Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Does the Virgin Birth really matter? Isaiah 7:14 We Believe Sermon Series #7 Maybe we could dub it Wal-Mart Theology but in a matter of weeks, you will hear Biblical theology over the Wal-Mart sound system. “Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright – Round yon virgin mother and child.”  Nearly every person in America can sing the first verse to Silent Night. And though I’m not a betting man, I would be willing to wager that in spite of the gross Biblical illiteracy in America a huge majority of Americans can tell you that Jesus’ mother was a Virgin named Mary. But does it matter?   The Apostles’ Creed states, “I believe in Jesus Christ...Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” But the Apostles’ Creed was written some 1500 years ago; in our contemporary world Does the Virgin Birth really matter? Is it more than just the words of an old Christmas carol that everyone sings but no one really believes?   When we come to this topic of the virgin birth, or, more accurately, the virgin conception of Jesus Christ, immediately we find that we are moving into areas of broad disagreement. Theologian Millard Erickson says that, “Next to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, perhaps the one event of His life that has received the greatest amount of attention is the virgin birth. Certainly next to the resurrection it is the most debated and controversial.”   This morning we come face to face with the Virgin Birth of Christ, a doctrine we tend not to think about except during December. But we are considering it today because the early Christians esteemed this truth so highly that they included it in the first Christian creed. It’s of paramount importance as a foundational doctrine of our faith.   The doctrine of the Virgin Conception falls on one of the great fault lines of the Christian faith. It rests on the “great divide” that separates those who believe the Bible is God’s Word, and those who don’t. It separates those who believe in a supernatural Christ from those who believe that He was just a good man, a moral teacher, a revolutionary, a prophet perhaps, but not the Son of God from heaven. Because of the importance of this doctrine, it’s crucial that we state plainly what we believe about the birth of Christ. Christians make a claim for Jesus that cannot be made for any other person: His life did not begin with His birth or with His conception. Unlike every other human whose beginning can be traced to a specific moment in time, we declare that the true life of Jesus Christ had no beginning. Because He is eternal, He existed forever with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This is an utterly supernatural claim that could not be made about anyone else. To help us think through the implications of this portion of the Apostles’ Creed and this vital doctrine, we want to ask several questions about the Virgin Conception and Birth of Jesus Christ. 1. Does the Bible teach the Virgin Conception? Does the Bible teach that He was born of a virgin? Let me state very clearly that both the Old and the New Testaments teach the Virgin Conception. The very first promise that God gave in the Bible concerns the virgin birth. It’s found in Genesis 3:15. Speaking to the serpent, God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” Theologians call this the Protoevangelium, or the first evangel or the first gospel. It was the first promise of God that He would send a Redeemer. The Redeemer was to be the offspring of a woman (not of a man, implying a virgin birth) who would bruise the head of and destroy the serpent who brought the curse upon the earth. As the final result, the serpent himself would endure a mortal wound.   Later on in the Old Testament, we see that this is even more clearly spelled out. In Isaiah 7:14 we read, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” This is the same verse Matthew chose to quote in his Gospel. Nothing could be more clear. We read in Matthew, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). And in case there is any question, verse 20 states, “what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”   It’s interesting to note too that both Matthew and Luke are the two who teach the doctrine of the virgin birth and give the genealogy of Christ. They see no conflict between His genealogy and His miraculous conception. In fact, they go out of their way to make sure everyone understands that there is a distinct difference between the way that Christ was born and the birth of all of His progenitors. For example, we read in Matthew that Abraham begat, David begat, Jacob begat, on up to the fact that another Jacob finally begat "Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom (feminine pronoun) was born Jesus, who is called Christ" (1:16). We read that this man begat that man, that man begat that man who begat this person. But Joseph did not beget Christ; rather, Joseph was merely the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born.   Luke says of Jesus that when He reached thirty years of age, “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph” (Luke 3:23). Both Matthew and Luke go out of their way to make absolutely clear that Jesus was not Joseph’s son.   Jesus’ mother, Mary, when she heard the announcement of the angel Gabriel that she should conceive and bear a child said, “‘How will this be since I am a virgin?’” The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:34, 35). The Bible makes it abundantly clear that Christ was born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Ghost.   