The Centrality of the Virgin Birth
Luke 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Introduction
This morning as we enter Advent, I want us to begin by getting a good idea of where we are heading throughout the Advent season. That is, I want us to begin our Advent preperation by taking a look at the Virgin Birth.
And as we do so, what we are going to find is that the Virgin Birth is not simply a miraculous sign nor is it a quaint story we tell with nostalgic fondness once a year. Rather, the Virgin Birth is a crucial part of the salvation account FN#1.
In fact, we can go so far as to say, that every doctrine and every blessing that is ours in Christ is made possible because of the manner of Christ’s birth. Deny the Virgin Birth and the cross, the empty tomb, forgiveness of sins, and the hope of life eternal all vanish.
The Virgin Birth then is no trifle. Rather, it lies at the heart of God’s amazing plan of salvation.
However, to understand Scripture’s teaching on the Virgin Birth and why it is such a big deal, we must first confront two invariable principles presented to us by Scripture.
1] The First Invariable– Jesus had to be born fully human if His righteousness and death are to stand for us.
{Remember: if Christ were not fully God, His Sacrifice would be of no value to you. On the other hand, if Christ were not fully human, His sacrifice would have no relevance to us.}
Why? Remember, the obligation to follow God was given to man, the reward for obedience was promised to man, and the penalty for disobedience is owed by man. In other words, man is responsible for the task assigned to him.
Therefore, if Christ is going to fulfill man’s obligation and pay man’s debt, He must do so as a man. Otherwise, man hasn’t paid and man hasn’t fulfilled what is due from man. Simply put, Christ had to be one of us to stand for us.
Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Christ as man, fulfilled for man, all that God required of man
2] The Second Invariable– The whole human race is under the paternal headship of Adam. As such, we are all implicated in Adam’s sin. When Adam fell, all humanity fell with him. Therefore, to be human is to be fallen, broken, and sinful.
1 Corinthians 15:22 In Adam all die
Romans 5:17 For by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man…. 18 Consequently, the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men,
Problem: Christ has to be fully human to stand for us. However, to be human is to be fallen and sinful and therefore unable to offer the perfect obedience or the unblemished sacrifice required.
Not only that, when we try to find a human solution to the problem, we begin to understand the enormity of the dilemma. Notice then:
· God cannot arbitrarily exempt one instance of Human nature from sin
· God cannot simply create another humanity
Answer: The Virgin Birth
A] Jesus was born of a woman and therefore He is fully human. That is, Jesus received His human nature (which is our human nature) from His mother. As such, He is identified with us and is a member of our race.
Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger,
The Virgin Birth answers our first invariable. Jesus is fully human
B] However, at the same time, this woman was a virgin. As such, Jesus was not fathered by a man. Therefore, Jesus was not included under Adam. That is, Jesus was not under the paternal, federal, headship of Adam and so was not implicated in Adam’s sin. He was fully human yet without sin. In fact, it is precisely because Jesus is not under the first Adam, that Scripture tells us that He is Himself the Second Adam, the new head/representative of a renewed humanity FNs #2 &# 3.
1 Corinthians 15:45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.
The Virgin Birth then answers the second invariable. Jesus is fully human and yet without sin
Notice the Results: because of the Virgin Birth:
· Christ shares our full humanity and therefore can stand for us (He is our second Adam)
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,
· Because of the Virgin Birth, Christ is not Adam’s son. Rather, He is God’s son and therefore without sin. As such, He is able to offer a perfect unblemished sacrifice and perfect obedience on our behalf
2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
· Finally, because of the Virgin Birth, the one who sits enthroned over all creation is one of us and reigns for us. That is, He governs all creation as our representative and unfolds God’s plan/Kingdom on our behalf
Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
Bottom line: the Virgin Birth is an essential component of the salvation that God has provided for us in His Son. Without it, we have no savior to stand for us, no unblemished sacrifice able to cover us, and no hope for the future. However, it is God’s amazing gift (begun with the Virgin Birth) that Advent prepares us to celebrate and which even now is at work in the details of our life.
