Why the Virgin Conception?

“All is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child.” These are words from the most popular Christmas carol, “Silent Night!” Most of us have sung these words thousands of times. The words “virgin” and “mother” rarely go together. But that is the reality of Jesus’ birth – He was born of a virgin. Nothing like this has ever happened in all of history. And it did not take place without a purpose. God was not just flexing His muscles to show the world what He can do. It was necessary that Jesus be born of a virgin for Him to accomplish what He intended. And without the virgin conception, Jesus would have failed even before He left the womb. 

Let’s begin to understand this by first seeing what Jesus was supposed to accomplish. 

Jesus’ Mission

The birth of Jesus, the Messiah, was prophesied long ago in the Old Testament by God directly and also through the prophets (see here). All these prophecies included specific things that Jesus would accomplish. And primarily, His mission – the reason He came to this world – was to reconcile humans and all creation to God (2 Cor 5:19). 

Humans once enjoyed close fellowship with God in the garden of Eden. However, because of sin – because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve – humans were alienated from God. Through that one act of disobedience, sin entered the world and spread to all mankind (Rom 5:12). Every person born is born under the curse of sin (Ps 51:5, Eph 2:2) and we are all separated from God (Rom 3:23). Moreover, we cannot redeem ourselves from this state because in our minds we are hostile to God (Rom 8:7-8), we enjoy our sin (Eph 2:3), and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before the Lord (Is 64:6).  According to God’s law, the wages of our sin is death (Rom 6:23). Such is the helpless state of mankind in comparison to God’s holiness. And this is what Jesus came to rectify. 

He did this by bearing our sins upon Himself and dying in our place (1 Pet 3:18); while we were still helpless, Jesus died for us and redeemed us from the wrath of God (Rom 5:6). And He could do this only because of His virgin conception. 

Importance of the Virgin Conception

Before diving into this, let us keep in mind that the birth of Jesus was not miraculous but His conception was. He was born like any of us are born – He was in Mary’s womb for 9 months, and was delivered like any of us are; but unlike us, He was conceived by a virgin, without the involvement of a man. Therefore, the term “Virgin birth” is misleading.

The story about the conception of Jesus is found in the Gospels of Matthew and of Luke. Mary, the young virgin, became pregnant before she had relations with a man. The child in her womb, Jesus, was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20) and eventually, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 

As we saw earlier, everyone conceived naturally of Adam and Eve inherited sin and are sinful by nature – sin spread to all mankind. And a sinful person could never reconcile humans to God because he cannot be a suitable atonement. God revealed this truth through the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. The sacrificial animal, which was a substitute for the people, had to be without blemish. The best example of this is the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:5 – it was to be unblemished. We see the same in Lev 1:3,10; 3:1; 4:3; 14:10; 23:18; Num 6:14; 28:19, and many more. So, for Jesus to be our sacrifice, our Passover Lamb (1 Pet 1:19), He needed to be without sin. He could not inherit the sin of Adam from birth; and at the same time, He could not commit any sin either during His life on earth. 

To accomplish this, according to God’s awesome and wise plan, Jesus was not conceived in a way which will automatically associate sin to Him. He was not stained with a sinful nature into which everyone is born. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and was free from sin. And when we think about it, isn't that how God created man originally? Adam was created when God breathed life into him and he was created without sin, and God said that it was very good (Gen 1:31). Likewise, Jesus was also born without sin as the second and last Adam (Rom 5:14). 

And when it comes to committing sin during His life on earth, the Bible is clear that Jesus never sinned though He was tempted in every way as we are (Heb 4:15). He was not subject to sin as we are and there was no desire in Him to break God’s Law. Even during His false trial before His crucifixion, He was found to be without guilt (John 18:8). 

Thus, Jesus was sinless in every way and it began with His virgin conception.

Conclusion

The virgin conception of Jesus is crucial in God’s redemption story. If He had not been born of a virgin, then He would have been sinful and He would have needed redemption just like all of us. But, praise the Lord, Jesus was born of a virgin and therefore, He was sinless, and because He was sinless, He could be and was the perfect atonement for our sins. 

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus this year, let us ponder on the importance of His virgin conception and how it was absolutely necessary for our redemption. The nature of the incarnation of the Son of God is intertwined with his atoning work on the cross. His unblemished nature was organically tied to His perfect life, His death, and His resurrection. 

Without the virgin womb, there would not have been an empty tomb!

Merry Christmas!

Further Reading

  1. Stephen J. Wellum, God the Son Incarnate
  2. Stephen J. Vellum, Christ Alone

Why the Incarnation?

The month of December is the most wonderful time of the year! People everywhere are in festive spirits and make plans to spend time with their families. While many holidays are celebrated all over the world (including Festivus), there is none more popular than Christmas. It is the most recognized Christian holiday, and it is enjoyed and celebrated by many non-Christians as well. 