And if it was not true, do we think that Joseph would have changed his mind? He was going to divorce her until Gabriel appeared to him. If it wasn’t true, do we think that His mother Mary would have let Jesus die on the Cross for a lie. Mary could have stopped the crucifixion. Jesus was crucified simply for one reason: He claimed that God was His Father. But if it were a lie, and Jesus were not virgin‑born, then she could have stepped forward at any time and said, “I will tell you who His father is!” She could have destroyed His whole mission and saved Him from the cross. There is not a caring mother anywhere who, to save her own reputation, would allow her son to be horribly mutilated and killed. But the reason Mary did not raise any objection is that Jesus is the virgin‑conceived, divine Son of God, the Redeemer of men.   Now some will suggest that the Bible does not teach the Virgin Conception based on an argument from silence. They claim that the Gospels of Mark and John say nothing about it and Paul never alludes to it in his epistles.   Dr. Harry Rimmer, now deceased, a Presbyterian minister who held doctorates both in theology and science, once had quite an encounter at a church with a rather radical Presbyterian minister. A young man being examined for the ministry had proclaimed that he did not believe in the virgin birth. When some of the other ministers began to question him rather severely, another older minister stood up and said that he hoped that they would not make a big point of this because, after all, he said, "I don’t believe in the virgin birth either." Someone asked, "Why not?" And he said, "Well, that should be obvious. It is only mentioned in two places in the New Testament, in Matthew and Luke. Mark knows nothing about it. John never mentions it. And in all of his Epistles, Paul never says one word about it." At that Dr. Rimmer rose to his feet and said, "Well, then, just what do you preach for a gospel?" The minister replied, "I preach the Sermon on the Mount. That’s all the gospel anybody needs." Dr. Rimmer answered that it was not enough for him and then the man asked, "Why not?" Dr. Rimmer said, "Because I don’t believe it." That came as something of a bombshell in the midst of this pastors’ meeting. "I don’t believe that Jesus ever preached the Sermon on the Mount," Dr. Rimmer added. The older minister again asked, "Why ever not?" And Dr. Rimmer’s reply was a classic, "It should be very plain to all. Only Matthew and Luke say anything about the Sermon on the Mount. Mark never says one word about it—apparently he never even knew that it had been preached. John never alludes to it at all. And in all of his epistles, Paul never once refers to a Sermon on the Mount. So, obviously, Jesus never preached such a sermon!”   Well, as you can well imagine the old minister was rather taken aback. But Dr. Rimmer had a point, why should we believe that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount when it is only told to us by Matthew and Luke, who happened to be the same ones who have told us about the virgin birth? This is what is known as the argument from silence. The argument from silence is next to no argument at all. It is the worst of all possible arguments. With it you can prove or disprove almost anything. For example: It is true that Mark never mentions the virgin birth of Christ. It is also true that Mark never mentions the birth of Christ. Therefore, obviously Mark didn’t believe that Jesus had ever been born at all in any way! Isn’t logic wonderful!   The Apostle Paul never mentions the virgin birth, though he does refer to the fact that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the law." But it is also true that Paul never mentioned any of the miracles of Jesus. So, according to the argument from silence, Paul did not believe that Jesus did any miracles. Since Paul never mentioned them, obviously he didn’t believe that they ever happened. And if that is not enough, we might also say that Paul never mentions any of the parables of Jesus. So, quite evidently, Christ never preached any. That’s where the argument from silence leads us.   Please mark it down, the Bible unequivocally teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 2. What do we mean when we say that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” and “born of the virgin Mary?” Let’s begin with a definition: “The birth of Jesus Christ was a birth in normal human flesh from a normal human mother, whose conception was not the result of sexual intercourse with any man, but by the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit.”   When we say that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” and “born of the virgin Mary then we mean at least five things. First, Jesus was born by the direct action of God. It’s clear that no one was expecting anything like this. Joseph assumes the worst until the angel intervenes. And Mary is shocked and mystified by Gabriel’s words. The Jews in general had no conception of a baby born to a virgin who would deliver them. It happened because God willed it to happen, and for no other reason. God did it this way because He chose to do it this way. A virgin gives birth by the sovereign choice of Almighty God. There is no other explanation. Second, no man was involved in the process. Not Joseph. Not a Roman soldier. Not any other man. Third, Jesus had a human mother and no human father. Fourth, Jesus is thus fully human and fully divine. He is fully human because He comes forth from Mary’s womb. He is fully divine because He is conceived by the Holy Spirit. He is not half‑human and half‑divine. He is the God‑man—one person possessing two natures, God incarnate in human flesh. He did not just appear to be human, He was human. Fifth, He is therefore without sin. Luke 1:35 calls him “the holy one,” meaning that He will be born without any taint of sin. He has no inherited sin from Adam, no sin nature, nothing in Him that will cause Him to sin. He is holy in the truest and deepest meaning of that term. There is no sin in Him or about Him.    