Footnotes:
1] To put is another way: the Virgin Birth is not simply a miraculous sign or proof of Biblical prophecy. It certainly is, but if we stop there we will miss the very essence of its vital importance. In turn, the Virgin Birth is not about the extra biblical Mariology of medieval theology. In fact, to see Mary in terms of some fabricated notion of her Immaculate Conception or perpetual virginity is to miss the true wonder of what God did through her. Instead, the Virgin Birth is a crucial part of the salvation account.
2] This idea of Christ as Second Adam is neither arbitrary nor peripheral to Scripture. Rather, it runs throughout Scripture’s account (Heb 7:1-3). Notice then, in the creation account God fashions Adam out of the dirt of the earth. That is, God forms Adam out of already existing creation in order to establish and underscore Adam’s tie to and identification with creation as well as creation’s tie to and dependence on Adam. Fast forward to the recreation account and we find God doing the same exact thing. God fashions Jesus’ humanity out of the already existing humanity of Mary. In doing so God establishes and underscores Jesus’ tie to and identification with humanity and humanity’s tie to and dependence on Jesus. In turn, with both Adam and Jesus, there is no preexisting father. Instead, God is their father.
Luke makes this same point about Christ as the Second Adam. Notice then, Luke conspicuously runs his genealogy backwards from Joseph back to Adam. Luke then points out that Adam had no father before him but was “the son of God”. Luke does this to show that Jesus (whose genealogy he is recording) also had no earthly father but was “the Son of God”, the second Adam. Luke then proceeds to show how this second Adam was tempted by Satin like the first. However, unlike the failure of the first Adam, Jesus succeeds.
Luke 3:23 And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,….. 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil.
The point of all this is that through the Virgin Birth God provides for both Christ’s full humanity (and thus His tie to us) as well as His sinless purity (and thus the value of His offering for us).
3] Problem (for those who really want to nerd out): so Jesus avoids sin and brokenness because He received His humanity from Mary His mother. But wasn’t Mary under Adam and thus fallen and sinful? Yes. However, Adam’s sin is not transmitted like a gene through natural processes. Instead, Adam’s sin (his specific failure in the specific capacity in which he represented us) was imputed to us. That is, Adam represented us and thus his service in that capacity counted for us (notice then we are not guilty of all Adam’s subsequent sins but just his one sin- Rom 5:17-18). The result is that Mary was under Adam because her earthly father included her in the Adamic line. In other words, inclusion in the paternal headship of Adam is through the father. However, Jesus is not fathered by man and thus not under Adam or his sin. In turn, Mary, as Jesus’ mother, cannot serve in this exclusively paternal capacity. She is able to convey human nature but alone cannot transmit Adam’s paternal headship. In fact, it is for this reason, that from the very doors of the garden, the promise of redemption is given precisely to the woman.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
In other words, the Virgin Birth was God’s plan all along! Salvation will not be by the seed or strength of man (a theme repeated throughout Scripture). Instead, one born of a woman but not under the first Adam will redeem all that the first Adam brought to ruin. However, we are still not out of the woods. Mary’s human nature is fallen and polluted so how does Jesus avoid the brokenness of His mother? The answer is the Holy Spirit and His role in the Virgin Birth. Remember, the brokenness and pollution of our human nature are consequences of and judgements against sin. However, where there is no sin there is no just judgment or consequence. Jesus was not under Adam and thus not included in Adam’s sin. Therefore, God was just in shielding Jesus from the pollution of Mary’s fallen nature. As a result, Jesus received his humanity from His mother but not its brokenness. It is this shielding and protection that is a large part of the Spirit’s work in Jesus’ birth.
Notice then at creation, the Holy Spirit overshadowed God’s work of creation, claiming it, protecting it, and insuring that God’s purpose was accomplished exactly as God intended.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
In turn, the image of the Holy Spirit hovering or overshadowing God’s work is seen once again in the account of the Virgin Birth.
Luke 1:35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Importance: the Holy Spirit overshadows Christ’s humanity throughout its formation and development, thereby shielding it and protecting it from the corruption, pollution, and brokenness that plague the fallen world. In other words, because Jesus is not implicated in Adam’s sin, God is just and right to shield Jesus’ humanity from the pollution and corruption that are the result of that sin. As such, Jesus is sinless and His human nature is pure and uncorrupted.