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Summary: One of the wonders of the Christmas story is that the Triune God gave the honor of being the mother to the Savior of the world to an unmarried teen-aged girl.

The created would carry in her womb the Creator, her maker, who was to grow within her and be raised by her, nurtured by her, taught by her, and loved by her (Luke 1:30-38).

Here are fifteen thought-provoking facts to consider.

1. All humans have sinned (that includes Mary), and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:9-10, 23-34,5:19 - see also Genesis 6:12; 1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalm 14:1,3, 53:1,3, 143:2; Luke 1:45-47). A baby has a sin nature but until they willfully act upon it, are guiltless before God.

2. Through one human, sin entered the world, and death spread to all (Romans 5:12). God did not contemplate or conceive Adam but created him alone as the common father of all mankind and was held accountable because he introduced the reign of death (the penalty of sin), by his sin into the world and the consequence was the sinful nature being passed on to every human being from that point on. Jesus is the only human who would have never naturally died because He had no sinful nature. He willingly gave Himself as the final sacrifice for our sins.

3. The sin nature was inherited from both Adam and Eve, who, because of their free will, chose to sin, and was passed down to all human beings (including Mary) through their DNA, ultimately resulting in their decay and death (Genesis 2:15-18). The human female is the only one who passes mitochondrial DNA to her child. The Bible says that sin entered the world and death spread to everything (Romans 5:12). Jesus did not share any part of the sinful DNA of Mary or Adam.

4. Once Mary was pregnant, she made sacrifices in accordance with, and obedience to, the Law God gave to Moses because of her sinful nature (Luke 2:21-24; Leviticus 12:6,24).

5. Mary declared that she was the handmaiden (Gk: doulé - female slave) of God and needed a Savior from sin because all humans are helpless and hopeless and need the penalty for their sin paid in full to find redemption (Luke 1:46-47; Colossians 1:12-14).

6. Mary removed any idea of pre-eminence (or co-redemptrix) so as not to assume exaltation above God's calling upon her life (Luke 1:48). If Mary did not have a sin nature that would make her equal to the pre-eminent Trinity (i.e. co-equal with God).

7. The Greek word for “conceive”’ used regarding Mary is 'sullambanoo' and means to bring forth, to aid, assist, or help. The Greek word ‘tithemi’ is used elsewhere to denote naturally conceiving a child from the marriage bed (Romans 9:10). Mary was “found with child” (Gk: ‘en gaster echo” (womb/stomach) just as a surrogate mother aids and assists a childless woman by carrying her child (Luke 1:30-38; Matthew 1:18).

8: A baby has 23 chromosomes from the biological father and 23 from the biological mother. The male ‘Y’ chromosome comes from the father’s seed. The Bible says that God is a spirit and not flesh which means he could not biologically father a child (John 4:24). Mary was conceived in sin just like David and had a sin nature that needed redemption.

9. The first Adam (human) was made (formed) in the image of God (i.e., Jesus) (Genesis 1:26).

10. Jesus is the second Adam, who is God, the Son, and willingly chose to become human by being placed as a zygote into the womb of a human woman, and as the Triune God, was fully formed as a human being (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Jesus came to earth and willingly chose to become human (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).

11. Jesus was not of this world (John 8:23). The first Adam was from the dust of the Earth (Genesis 3:19), and Jesus always existed. Mary is never referred to in God's Word as the 'second Eve.'

12. Mary and Joseph were of the biological line of David (via Adam and Eve), and Jesus denied being a descendant of David, which means there was no biological lineage within His DNA to Mary (Matthew 22:41-46; Luke 2:49).

13. Jesus has always existed and came to earth 100% fully God with all of His divine attributes, and became 100% fully man, and was not a half-human, half-divine demi-God (John 1:1-18; Philippians 2:5-8).

14. Jesus never referred to Mary as His natural mother (Gk: ‘meter’) but called her "woman" (Gk: guné = a woman of any age and also used regarding a step-mother) (Matthew 12:47-50; John 19:26; 1 Corinthians 5:1).

15. Mary remained a virgin while willingly carrying her Creator in her womb, and for that, she will always be highly favored and blessed by the grace of God when she became the first surrogate mother. However, she was not the biological ‘mother of God’ nor did she provide 23 corrupted chromosomes of her fallen DNA. The Word (Jesus) didn’t mix with fallen humans but became human flesh and dwelt among men (John 1:14).

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Bill White

commented on Jan 13, 2021

The Immaculate conception is a Catholic teaching about the birth of Mary, not the birth of Jesus. The correct term is "virgin birth."

Dr. Craig Nelson

commented on Jan 13, 2021

Yes, you are correct. I should have made that clear. Thx

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