But it does not mean Jesus was born in a manner different from other children. He was born in exactly the same way as any other baby. Nor does it suggest that there was merely a miraculous conception as in the case of Elizabeth, who was past age. It does not mean immaculate conception as taught by the Roman Catholic Church, for that dogma asserts that Mary too was conceived and born without original sin, a claim for which there is not a bit of Scriptural support. It was a virgin conception entirely without parallel. Contrary to the course of nature, Jesus was miraculously conceived in the womb of Mary. In His case “the ordinary processes of the transmission of human heritage were interrupted by the miraculous conception.” 3. How did the virgin birth happen? Belief in the virgin conception is contingent upon the belief in miracles. If you start talking about believing that Christ was born of the virgin Mary, you’ll find a lot of skeptics who will say to you, “You’ve got to be kidding, virgins don’t have babies.”   What vantage point are these people coming from? Why are they addressing it in this way? They’re addressing it from what we would call a naturalistic point of view. A naturalist is somebody who believes that the world, or nature, as they often call it, is a closed system, and that inside this closed system there are no miracles. Thus, for the Bible to suggest that Jesus was born of a woman but with no male sexual interaction is totally impossible and thoroughly ridiculous. That is the naturalist point of view.   But another approach is what we call the supernaturalist point of view. The supernaturalist believes that the universe, which has clearly delineated laws of operation, was created by somebody independent of the creation. Supernatural—beyond the natural, above the natural. And this supernatural One who created is perfectly free to move into nature, not to change the laws, but to add things that He chooses.   The medieval theologian, Anselm, in his book, Cur Deus Homo, reviewed four ways in which God can make man: 1) By the law of natural generation—a man and a woman. 2) Without the agency of either man or woman—as Adam. 3) A man without a woman—as Eve. 4) Through the divine empowering of a man and a woman both past age—as Abraham and Sarah. If these be admitted, as they must be if the Scripture records are accepted as authoritative and trustworthy, it is but a step to believe that 5) Jesus was born of a woman without a man, that He was begotten of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35). That’s supernaturalism.   The virgin birth is simply a miracle. So what’s a miracle? A miracle is a supernatural intervention in the natural law. As a supernaturalist I believe that miracles are not impossible at all. Though they are highly improbable, they are certainly possible. Let’s say that I get into a debate with a naturalist over the impossibility of the virgin birth. And he says, "There’s nothing outside the laws of nature; nothing can intervene; therefore, a miracle is impossible. Therefore, the virgin birth is impossible." But if I am a supernaturalist, I’ll say, "Who made the laws? Who organized nature? Who put the whole thing together? Who keeps it going? Doesn’t He have the prerogative to intervene and add another factor if He so chooses? Therefore, I see no problem at all with the possibility, albeit the total improbability of the virgin birth. The possibility is clearly there because of a supernatural God.   A supernaturalist sees natural law as descriptive, rather than prescriptive. That simply means that natural laws describe how things usually happen, but they cannot limit what will or will not happen. Together with the whole of the universe, they are under God’s ultimate control. God’s sovereign discretion may be to suspend His usual way of doing things if He sees good reason to do so. Interestingly, in Luke’s birth narrative God is mentioned no fewer than fifty‑eight times, as if the author wishes to underscore the extraordinary nature of this one birth.   What exactly took place when the Holy Spirit conceived the human life of Jesus Christ within Mary’s womb? How could the God who is without limits somehow “shrink himself” to become a microscopic speck inside Mary’s womb? The most honest answer is this: We don’t know because what happened was a pure miracle. By “pure miracle,” I mean it was a miracle of the highest order, to be compared with God saying, “Let there be light,” and light appearing out of the darkness. The virginal conception of Jesus was a direct creative miracle of God. That also means it is a mystery we will never fully understand. In these days of amazing technological advancement, we occasionally hear talk about science reproducing a “Virgin Birth” today. But no matter what the scientists may do in the field of genetic manipulation, cloning, parthenogenesis, or any other advanced research, you can take all the scientists from the best labs, and give them unlimited resources and a thousand years, and they will still be unable to duplicate the virginal conception of Christ. Only God Himself could create a human life that is fully human and yet fully divine. Jesus Christ is truly God’s “one and only” Son. This is a miracle and a mystery that lies beyond the reach of science. 