Born of a Virgin?

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.   He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:” Luke 1:31-32  
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  Luke 1:34-35 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Do you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? And why would a virgin birth even be necessary? I’ll tell you why.

When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, He gave Adam dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26). They were to rule it (Psalm 8:6-8). Yet by choosing to believe the serpent rather than God, they sinned and yielded their God-given authority over to Satan, the ultimate con artist. Instead of ruling as God intended, they became slaves of sin (Romans 6:16). And to everyone who came after them, they passed down the same sin nature: “For since by man came death, … For as in Adam all die…” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

But why does all that require Jesus to be born of a virgin? How is it connected? Because if Jesus had been born of an earthly father, he would have inherited the same sin nature as his natural father, a son of Adam, and been just as much a slave to sin as Adam was—and as we all are until we are born again.

Jesus came to earth as a man, but not one with Adam’s sin nature. Because the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of God overshadowed her, Jesus was born with the sinless nature of His Father, God.

Our authority on earth was lost by a man, Adam. Jesus came as a man, born of a virgin, to redeem us and to win back that lost authority. This is the reason for the virgin birth.

ACTION POINT

Read Phil. 2:5-8 and meditate upon what Jesus Christ did for you.