b. To have the legal right to the throne of David, Jesus must be the legal son of Joseph

1. He could not be the true son of Joseph because God’s judgment on Coniah.

2. He also had to be of the actual "seed of David" to occupy the throne.

J. How could this problem be resolved?

1. The only answer to this problem is the Virgin Birth or the Seed of the Woman! 

2. Not only is the Virgin Birth true because it is clearly taught in the Bible.

3. It is the only type of birth that fits Jesus mission here about 2,000 years ago

4. It is God’s eternal plan of salvation for His people.

K. Isn’t it fitting that the One who performed the many miracles during His life here on earth, would be born of a virgin

1. He offered Himself willingly on the cross for the sins of His adulterous people

2. He then rose from the dead, foiling Satan’s plan to destroy the Seed of the Woman

3. To be our Savior He must be more than a mere man

a. Although He is, none the less, the  Son of man. 

b. In order to die for our sins, He must be sinless  Himself

L.  The "Seed of the Woman" was  implanted in the virgin’s womb as it is written in Luke chapter  one:

 

Genesis 1:35 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.

 

II. The first Christmas, which means "Christ-sent", is the only time that God took on a human body

A. It was followed by His resurrection from the dead

B. But this event and the resurrection following was not the end of God’s plan. 

1. If we read the book of Revelation chapter 12, we would see another vision of   the Woman giving birth to a man child

2. And of war in heaven and war on earth.

3. Obviously this points to the ending of the age long "Battle of the Seeds" where Satan himself will loose the battle and be ultimately cast into the lake of fire. 

III. This same Jesus who created the world in the first place

A. Humbled Himself to become a man

B. He was the innocent substitute - taking the death penalty for you and me

C. He will return soon, to consummate God’s plan of eternal marriage bliss with His people - who were tested and overcame.


Genealogy of Christ Showing The Virgin Birth

 

Seed of the Woman – Genesis 3:15

 

 

Shem - Genesis 9:26

 

 

Abraham -Genesis 22:18

 

 

Isaac -Genesis 26:4

 

 

Jacob -Genesis 28:14

 

 

Judah -Genesis 49:10

 

 

David - II Samuel 7:12, 13

Ù

Matthew - Legal & Loyal Line

Luke - True Biological Line

 

 

Solomon

Nathan

 

 

Conias Or Jeconias

Matatha

 

 

Joseph - Foster Father Of Jesus

Heli - Father Of Mary

Prophecy

Description

Fulfilled

Genesis 3:15

Would be the Seed of a Woman

Galatians 4:4,

Luke 2:7

Isaiah 7:14

Born of a virgin

Matthew1:18,

Luke 1:26-38

Genesis 18:18

Promised Seed of Abraham

Acts 3:25,

Galatians 3:16

Genesis 17:19

Seed of Isaac

Luke 3:33-34

Numbers 24:17

The Seed of Jacob

Matthew 1:1-2

Psalm 132:11, Jeremiah.23:5,

Isaiah 9:7

The Seed of David

Acts 13:23,

Luke 1:32-33

Genesis  49:10

From the tribe of Judah

Luke 3:33

Micah 5:2

Born in Bethlehem

Matthew 2:1,

Luke 2:4-7

Daniel 9:25

Time of Birth

Luke 2:1-7

Jeremiah 31:15

Slaughter of Innocents

Matthew 2:16-18

Hosea 11:1

Flight to Egypt

Matthew 2:14 & 15

Isaiah 40:3-5

The Way Prepared

Luke 3:3-6

Malachi 4:5-6

Preceded by Elijah

Matthew 11:13-14

Isaiah 40:3,

Malachi  3:1

Proceeded by a forerunner

Matthew 3:1-3,

Luke 1:17

Psalm 72:10-11

Adored By Kings

Matthew 2:1-11

Isaiah 9:7,11:1

The Heir to David’s throne

Luke 1:32

The Mathematical Odds of Jesus Fulfilling Prophecy

We Just demonstrated 16 out of 300 Prophecies to tell the Christmas Story

Coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Mr. Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017."

That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man."
      Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "we find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10157, or 1 in 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 000,000,000."

      (This information was taken from the book Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell.)

      The estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 1079. It should be quite evident that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies by accident. He was and is Who He said He was: the only way (John 14:6).

 

Word Study -The Word Almah – “Virgin” In The Old Testament

05959 hmle ‘almah al-maw’

from 05958; TWOT-1630b; n f

AV-virgin 4, maid 2, damsels 1; 7

 

1) virgin, young woman

   1a) of marriageable age

   1b) maid or newly married

There is no instance where it can be proved that this word designates a young woman who is not a virgin. (TWOT)

 

Genesis 24:43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin <05959> cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

Exodus 2:8 And  Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid <05959> went and called the child’s mother.

Psalms 68:25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels <05959> playing with timbrels.

Proverbs 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid <05959>. {midst: Heb. heart}

Song of Solomon 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins <05959> love thee.

Song of Solomon 6:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins <05959> without number.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin <05959> shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. {shall call: or, thou, O virgin, shalt call}

In The New Testament about the same birth, can mean nothing else but Virgin

Luke 1: 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Luke 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. {highly…: or, graciously accepted, or, of much grace}

Luke 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luke 1:35  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.