Christ the God-Man: An Advent Reflection on the Virgin Birthናሙና

The doctrine of the virgin birth protects against certain heresies (false teachings) about Jesus Christ’s incarnation. Consider the following thoughts (if you aren’t familiar with the technical terms used, consider looking them up in a Bible dictionary as an additional Christmas devotional project). 

God became completely and genuinely human… 

• without sexually cohabiting with a human female. The virgin birth contradicts the Muslim perception. You can rule out absurdities about sexual intercourse because God the Holy Spirit, who “overshadowed” Mary to conceive Jesus, has no body. It takes two bodies to cohabit. While Muslims say the incarnation desecrates God, it is their view of the Christian Trinity that dishonors God. Why? Because God the Holy Spirit has no body to copulate with human bodies. The Muslim view only makes sense if one assumes that biological reproduction is the only way to bring forth human life. But their own holy book says Adam was not brought forth biologically. 
• without simply appearing human. Jesus became really man; He actually took on flesh. The fact that Jesus was born to a virgin, not only through a virgin, rebuts an early Christian heresy known as Docetism—that He just “seemed” to be a human being. 
• without the Son becoming two persons. Jesus is one person, not twin persons with one will. The virgin birth cautions us against that Nestorian position.  

Tomorrow we will discuss additional aspects of Christ’s incarnation as they relate to the virgin birth.