In Search of the Old Paths

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:1 – 2:3
NewTestament Reading: Luke 1:26-38  

In Search of the Old Paths
“I Believe in Jesus Christ,
Who Was Conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary”
Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

  The facts that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Ghost,” and “born of the virgin, Mary,” are foundational to the Christian faith. In fact, unless both statements are accepted as being unequivocally true, we are lost in our sins and in need of a Savior.

• In his book, “Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” Josh McDowell said, “If God appeared as a man, you would expect Him to have:
  • A unique entrance into the world – unlike any other person.
  • Unique powers to do the things which only God could do – miracles.
  • Give uniquely inspired teachings about God – unlike anything anyone had ever heard.
  • If He were to be put to death, He would not remain dead.
• McDowell said, “Jesus, and only Jesus, could meet those four qualifications.”

   The first chapters of the gospels of Matthew and Luke summarize the historical events regarding the immaculate conception of Christ.

• Matthew wrote his account of the events to convince the Jews that Jesus was the God-promised Messiah the prophets said would come. Matthew tells the story from Joseph’s perspective.
• Luke wrote his account of the events to convince the Gentiles in the churches Paul had started that Jesus was the God-sent Savior. Luke tells his story from Mary’s perspective.

   The first two articles of the Apostle’s Creed affirm the deity of God the Father and God the Son.

• God the Father is identified as El Shaddai, the Almighty God, and “Almighty” means the God who is:
  • Omnipotent – all-powerful; God’s power is both supreme and infinite in that He is capable of doing anything that is consistent with His nature and that agrees with His purpose.
  • Omnipresent – God is not limited by space and time; His Holy presence is everywhere and at all times.
  • Omniscient – God possesses absolute and unlimited knowledge of all events, past, present, and future.
  • Omnibenevolent – which means God is always good and He works all things together for our good and for His glory.
• The core of the Christian faith is that only God can save us from an eternity in hell.
• Jesus was the only person to be supernaturally conceived. Therefore, as God’s only begotten Son, Jesus is co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal with God the Father.
• Jesus was the Seed of the woman who crushed Satan’s head through His physical death and resurrection, thereby destroying the curse of sin. (Gen. 3:15)
• Without His supernatural birth, Jesus was not God in human flesh, and His death did not pay for our sins. Therefore, those who do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ are in eternal danger, for their faith in a human Jesus will not be sufficient on the day of Judgement. (38% of evangelicals in the U.S. do not believe Jesus was God. 75% of them believe God created Jesus.)
• Any scientific conclusion that contradicts what is taught in the Scriptures must be rejected, and since the virgin birth is outside the natural realm, it is also outside the purview of science.
• The Bible says Jesus was born of a virgin, and since His supernatural birth is foundational to the Christian faith, we must believe it.

1. The Nature of the Virgin Birth:

• Luke 1:35 – “The angel answered and said to Mary, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
• Matthew 1:20 – “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
• When we use the term “Virgin birth,” we are saying that Mary had not had sexual relations with any man, which means the only way we can explain her pregnancy is that it was nothing less than a miracle of God.
• Skeptics demand some kind of scientific explanation, but they refuse to examine the supernatural demonstration of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension – it was all a miracle.
• In that day, to have been the mother of the Promised Messiah would have been a great honor to any woman, but they all expected Him to be born through the natural reproduction process.
• Even though Mary was a devout Jewish girl who knew the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, she also expected the Messiah to come through the lineage of David by natural conception.
• Mary said, “How can this be since I don’t know a man?” That was the right question – i.e., for a virgin to have a baby would have been…. “a miracle!”

 2. The Grounds of our Faith in the Virgin Birth –

• Matthew 1:19 – “Then Joseph, not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”

  Three reasons why Christians must believe in the Lord’s immaculate conception:

• The Bible says it is true, and we cannot pick and choose which parts we want to believe and reject the rest.
• The historical narrative of both Mary and Joseph –
  • Mary was not ecstatic about being an unwed mother until the angel told her the reason behind her pregnancy.
  • Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to him, and would have divorced her had the angel not assured him of Mary’s God-given assignment.
• Jesus’ conception and birth was a clear fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
  • Isaiah 7:14 – “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
  • Luke 1:30-33 is a fulfillment of the prophecy of 2 Samuel 7:12-16. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”
• When Jesus came to earth as an infant, He came with the proper credentials to rule. He offered His kingdom to His people, but they rejected it and executed Him.
• However, Christ will soon return with all authority and power to establish His kingdom on this earth for 1,000 years, and the Bible promises that all believers will be part of God’s kingdom.

3. The Significance of the Virgin Birth and Our Belief in it – Galatians 4:4-7 – “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

• If you doubt His virgin birth, how do you explain His deity? How do you explain His ability to do those things only God can do?
• If you doubt His virgin birth, how do you explain His humanity? Did Jesus descend from heaven and land in Bethlehem? Why did He have a human body that needed food and rest to survive, but physically died from His suffering on the cross.
• If you doubt His virgin birth, how do you explain His sinlessness? Every other human being was born with a sin nature. Jesus was tempted in all ways, as we are, but He had the ability to resist sin.
• To doubt the virgin birth of Jesus is to question supernatural process of our salvation.
• As the Holy Spirit hovered over Mary and produced within her the very Son of God, so the Holy Spirit hovers over the sinner until he is born again, fully transformed with a new heart and an insatiable desire to be conformed to the image of the One who saved us.