“Therefore the Lord himself will give
you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Over
700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah the prophet spoke these
words concerning the conception and birth of the Messiah which were fulfilled
in the birth of Jesus Christ. Believing this is paramount, to believing
in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Why was it important that Christ’s
mother was a virgin? There are several reasons, but first the problem.
The fallen or sin nature of Adam, who rebelled against God, was also
passed on from generation to generation to all of mankind to this very day.
All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. That
means that all men have been separated from God, who is Holy, yet God loves His
creation and has created a plan to redeem (restore us to Himself) all men and
women who will believe in His plan. In order to redeem the fallen human
race there needed to be a genuine human being who could live a sinless life as
Adam and Eve did before they fell. No animal sacrifice could accomplish
this, though perhaps millions of animals were sacrificed by the Hebrews, which
was necessary at the time. No angel would qualify since angels are not created
in the image of God as mankind is. No human can do this since we are all
born into the fallen nature of Adam and no one has ever, nor can ever, live a sinless
life. Therefore all humans are disqualified. But the Redeemer
(Savior) must be a genuine human, and sinless, which is a real problem because
“the iniquities (sins) of the fathers are passed unto their sons”.
Only
God could solve this seemingly impossible dilemma and He did so by coming to
earth Himself, by being born of a human woman. The child conceived in
Mary was not by a man. Had He been fully human, He would have had the sinful
nature of his human father and failed. But He was conceived by God’s Holy
Spirit! This made the child, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human.
Jesus Christ’s life was the fulfillment of over 300 prophecies, including
Isaiah 7:14!
Today
liberal theologians and pastors will argue that Isaiah 7:14 should not be translated
as “a virgin conceiving a son”, but as “a young woman conceiving and bearing a
son”. But “a young woman conceiving and bearing a son” would not be
anything unusual, though it is completely unusual for a virgin to conceive. In
fact it is miraculous!
Why is
it so important that we believe in the virgin birth of Christ? Because if
Jesus was just a “good” man who claimed to have died for the sins of the world,
he would have died in vain because He too would have been like any other
human…flawed and enslaved to sin. The fact that He was fully God and
fully man qualifies Him as a sinless offering for the sins of all mankind,
since He was tempted like all men, yet resisted all temptation to sin and lived
a pure, sinless life. Thus He willingly gave His life for ALL mankind and this
was acceptable to God.
Jesus
died and then rose from the dead for you…and me. But you have a choice in this
matter - to ignore this gift or to accept. If you will willingly give your life
to Jesus, He will accept you. He will begin to change you from the inside by
changing you from the propensity to sin, giving you the power to overcome the
sinful desires in your life! Don’t know where to start? Start where
I once did. Kneel down and tell Him that you are a sinner. (He knows that
already.) Ask Him to forgive you and change your sinful desires. Tell Him
you forgive those who have hurt you and ask Him to forgive you for hurting
others. Tell Him that you commit your life to Him and ask Him to please
fill you with His presence and His Spirit. He will do this, for He is faithful
and does not lie! Afterward, begin to read your Bible, starting in the
book of John and reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and the rest of the Bible (or
listen to it). Oh yes, several last things….you need to tell someone that
you gave your life to Jesus, look for a church that preaches and teaches the
Bible and also be water baptized. You will now have experienced the
greatest Christmas present ever! Merry Christmas and welcome into the Family of
God!
Pastor
Gary A. Smith
New Life Christian Fellowship
New Life Christian Fellowship
Alpena, MI
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