The Virgin Birth: Does It Really Matter?

The Virgin Birth – Does it Really Matter?

Luke 1:26-38

There are a number of people who call themselves Christians and yet do not believe in the virgin birth. They fail to see the importance of the virgin birth. As more and more churches are abandoning the teaching of the historic doctrines of the faith in order to provide an intellectually, politically and socially acceptable gospel, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ is considered a nonessential. Regardless of what liberal theology would say the virgin birth is essential and recognition of the virgin birth is a core Christian belief.

What is the Virgin Birth?

• The Virgin Birth does not mean that Jesus was born in a manner different from any other child. He was born in exactly the same way as you and I.

• Nor, does it suggest that there was merely a miraculous conception as in the case of Sara or Elizabeth who were past age. Mary was a young woman, perhaps in her late teens, as was the custom then.

• It does not mean Immaculate Conception as taught by the Roman Catholic Church, for that dogma asserts that Mary was also conceived and born without original sin, a claim for which there is not a scintilla of Biblical evidence!

• Mary, who did not have any sexual relations with His earthy stepfather Joseph or anyone else, conceived our Lord in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then Mary gave birth to Jesus without a human father. – from The Meaning of the Virgin Birth by Dr. Richard J. Krejcir,

Why is the Virgin Birth Critical?

I. The Deity Of Christ

A. "If we do not believe in the virgin birth, we deny the very divinity of Christ, relegating him to simply a great human being, but not the Son of God, God Incarnate.

B. Jesus claimed to be Divine

1. John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”

2. John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

3. Jesus was consciously identifying Himself with Jehovah of the Old Testament is beyond refutation.

4. In Exodus 3, when Moses asked God His name so that he could tell it to Israel, the answer was "I AM."

C. The Writers of Scripture claimed Christ is God

1. 2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

2. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

3. Hebrews 1:8 “But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

4. Galatians 4:4 “"When the fullness of the time came, God sent his Son born of a woman...."

D. The divine sonship of Jesus Christ depends on his virgin birth. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, who was His father? There is no answer that will leave the Gospels intact. . If Jesus was not born of a virgin, He had a human father. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father, He was human. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father and was merely human, He was not and is not God. If Jesus was not born of a virgin and had a human father and was merely, human and is not God, He is a liar.

E. “People often say about Him (Christ): “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. - C. S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity

II. The Veracity of Scripture