4. Why was the virgin birth necessary? James Hewett tells this wonderful story: "I read about a grandfather who found his grandson jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, "Out Gramps, out." It was only natural for the grandfather to reach down to lift him out of his predicament, but as he did the mother of the child stepped up and said "No, Johnnie, you are being punished‑‑ so you must stay in." The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child's tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart. But the mother's firmness in correcting her son must not be taken lightly. But love found a way. The grandfather could not take the grandson out of the playpen, so he climbed in with him. That’s exactly what the Lord Jesus did for us at His incarnation. In leaving heaven for earth He climbed in with us."   Why was the virgin birth necessary? The virgin birth was necessary in order to preserve Jesus' deity. The language of the Spirit's coming upon Mary and "overshadowing" her revealed that this baby would be a special creation whose father would be God himself. That Jesus was born apart from human fatherhood points to his divine nature as the Son of God.   And the virgin birth was necessary in order to preserve Jesus' humanity. This birth was designed by God so that his eternal Son could take on the body of flesh without the tainted human nature, the inward desire to sin, that we all have inherited from Adam. He became the second Adam, man as God desired man to be before he sinned. “For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). When we place our faith in Him as our sin‑bearer He is willing to take our sins on Himself, and then imparts to us his righteousness.   The virgin birth was necessary in order to deal with the sin of humanity. The issue that breaks the relationship between God and man is sin, as we witnessed in the Garden of Eden. Adam was told that if he sinned before God he would surely die. The only way man can come back into a relationship with God is to have his sins forgiven. In the Old Testament days a sinner would come before God with a perfect and innocent lamb and offer its lifeblood up to God as an atonement for his sin. This was a symbolic act which looked forward to God's perfect Lamb who would take away the sin of the world and would deliver "his seed" from the power of Satan and render him powerless. The virgin birth, which perfectly preserved Jesus' deity and his humanity, provided that perfect Lamb ‑ a lamb without blemishes (Leviticus 1:3).   5. So what? What difference does it make? Popular talk‑show host Larry King was once asked whom he would choose, if he had the choice to interview one person across history. Larry King replied that he would like to interview Jesus Christ and that he would ask Him just one question: "Are you indeed virgin born?" The answer to that question, said Larry King, "would explain history for me."   The major problem with a sermon like this is that most of us already believe in the Virgin Birth. Even if we’ve never thought about it very much, we know we believe it because we hear about it every December. So it’s easy to put a sermon like this in the category of, “Nice but doesn’t matter.” That would be a huge mistake. We can be certain that the early Christians didn’t feel that way or they wouldn’t have included these phrases in the Creed. What difference does it make that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit,” and “born of the Virgin Mary?” Here are three implications for us to consider.    A) If there is no virgin birth we have no Biblical Authority. Since both Matthew and Luke explicitly teach the Virgin Birth, immediately we are faced with a major question: Will we believe what Scripture plainly teaches? For centuries few people asked that question, but starting 150 years ago, it became a major issue. The problem for us can be stated this way: Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus entered the world in a supernatural way—through a mighty miracle of God. Theses same writers tell us that Jesus’ earthly life came to a climax with another mighty miracle—His bodily resurrection from the dead. Regarding the latter, we all understand the significance of the Resurrection. Because He lives, we too shall live. His resurrection guarantees ours. But it’s not the same with the Virgin Birth. His supernatural birth doesn’t tell us anything about our physical birth. And since we’ve already been born, it’s easy to discount the Virgin Birth when we compare it to the Resurrection. But that’s a major mistake. If you can’t believe the first miracle, how can you believe the last miracle? If you doubt the Virgin Birth, how can you be certain about the Resurrection? The Bible doesn’t present the life of Christ as a kind of “pick your miracle” cafeteria where you can pick this miracle and reject that one. The story of our Lord’s earthly life comes to us as a seamless whole. We either take it all or we reject it all. There is no suitable middle ground option. So the question becomes—do we believe the Bible or don’t we? That’s one reason the Virgin Birth matters. It’s a question of biblical authority.    