09. The Virgin Birth
CHAPTER IX The Virgin Birth Three Reasons Why the Virgin Birth of Christ Was Absolutely Necessary 1. It Was Necessary in Order That Prophecy Might Be Fulfilled.
Three Old Testament prophecies and one in the New Testament absolutely demand that the Messiah be born of a virgin. "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). In the Old Testament we are told, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). This prophecy has always been interpreted to refer to Christ, who would finally overcome Satan, and then set up His Kingdom on the earth. The word "seed" (Greek "sperma") when used in the Scriptures concerning human beings, always refers to the father and not the mother, with this one exception. The Messiah must be both the son of David, and of the seed of David. The word "son" may express natural, or blood relationship, but it may also express merely legal relationship. Saul called David "my son," evidently on the ground that David was his son-in-law (1 Samuel 24:16) and not a real son by blood. Joseph was a son of David; Christ was the legal son of Joseph and therefore the son of David. Since Mary was a direct descendant by blood from David (which a careful comparison of the genealogies of our Lord in Matthew and Luke will reveal), it is therefore evident that to be the seed of this woman was to be of the seed of David. This is in keeping with the prophecy in Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). According to Matthew this prophecy was fulfilled by the birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:22).
We also read, "For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man" (Jeremiah 31:22). The virgin birth of our Lord was a new thing in the earth. It was something that had never before been, and has never since been repeated. Being the legal son of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and of the seed of David on His mother’s side these prophecies were fulfilled. This harmonizes with the New Testament prophecy, in which the angel said to Mary, "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:31; Luke 1:35).
2. The Virgin Birth of Christ Was Necessary That He Might Be Entitled to the Throne of His Father David.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God disclosed a bar and a ban upon the royal line of Judah. Jeremiah says, "Is this man Coniah (Jeconiah, Jehoiakin) a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD: Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah" (Jeremiah 22:28-30). Coniah was the last king in the royal succession to occupy the throne of David. He was not childless, for we are distinctly told that he had children. We read, "And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son" (1 Chronicles 3:17); "And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel" (Matthew 1:12). The title to the throne of David must descend through the line of Coniah. There was no other way. But note, that every natural descendant of this man was barred from the throne. In order that Christ might occupy the throne of His father David He must establish His legal right through the line that rested under the pronounced curse.
He must be a son of David: through the male line of succession, so that He might occupy the throne of David, but in order that He might escape the curse pronounced upon that line, He must not be the seed of Coniah. Christ was the son of David and also of the seed of David. For in Matthew 1:16 we read, "Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ." He was of the seed of David on his mother’s side.
Joseph was the husband of Mary (married by divine direction) before the birth of Christ. This made Christ the legal son of Joseph, without being of the seed of Joseph--the son of David but not of the seed of Coniah.
Thus we see how Christ, being born of a virgin, met all demands of prophecy, and at the same time escaped all the bars of prophecy, thus securing an unmistakable title to the throne of His father David.
3. The Virgin Birth Was Necessary That We Might Have a Saviour. In the first section of this book we have shown by the writings of the Apostle Paul that the whole human race sinned in Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam was the federal head of the race; when he fell, the whole race fell in him.
Adam was also the natural head of the race; therefore every one descending from him by natural generation is a partaker of his fallen sinful nature (Romans 5:19; Genesis 5:3). This once and for all barred all the natural descendants of Adam from the work of redemption from sin, for we read, "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever" ("It must be left alone for ever")--(Psalms 49:7-8), and so it had to be as far as mere man was concerned.
Therefore, if man was ever to be saved, some one had to come into the human race, who did not come under any of the various aspects of sin.
However, in order to be the sinner’s substitute it was necessary for the Redeemer to be a real man, a kinsman; but to be an adequate substitute He had to be "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners." This our Lord would not have been had He been the natural son of Joseph. He had to be man in order that He might die as the sacrifice for sin; He had to be God in order that His death might be efficacious. Being born of the virgin Mary, it was possible for Christ to be our Saviour.
We have already noted that His virgin birth was predicted in the Old Testament, and that the words of the angel as recorded by Luke revealed how it would be accomplished. We read, "And the angel said unto her, The Holy Ghost [Spirit] shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
Paul’s statement, "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3)), clearly and positively teaches the pre-existence of our Lord, and His virgin birth. Note how carefully Paul guards his words in the statement. Had our Lord come in sinful flesh, He himself would have been in need of a Saviour. To the Galatians Paul writes, "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5).
Concerning the body of our Lord we read, "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:5). Our Lord’s body was especially prepared for Him. The angel referred to Him as "that holy thing."