Day 18: The Virgin Birth

It was such a glorious miracle that even today people marvel at its fulfillment. Isaiah prophesied to Israel that their Messiah would be born of a virgin around seven hundred years before Jesus came. And even more, the virgin birth was implied as early as Genesis 3:15, where God promised that “the seed of the woman” would crush Satan’s head and be victorious over sin. Jesus’ birth was a miraculous fulfillment of what God promised the world—that “He would send His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

In Matthew 1, this prophecy is recorded to have been fulfilled through Mary. Even though she had never been with a man and was unmarried, she conceived the Savior through the work of the Holy Spirit. An angel appeared to her and explained to her exactly what would happen, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail” (Luke 1:35-37).

Mary accepted this calling from God with great faith. She answered the angel with, “I am the Lord’s servant…May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38).

Why did the Savior need to be born of a virgin? Well, it was because all who are born to a man and a woman fall under the curse of sin. The fall of man (Genesis 3) meant that all who were offspring of Adam and Eve would also be sinners. But because Jesus was not fathered by a human man but rather was miraculously conceived through the Holy Spirit, He was able to be both God and man. Because Jesus is fully God, He can be a sacrifice to all who put their trust in Him; and because Jesus is also fully man, He is a comparable sacrifice for a person. The Savior had to be human, sinless, and divine in order to be our perfect substitute. In Isaiah 53:6, the prophet tells us, “The Lord has laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.”

Praise God that He made a way that we could be cleansed of our sins and our relationship with God restored! We serve a powerful and wonderful Lord. How great are His ways and the works of His hands!

“Lord Jesus Christ, of Virgin born,
To redeem a world forlorn,
Good news to us the angels bring,
And we with them Thy praises sing.
Hallelujah!”
- Martin Luther
Lord Jesus Christ, of Virgin Born