Behold a virgin shall conceive.....

I love Christmas. It is my absolute favorite time of the year. The music, the decorations, the gifts but as I get older it is the Christmas story that I love the most. Joseph was told that Mary would give birth to a Son who would save His people from their sins that the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 “Behold a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son” would be fulfilled. But do you know why the virgin birth is an essential doctrine? Some have claimed that believing in the virgin birth of Christ is optional, that ultimately the manner of Christ’s birth is irrelevant. Prophecy simply put is history written in advance and is a promise from God that certain things will come to pass. If God does not keep one of His promises how can we trust Him to keep any of His promises? The promise of a Messiah born of a virgin therefore has direct implications on God’s trustworthiness. Some have claimed that the word virgin is better-translated young woman. Consider though that this was to be a sign from God; so what would be so special about any young woman of marriageable age conceiving and bearing a son? Not much. Now a virgin conceiving and bearing a son-that would be a remarkable sign indeed and would directly point to the intervention of God in human affairs and history. So how else does the virgin birth matter?

God’s promise to David that a descendant of his would sit on the throne of David forever (2 Sam 7:16) is invalid without a virgin birth. God cursed the kingly line of David through Solomon. The sins of the final king were so great that God said no descendant of his would ever sit on the throne of David-ever. (Jer 22:5,30) So how can Messiah be a descendant of David and sit on the throne forever? Problem solved with the virgin birth, as through Mary, Christ is a real physical descendant of David but not of the cursed line. As the direct descendant in the kingly line of David at the time of Christ’s birth, Joseph should have been king. So depending on which commentator one reads, the right to rule on the throne of David is given to Christ by virtue of being the adopted son of Joseph. Alternatively God can make king whomever He wills to be king provided that king is of the line of David. The virgin birth allows God to keep His promise to David.

Isaiah 53 makes it very clear that Messiah was to suffer and die for the sins of all. The sin and guilt offerings of the Mosaic covenant had to be spotless animals, without blemish or they were ineligible to be used as sacrifices. So a human redeemer would also have to be without spot or blemish, in other words sinless, or the sacrifice would be unacceptable to God. So how does one get a sinless man? Messiah would obviously have to be human in order for humans to be redeemed but He would also have to be sinless which the Bible makes pretty clear is something that is only true of God. A God-Man is only possible by a virgin birth-two human parents are never going to result in this combination. Ultimately, there is no salvation without the virgin birth and the message of the New Testament is rather senseless if a virgin did not conceive and bear a Son.

All in all there are about 100 prophecies concerning the First Coming of Christ that were literally and exactly fulfilled. These prophecies were written hundreds and even thousands of years before the birth of Christ. The fulfillment of these prophecies assures us that we can indeed trust God to keep His promises. The exact, literal fulfillment of those prophecies also has implications for other prophecies yet to be fulfilled. If you would like to read more on the prophecies that were fulfilled with the First Coming of Christ, Messianic Christology by Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum from Ariel Ministries is one of the best resources that I have read on this subject.