Virgin birth of Jesus

422 virgin birth of JesusJesus, the ever-living Son of God, became a man. Without this happening, there can be no real Christianity. The apostle John put it this way: You should recognize the Spirit of God by this: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came into the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not of God. And that is the spirit of the Antichrist that you heard was coming, and it is already in the world (1. John 4,2-3).

The virgin birth of Jesus declares that the Son of God became fully human while he remained what he was - the eternal Son of God. The fact that the mother of Jesus, Mary, was a virgin, was a sign that she would not become pregnant through human initiative or participation. The salutary conception in the womb of Mary was through the working of the Holy Spirit, who united the human nature of Mary with the divine nature of the Son of God. The Son of God thereby took on all human existence: from birth to death, to the resurrection and ascension, and now lives forever in his glorified humanity.

There are people who make fun of the conviction that the birth of Jesus was a miracle of God. These skeptics denounce the biblical record and our belief in it. I find their objections quite paradoxical, for while they consider the virgin birth an absurd impossibility, they represent their own version of a virgin birth in the context of two basic claims:

1. They claim that the universe arose out of itself, out of nothing. I mean, we have the right to call this a miracle, even if it is said that it came about without intent or purpose. If we take a closer look at their designations of nothingness, it becomes clear that it is a pipe dream. Their nothing is redefined as something like quantum fluctuations in empty space, cosmic bubbles, or an infinite collection of the multiverse. In other words, their use of the term nothing is misleading, as their nothing is filled with something - the something from which our universe emerged!

2. They claim that life arose from the inanimate. To me, this claim is far more "fetched" than the belief that Jesus was born of a virgin. Despite the scientifically proven fact that life comes only from life, some manage to believe that life originated in a lifeless primordial soup. Although scientists and mathematicians have pointed out the impossibility of such an event, some find it easier to believe in a senseless miracle than in the true miracle of Jesus' virgin birth.

Although skeptics advocate their own models of virgin birth, they consider it a fair play to mock Christians because they believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, which requires a miracle of a personal God permeating all of creation. Does one not have to assume that those who regard the incarnation as impossible or unlikely apply two different standards?

Scripture teaches that the virgin birth was a miraculous sign from God (Isa. 7,14) that was designed to accomplish its intentions. The repeated use of the title "Son of God" confirms that Christ was conceived and born of a woman (and without the participation of a man) by the power of God. The apostle Peter confirms that this really happened: for we did not follow elaborate fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we have seen his glory for ourselves (2. peter 1,16).

The testimony of the Apostle Peter provides a clear, conclusive refutation of all claims that the account of the incarnation, including the virgin birth of Jesus, is a myth or a legend. The fact of the virgin birth testifies to the miracle of a supernatural conception through God's own divine, personal act of creation. The birth of Christ was natural and normal in every respect, including the entire period of human pregnancy in the womb of Mary. In order for Jesus to redeem every aspect of human existence, he had to take on everything, overcome all weaknesses, and regenerate our humanity from start to finish. In order for God to heal the fault that evil had brought between him and the people, God had to undo in himself what humanity had done.

For God to reconcile with us, he had to come himself, reveal himself, accept ours, and then bring us to himself, starting from the true root of human existence. And that is exactly what God has done in the person of the eternal Son of God. While he remained fully God, he became perfectly one of us, so that in and through him we can have a relationship and communion with the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews points to this amazing truth in the following words:

Because now the children are of flesh and blood, he too accepted it in equal measure, so that through his death he would take power from him who had power over death, namely the devil, and redeem those who through fear of death in their whole life Had to be servants. Because he does not take care of the angels, but he takes care of the children of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers in everything, so that he might be merciful and a faithful high priest before God to atone for the sins of the people (Heb. 2,14-17).

At his first coming, the Son of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth was literally Immanuel (God with us, Matt. 1,23). The virgin birth of Jesus was God's announcement that he would fix everything in human life from beginning to end. At his second coming, which is still to come, Jesus will overcome and conquer all evil by putting an end to all pain and death. The apostle John put it this way: And he who sat on the throne said: Behold, I am making everything new (Revelation 21,5).

I saw adult men crying and witnessing their baby's birth. Sometimes we rightly speak of "the miracle of birth". I hope you see the birth of Jesus as the miracle of the birth of the One who really "makes everything new".

Let us celebrate together the miracle of the birth of Jesus.

Joseph Tkach

President
GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL


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