Why We Believe In The Virgin Birth Series

WHY WE BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN BIRTH

Isaiah 7:14New International Version (NIV)

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: The virgin[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.[d]

INTRODUCTION:

We will continue our mini-series on the birth of Christ in preparation for our Christmas celebration.

Last week, we talked about the Old Testament prophecy of Micah on the birth of Christ regarding the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ on His Humble beginnings, on His rise to Kingship and His existence from Time eternity.

We ended our message on the significance of the divinity of Christ.

Because Christ is God, he has the power to deliver us from the dominion of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of light.

Indeed, Christ is the reason for the season.

But you see, the problem in our culture nowadays is that many people do not believe in the deity of Christ anymore.

They doubt in the divinity of Christ, and of course, question the virgin birth of Christ.

Doubt is a normal experience common to all people, Christians and non-Christians alike.

To doubt means to lack confidence, to have apprehensions and hesitations regarding a certain belief or statement.

Even those who have been Christians for a long time have to struggle with serious doubts and occasionally wrestle on the basic Christian doctrines that have been handed down to us from generations.

Our culture is changing and people are changing as well in the way they think.

They look at something more tangible to believe in.

They don't want to believe in something they have not seen.

Plus the fact that many Christians have not been fully grounded or established in their Christian faith.

They have no time for Discipleship classes and no time to study our Christian beliefs in depth.

We are reminded of the man whom Jesus met in Mark 9:24 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

This man was trying hard to believe in the healing power of Christ, but somehow, he was being hindered by his overwhelming doubt deep within his mind.

He was struggling and inwardly wrestling emotionally with what he has been taught concerning the miracles that he was facing at that moment.

And many times, we experience the same thing.

We know that there is a God who created everything we see but we do not believe on the reality of things we cannot see and touch and feel.

We want to believe on things we can only see and proven by science.

There is no element of faith and trust anymore in our culture.

That is why there is a struggle or a conflict going on in the our minds whether to believe this doctrine or not.

When we entertain and adhere fully to these doubts and apprehensions, they become our obstacle to further spiritual growth.

And so, what do we do when we are being overtaken by doubts?

The writer to the Hebrews reminds us on the importance of nurturing our faith.

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Faith means firmly believing with our hearts on things we have not seen.

We are assured of its reality regardless of our preconceived ideas.

And so, today, we will try to study and explain the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ in the hope that we will grow our faith.

Why we believe in the virgin birth of Christ.

Let me quote to you from the Church of the Nazarene statement of faith regarding the virgin birth of Christ.

It said in Article II, "We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father, that he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man."

There we have the word "incarnate".

What does that mean?

According to the Wikipedia, the Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that the second Person of the Trinity, also know as God the Son or the Logos (Word), "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of Mary.

Incarnation means God became flesh to provide the means of our salvation.

Belief in the incarnation of Christ therefore is to believe that Christ is fully God and fully man.

In our study for today, we will look at the Old Testament passage from the Book of Isaiah that says: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14(NIV)