While people will identify Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, there are many other aspects of this holiday that are not thought about. For example, who is this Jesus and why is His birthday so important? Why does the whole world celebrate/remember His birthday? I am not sure if you have pondered these questions but they are definitely worth investigating. 

Christians believe, as the Bible teaches, that Jesus was born miraculously through a virgin. He was called Emmanuel, which means “God with us”. He was/is God (see here), who took on human nature and was born on the earth. But why? What was the reason for Him to become a man? There are two ways this question can be answered – objectively and subjectively.

The Objective need for the Incarnation 

When we approach it from an objective view, we take into consideration the facts of the argument. What was the factual need for the Son of God to be born as a human being? Or what did humans lack that God had to take on human form to accomplish? A very simple, yet profound, answer to this question is that humans lacked fellowship or friendship with God. 

When God made man and woman, he made them in His image. He gave them the ability to be aware of themselves and to be aware of their surroundings. Because of this, they were able to enjoy God and also each other. There were no barriers between God and humans. Nothing prevented humans from living in the manner God had intended and to have perfect fellowship with Him. However, this did not last forever. Humans disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which God had prohibited. And because of man’s disobedience, there was a cosmic shift in creation. 

Humans were now afraid of God and did not want to be in His presence (Gen 3:10). God’s most wonderful creation rebelled against Him and avoided Him. God was still merciful and did not destroy them. However, He knew that His word was violated and that humans lacked the ability to make amends or restore the fellowship. Humanity was now stained with sin, and death made its way into the human race. Every human born was now born with the stain of sin; they sinned more and violated God’s commands easily, and consequently, suffered death. Only God could make a way for humans to enjoy the fellowship that they enjoyed with Him before sin came into the world. This could be done only by destroying sin and its effects, namely death, and that is the exact reason God became a human, in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus restored fellowship with God

Even before His birth, the angel told Joseph in a dream that Jesus would save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21). When Jesus first appeared to the public, John the Baptist said that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus forgave people their sins during His earthly ministry (Mark 2:5), and said that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). 

Moreover, He never succumbed to the power of sin. When He was tempted, He did not give in; rather He was victorious over every temptation (Matt 4:1-11). He was tempted in every way that humans are tempted, yet He did not sin (Heb 4:15). He was the Only one whom sin could not overcome and could not conquer. 

But the ultimate freedom from sin was obtained when Jesus took our sins upon Himself and died on the cross. God condemned sin in Jesus’ flesh, and through His death, defeated sin. And through His resurrection, He defeated the power of sin, namely, death. Jesus inaugurated a new era in which humans could have fellowship with God again without any hindrance. What was lost in the garden of Eden through the disobedience of one man – Adam – was gained, and more, through the obedience of one man, Jesus. This was the objective reason for the Incarnation – to restore the fellowship between God and man. 

The Subjective need for the Incarnation

From a subjective standpoint, we are not considered with facts but with feelings and personal perspectives. And in this case, we have to wonder why God felt the need to become human. And this question has only one answer – Love. 

God’s love for humans did not cease when they disobeyed Him. He continued to love them and was also patient with them, enduring the sins they committed against Him. In His love, He established the sanctuary and the temple in the Old Testament. Through the sacrifices offered for sin, God made a way to live with His people. He never abandoned them but loved them (us) with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). Everything in the  OT was a preparation for the final solution. And His ultimate display of love was seen in the person of Jesus Christ. 

We read in John 3:16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus came to this world because of the Father’s love for us. God, by nature, is love and Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love for us (1 John 4:8-9). In Jesus, we can see the true extent of God’s love in that God did not even spare His own Son for us (Rom 8:32). We were God’s enemies because of our rebellion, but God loved us. He demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). And Jesus gave Himself on the cross because of the love He had for us (Gal 2:20). Jesus took on the form of a slave and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:7-8) in order that God and humans may be reconciled. God’s love for us is so infinite that nothing in all of creation can separate us from Him (Rom 8:38-39). 

So much more can be said about God’s love for us. Infinite volumes have been written explaining the depths of God’s love but they, together, fail to scratch even the surface of it. We can never comprehend why God loves us but we can be sure that He does. And this love He has for us compelled Him to become human and be born of a virgin. This is the birth we celebrate!

A New Christmas!

Maybe you have celebrated many Christmases and have never wondered why Jesus was born. Or maybe Christmas in the past did not focus on Jesus and His love for us. It might be that Christmas has been about spending time with the family and exchanging gifts. But this year, Christmas could be different when we realize that Jesus was born in this world so that we could have perfect fellowship with God. 

God was reconciling the world to Himself in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:19) and now extends this reconciliation to all who believe in Jesus and turn from their sin. Jesus came so that we might have life in all its abundance (John 10:10). 

Let’s turn to Jesus, the birthday boy, and call on Him for this abundant life and fellowship with God.

Merry Christmas!