B) If there is no virgin birth we lose Jesus Christ. The Virgin Birth forces us to confront what we believe about Jesus Christ. Who is He? Where did He come from? At issue is the supernatural character of our Lord. Is He truly the Son of God from heaven? If you answer yes, you’ll have no problem with the Virgin Birth. If you answer no, you’ll have no reason to believe it. Is He just a prophet, or is He “more than a prophet?” Is He a great teacher and nothing more? Was He a martyr who died for his cause? Was He a revolutionary who never intended to start a religion? Is He a divine leader who came to teach us about God? Or is He God incarnate, the Lord of Glory, the Son of God, our Lord and our Savior? The Virgin Birth forces us off the fence about Jesus. It tells us that we can’t be neutral and we can’t say that the stories of His birth don’t matter. The fact that this is a miracle and a mystery doesn’t let us off the hook. Those with an anti‑supernatural bias will have no use for the Virgin Birth, and they will explain it away. But those who believe in a supernatural Christ will find the Virgin Birth a mysterious miracle that, instead of destroying their faith, actually makes it stronger.   Three conditions must be met in order for Jesus to be our Savior. He must be a man, He must be God, and He must be sinless. The Virgin Birth guarantees that all those conditions have been met. Thus there is a direct connection between the manger and the cross. Without His Virgin Birth, His sufferings have no meaning. It is His birth that makes His death meaningful. If He is not who He said He was, then His death was the most tragic mistake in history. His birth establishes His true identity as the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and our Savior. When the angel told Joseph that the baby Mary was carrying had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the very next breath he told Joseph to name Him Jesus “for He shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:22). The angel connects His birth with His saving work on the cross. The Virgin Birth matters greatly because it tells us plainly who Jesus is and lays the foundation for the great work He will accomplish on the cross.   C) If there is no virgin birth we have no salvation. By means of the Virgin Birth, Christ enters the world guiltless of the sin of Adam. He becomes the beginning of a new humanity, the restoration of the human race. Because He is born of Mary, He is truly human; because He is conceived of the Holy Spirit, He is free from the inherited guilt handed down from Adam. Thus He is fully able to stand in our place, taking our guilt and punishment. He could pay for our sins only because He had no sin of His own. This brings to Paul’s words in Romans 5:6, “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” At the precise point of our weakness, Christ was strong. He succeeded where Adam (and all of Adam’s descendants) failed. We were so helpless that we could not do anything to save ourselves. The Virgin Birth teaches us that our salvation is entirely supernatural. When God wanted to save the world, He had to take the initiative to send his Son. We were helpless even to take the first step in the process of bringing Christ to the world. The Virgin Birth teaches us that salvation is entirely by grace. God does it all because we could not do any of it.  Conclusion: A young child had a wonderful Christmas morning. She got all the presents she wanted, her cousins were there to share the holiday, and there was special food throughout the day. As her parents tucked her into bed that evening, she smiled and said, “I sure hope Mary and Joseph have another baby next year." But sadly, it’s not just children who miss the point of Jesus birth. Most adults do to. People admire Jesus but most do not want to acknowledge Him as Lord. They like the sweet Baby Jesus of Christmas cards and Nativity sets, but not Christ, the Messiah and divine Son of God. But there can be no neutrality. Jesus confronts us with a question, "What about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" God took on human nature so that we might be forgiven and become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).   What gratitude that should stir up in us! How great is God’s love for us! How we should thank and praise God for sending the Lord Jesus Christ into this world so that we might become the children of God! We who are united to Jesus Christ by faith will spend all eternity thanking and praising God for the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.   Wonder of wonders, by the power of that same Spirit that came upon Mary, Christ may be born in our hearts today. This God‑man came into the world to die in our stead upon the cross, to vicariously pay for all of our sins, to endure in His own body and soul the wrath of His Father for us, to take away our guilt and punishment, to procure for us eternal paradise. May this Christ come and be born in our hearts. May He who was born in a stable come into the sinful hearts of men and be born in us. That is the great wonder. It is still true that: Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, if He’s not born in thee thy soul is still forlorn.     My friend, has the virgin‑born One been born in you?