The Virgin-Born Son of God

Jesus is not the Son of God because He was born of a virgin—He was born of a virgin because He is the Son of God.

The world laughs at the idea of a virgin conception. Satan hates the virgin birth of Jesus, because it teaches both the humanity and the deity of his nemesis and our Savior. Many so-called Christians doubt the virgin birth. Others think it is incidental.

But if you take away the virgin birth of Christ, you have destroyed the foundation of the Christian faith. Did the virgin birth actually happen? Yes—and it is fundamental to your salvation.

The Mystery of Jesus’ Birth (Luke 1:30-38)

Mary is a virgin espoused to Joseph—but the wedding has not yet occurred, so they are not living together as husband and wife. Yet the angel Gabriel tells her, “Mary, you are going to have a baby.” She asks a pertinent question: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34). “I do not know a man” literally means that she has not had sexual relations.

And the angel said to her, “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. … For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:35, 37).

With God nothing will be impossible. If you have difficulty with that, you have difficulty with the virgin birth of Jesus.

The virgin birth is a mystery. It does not depend on your understanding for validation.

People say, “A virgin birth is a biological impossibility!” Let the angel answer: “With God nothing will be impossible.” God is not bound by the laws that He Himself created in the universe He made. He is Master of that universe. God can do anything He well pleases—He is God.

If you believe God made the first man without a father or mother, out of clay that He formed out of nothing, can you have difficulty believing the virgin birth? It is a mystery to you, but not to God.

Salvation Through the Virgin Birth

The virgin birth of Jesus and the incarnation (God made flesh) were both necessary for our salvation.

The First Adam. God gave Adam and Eve dominion. They sinned and lost that dominion. They turned their dominion over to Satan, and they infected the entire human race with sin.

The Last Adam. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, was born of a virgin to undo what the first Adam did (see 1 Corinthians 15:45). Apart from the virgin birth, there is no hope of salvation. Why?

The Bible plainly teaches, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Sin must be paid for—atoned. And it must be atoned for by shed blood (see Hebrews 9:22).

This dominion was lost by a man; therefore, it must be redeemed by a man. But not just any man. He must be a perfect Man, sinless and innocent. No son or daughter of Adam can qualify. Why? “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). We know we are sinners by birth, nature, choice and practice. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

If Jesus Christ had been born like we are, He would have been a son of Adam. Had He been a son of Adam, He would have been a sinner. Had He been a sinner, He would not have been innocent. Had He not been innocent, He could have been nobody’s substitute.

So, God’s answer was the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, both truly human and fully sinless. Jesus came to be born of a virgin so that He would be sinless. He was sinless in order to die a substitutionary death. He died a substitutionary death to atone for our sin. He atoned for our sin so that we might be born again and go to Heaven. That is why Jesus’ virgin conception was necessary.

The Majesty of the Christmas Story

“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And 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’” (Luke 1:30-32).

The name Jesus is the same in Hebrew as the name Joshua, which means “Jehovah saves.” As the Son of God, Jesus is God in human flesh. The Bible says: “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom’” (Hebrews 1:8).

Baby Jesus was as much God as if He were not man at all. He was the earthly child of a Heavenly Father, and the Heavenly child of an earthly mother. That baby in the manger, dimpled feet touching the straw, was the mighty God of Genesis 1:1 (See John 1:1-3).

Do you believe it?

There is something tragically wrong with our world. There can be no real peace without the Prince of Peace. The answer to this world’s problems is Jesus Christ. His is the cradle that rocks the world. ©2024 Love Worth Finding Ministries

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers’ message “His Unequaled Birth,” at LWF.org.

Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) preached the Gospel for more than 50 years, serving 33 of those years as pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. His preaching is still broadcast and streamed worldwide through Love Worth Finding Ministries, online at LWF.org.