Text: Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26–38
Topic: A look at the significance and necessity of the Virgin Birth

• The claim that Christ entered the world by the Virgin Birth elicits a variety of responses.
• Some argue the Virgin Birth is absolutely impossible, because miracles don't happen.
• They contend Mary is neither the first nor the last person to find herself in trouble; she made the whole thing up.
• A second camp believes that though miracles do happen, this particular miracle never took place.
• They argue that the term virgin was applied to Mary because she was so young.
• A third camp affirms the Virgin Birth simply because it's in the Bible.
• However, they would be hard pressed to explain why the Virgin Birth is an important doctrine to defend.
• A fourth and final camp affirms the Virgin Birth and understands how absolutely critical the doctrine is to the whole superstructure of the gospel.
• It is my hope to move as many of you as I can into this fourth camp by making four observations.

• The first observation is this: We're talking about the Virgin Birth of one who is eternal, that is, God himself.
  • John 1
• The Word, or logos, refers to Jesus.
• In John 17, Jesus talks about the glory he enjoyed with the Father before the foundations of the world.
• In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul talks about the fact that Jesus was God himself in heaven and enjoyed the glory of God.
• When we talk about the Virgin Birth, we're not talking about a birth like yours or mine.
• Jesus Christ was present at creation. He is eternal.
• This reality of Christ was so important that a theological battle in the matter broke out in the late third and early fourth centuries.
• Arius suggested Jesus Christ was God-like but not actually God.
• Arius not only taught this idea, but he was clever enough to put it in a song, making it easy to spread his theology.
• Those who affirmed the truth of Scripture were singing other songs.
• Among them is one we sing with some frequency: the Gloria Patri; its words are fighting words to defend the idea that Jesus Christ is eternal.
• The Virgin Birth is the birth of none other than God himself.

• Secondly, when we talk about the Virgin Birth, it's important to realize that the story doesn't begin with the angel Gabriel in Luke chapter one.
  • Isaiah 7:14
• There are some who say that the word translated "virgin" from the Hebrew should be translated as "young woman."
• This is partially true but is misleading.
• The word occurs nine times in the Old Testament, and of the other eight occurrences, seven clearly refer to a virgin and not simply a young woman.
• That's absolutely the case in Isaiah 7:14.
• What is this sign the prophet promises? That the Messiah will be born of a young woman? No! That doesn't exactly narrow things down! 

• A third observation is that the New Testament bears witness to the Virgin Birth in connection to the Old Testament.
• In Luke, when Mary is told that she going to give birth to the Messiah, she responds, "How is that possible, because I am a virgin?"
• Matthew develops his birth account around the character of Joseph.
• The angel expects Joseph to believe Mary when she says she has no idea how she got pregnant.
• What a shock for Mary's fiancé!
• When Mary says she is pregnant, Joseph knows he's not the father, and he begins making plans to quietly divorce her.
• The angel Gabriel is sent on a return visit to Nazareth to stop Joseph from ending the relationship by helping him see the connection between present circumstances and ancient prophecies.   

• The Virgin Birth is an absolutely critical piece of God's plan for salvation.
• It's included in the Apostle's Creed.
• Though it's not directly referred to in the Nicene Creed, it does go to great lengths to speak of the unique nature of Christ's birth.
• The word "begotten" here means he was fathered by God.
  • Illustration: C. S. Lewis says, "When you beget something, you beget it after your own kind."
• The writers of the Nicene Creed protected the doctrine of the Virgin Birth when they wrote, "We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible, And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father."
• All of these things defend the doctrine of the Virgin Birth—but why is it so important that we defend it?
• We defend this doctrine because it is absolutely critical for our salvation that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man.
• We must protect the Virgin Birth, because it is only through the Virgin Birth—it is only when God bypasses the sin of Adam—that God is able to provide a Savior who is unstained by original sin.
• The Second Adam—the perfect man and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ—was sent to us through a virgin's womb and the agency of the Holy Spirit, in order to perform a union of God and man without sin.
• The Virgin Birth isn't just some casual notion or quaint doctrine; it is absolutely critical to our salvation, because what we need is a Savior.