The Virgin Birth: Myth or Reality | Christmas Sermon
The Virgin Birth: Myth or Reality | Christmas Sermon
March 11, 2012
Topic: Christmas
INTRODUCTION
This Sunday we are going to see from various angles the proof of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. We are also going to see how exactly that birth could have happened.
I want to start by telling you that other gods of this world claim to have had a virgin birth. Many deities among Greeks, Babylonians, Egyptians, and India were reported to be born unusually by a virgin birth. I will explain 2 of them.
The birth of Zoroaster: Zoroaster was the greatest prophet among the ancient Iranians. He took his birth in order to establish the worship of Ahura Mazda, the Supreme Lord of the Universe. The birth of Zoroaster was miraculous. The glory of Ahura Mazda descended from heaven and entered the house of the future mother of the prophet. When she was pregnant, archangels came to her and worshipped and praised the unborn child.
The birth of Hanuman: When Agni, the god of fire, gave Dasharath, the king of Ayodhya, a bowl of sacred dessert to share among his wives so they may have divine children, an eagle snatched a part of the pudding and dropped it where Anjana was meditating, and Pavana, the god of wind delivered the drop to her outstretched hands. After she took the divine dessert, she gave birth to Hanuman. Thus, Shiva incarnated as a monkey and was born as Hanuman to Anjana, by the blessings of Pavana, who thus became Hanuman’s godfather.
If the world gods claim to be born of a virgin, how is Jesus different?
The worldly gods do not have any historical and archaeological proof of existence. They have their sacred writings but no proof of validity or authenticity. Such stories are called myths.
Jesus was a true man in history and there are historical and archaeological proofs of His existence. Moreover, the Bible which speaks of the virgin birth of Jesus is a true and living book with parallels from world history. The Bible itself testifies that it is a true book.”
2 Peter 1:16(AMP)
For we were not following cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (grandeur, authority of sovereign power).
(KJV) For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
The Bible is a true book and every account in the Bible is nothing but the truth.
Let us now see what the Bible says about the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
What does the New Testament say?
Luke 1:26-38
“26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 ″ How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
38 ″I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
This is the account of Luke about the birth of Jesus through virgin birth.
Matthew 1:18
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament writers Matthew and Luke speak without doubt that Jesus was born of a virgin called Mary through virgin birth.
What does the Old Testament say?
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
The moment the first man and woman sinned God said that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the devil. Interestingly, God did not say the seed of man but the seed of the woman (virgin birth). In the Bible, all children are addressed as the seed of their father.
Genesis 12:7
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, unto thy seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Genesis 19:32
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
The Bible addresses the children as the father’s seed. Here God told the seed of the woman will crush the head of the devil. The Lord Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman without a man being involved through virgin birth. This proves the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Even before creation, God decided to send Jesus into this world through a virgin birth.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.
Now God says very clearly through Isaiah that Jesus will be born of a virgin and will be called Immanuel, which means God with Us(virgin birth). In other words, Jesus existed before his birth and God decided to send Jesus to us. Since Jesus already existed, he never required a father to be born. Jesus just needed the means to be born which is a virgin womb. Moreover, the Bible says the birth of Jesus is a sign to us. Isaiah 7:14. There was no need for Jesus to be born and then become God. He already pre-existed as God and Jesus was born as a sign for you and me.
The sex of Jesus was already known. He was a male. Jesus who was existent as God in eternity entered into time and space from eternity for a short while to give you and me salvation through his blood.
Therefore, both the Old Testament and the New Testament prove that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary which was the eternal plan of God.
What has the history to say about Jesus’ virgin birth?
Ignatius: A bishop of Apostle John and also the Bishop of Antioch who died in 117 AD wrote, “For our GOD, Jesus the Christ, was conceived in the womb by Mary according to a dispensation, of the seed of David but also of the Holy Ghost.” This proves the historical account of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
Quran: The 19th Sura (chapter)of the Quran is after Maryam’s name, the mother of Jesus. According to the Qur’an, Jesus (called ‘Isa in Arabic) was born miraculously by the will of God without a father. Traditionally, they considered her to be chaste and virtuous woman. Islam respects her highly.
Now we have seen the proof of the virginal birth of Jesus Christ
i. The Bible is not a myth, and the virginal birth of Jesus is real.
ii. The New Testament and the Old Testament speak of the virginal birth of Jesus.
iii. The historians of Jesus’ time speak of Jesus’ virginal birth.
iv. The Quran speaks of Jesus’ virginal birth.
How was Jesus born of a virgin? How was that possible?
For knowing the miracle of the virgin birth of Jesus we have to look into our Bibles.
Luke 2: 34-35
34 ″How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Matthew 1:18
Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
The virgin birth of Jesus was the work of the Holy Spirit.
How can the Holy Spirit give birth to Jesus Christ?
Let us study the work of the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 104:24-30 the psalmist is speaking about the providence of God’s creation and see what he says.
Psalm 104:30
When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. God’s spirit (Holy Spirit) is a spirit of creation.
Genesis 1:2-3
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. It was the Holy Spirit which did the creation in the beginning.
How are you and I created in the womb of our mother?
Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
Now see what the Holy Spirit did to Mary.
Luke 2:35
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
The Holy Spirit is the creator of all things. There is life in the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High God overshadowed her Jesus was born in her womb (virgin birth) because the Holy Spirit gives life and is the creator.
CONCLUSION
Jesus was born by the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary (virgin birth). The Bible is true, and the power of the Holy Spirit is true. Jesus is true. Understand today the same Holy Spirit is in our midst today. When He comes inside you, He will create something new, He will give life to the lifeless things in your life. Commit your hopelessness in God’s hands today. Ask the Holy Spirit to come inside you. When He comes, he will do something new.
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