INTRODUCTION:

1. The word miracle is used loosely to refer to the natural birth of a baby.

     a. A miracle is "a work wrought by a divine power for a divine purpose by means beyond the reach of man."--Lockyer, quoted by Roy Lanier, Jr., SPIRITUAL SWORD, January 1992, p. 17.

     b. Birth is great and wonderful but it is a natural event.

     c. Birth is the result of following God's law that everything will bring forth after its kind.

     d. Everything that happens is not a miracle. May be natural or providential.

2. Why is this study so important?

     a. If Jesus were not born of the Virgin, He is not God, or the Son of God.

     b. If He were not born of the Virgin, His death did not atone for sin.

     c. If He were not born of the Virgin, His blood did not purchase the church.

     d. If He were not born of the Virgin, Matthew and Luke misrepresented the truth.

     e. if He were not born of the Virgin, the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew and Luke to write a lie.

     f. If He were not born of the Virgin, the church is not built on Him (Matt. 16:18), so, the church is either a human institution or a divine institution built on a falsehood.

     g. If He were not born of the Virgin, it makes God false, for He said, "this is My Son."

DISCUSSION:

I. There Was Early Opposition to the Virgin Birth.

     A. Gnostics denied He had a body.

     1. They believed evil was inherent in matter.

     2. If Jesus did not have a body, there is no need to discuss His resurrection.

     3. He had a body (I Jn. 1:1-3).

     a. He was seed of Abraham and David (Heb. 2:16; Rom. 1:3).

     b. He demonstrated human characteristics: wept, weary, hungry, thirsty, slept, pain.

     B. Arias claimed that since Jesus was the "son" of God, the Father had to be older than the Son, so he concluded Jesus was a created being.

     1. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to this view of the nature of Christ.

     2. He is called "a god" (small letter) in John 1:1 NWT.

II. The Real Issue Is "Whose Son Is He?"

     A. Jesus asked what people were saying about Him (Matt. 16:13).

     B. He asked the Pharisees this question (Matt. 22:41-46).

     C. Saul asked "Who art thou?" (Acts 9:5).

     D. His identity is proved with more than two or three witnesses as required by the law (Deut. 17:6-7; Jn. 5:31-39).

     E. Peter used the resurrection of Christ to show He is the Son of God (Acts 2:30-31).

III. Consider What Matthew Says About the Birth of Christ.

     A. "Luke is thought to have gotten his story of Jesus' birth directly from Mary herself. Matthew probably got his from Joseph."--Halley's Handbook, p. 433.

     B. ASV and Greek text say "the virgin," indicating a certain one.

     C. His birth fulfilled Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23.

IV. Consider What Luke Says About the Birth of Christ.

     A. Mary asked "How can this be?" She knew she had not had sexual relations with a man which is required in natural birth.

     B. When Jesus was crucified, Mary stood silently at the cross. She knew who His Father was.

V. Consider Other Passages.

     A. Galatians 4:4, "made of woman." A different Greek word used of John in Matthew 11:11.

     B. Genesis 3:15, "her seed."

     C. I Timothy 3:16, God was manifest in the flesh (Jn. 1:1,14).

     D. Hebrews 10:5; Psalm 40:6-8, "a body hast thou prepared me." Prepared by virgin birth.

     E. John 3:23, it was "supposed" that Jesus was the son of Joseph. He was the legal father (Lk. 2:48).

CONCLUSION:

1. To conclude that Jesus is come in the flesh (I Jn. 5:2), includes His virgin birth, His personal ministry in His body, His death on the cross, His burial in Joseph's new tomb, and His resurrection from the dead.

2. All of this demands our obedience and faithful life to Him.