Studies in the Person And Work of Jesus Christ: Chapter Six

The Virgin Birth Chapter Six

The incarnation (through the virgin birth) was prophesied in Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”  The Proto Evangel

The incarnation was a sign (Is 7:14) 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (God with us)

Pg 38:  The virgin birth is so basic to the incarnation that it leaves no room for compromise.  True unity is not something that men can make or promote, but Christians are exhorted to keep.

The only basis for unity is the life of God which comes to the true believer through the incarnation:  9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

Pg 39  re: Perfect Human nature
“His deity required the virgin birth because there is a difference between His humanity and ours.  The Incorruptible could not unite with the corruptible; the Holy Spirit could not unite with the unholy.”

Pg 39  Our Savior’s sinlessness required the virgin birth.  As God protected Christ’s human nature from the pollution of Joseph, He also protected it from the pollution of Mary by the Spirit in the miraculous conception.

This happened “in the fullness of time” and fulfilled all the OT types and prophesies that predicted a visitation of God to this world (ordained from the foundation of the world)

This happened “according to the scriptures”  The OT Messianic prophesies were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus.  

[Sproul:  history was as pregnant as Mary—as ready to be delivered]

Luke’s account:  Gabriel’s announcement is a summary of why and how it happened:

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”[c]
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 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. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and 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. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from 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.
 
This is the same language as in Genesis 1:2 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Both were creative acts; the same power that brought forth life in creation is the same power that brought forth life in Mary’s womb.

[Berkhof:  The most important element in connection with the birth of Jesus was the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit; for it was only through this that the virgin birth became possible.

The work of the HS in the conception of Jesus was two fold:

1) He was the efficient cause of what was conceived in the womb of Mary, and thus excluded the activity of man as an efficient factor. This was entirely in harmony with the fact that the person who was born was not a human person, but the person of the Son of God, who as such was not included in the covenant of works and was in Himself free from sin
2) The Holy Spirit sanctified (set apart) the human nature of Christ and kept it free from the pollution of sin. The sanctifying work of the Spirit was not limited to the conception of Jesus, but continued throughout His life (Jn 3:34; Heb 9:14)

Doctrinal purpose
 
    Christ had to be constituted the Messiah and the Messianic Son of God.  Consequently, it was necessary that He should be born of a woman, but also that He should not be the fruit of the will of man, but should be born of God.  What is born of flesh is flesh.

If Christ had been generated by man, He would have been a human person, included in the covenant of works, and as such would have shared the common guilt of mankind.  But now that His subject, His ego, His person is not out of Adam, He is not in the covenant of works and is free from the guilt of sin.  And being free of sin, His human nature could also be kept free, both before and after His birth, from the pollution of sin.]


It is a true miracle.  The only way you can rule out miracles is to rule out God, but once you allow for the existence of a self-existent eternal Being, nothing is impossible for Him—no natural law is beyond His sovereign will.

Pg 39 re: no mention of the virgin birth by Mark and John, no explicit mention of the virgin birth by Paul or the apostles.

Read bottom of pg 39- top of page 40  go over the verses that support their knowing. . .

“We do not trace the truths of the resurrection/sinlessness and deity of Christ from the virgin birth, but to it.”

Immaculate Conception (Mary’s conception, not Jesus’)
We do not call it simply a supernatural conception because it is not the only supernatural conception (Isaac)
We do not call it a miraculous birth because His growth and development in Mary’s womb and His birth was normal.
We do not say “God became flesh, because it was only the Second Person of the Trinity, the Eternal Son, who took on flesh,” not the triune God.  We say, the Word became flesh.

[Berkhof:  Each of the divine persons was active in the incarnation ( Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Acts 2:30; Romans 8:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil 2:7.

It was not merely something that happened to the Logos, but was an active accomplishment on His part.  In speaking of the incarnation in distinction from the birth of the Logos, His active participation is stressed; His pre-existence is assumed.  It is not possible to speak of the incarnation of one who had no previous existence.  The pre-existent Son of God assumed human nature and took to Himself human flesh and blood.]

To conceive is more than to receive—Mary gave and took something in the conception.  She gave of her substance for the making of the body, but the Holy Spirit was the power by which the body was made.

[Berkhof:  Mary was not merely a conduit or channel through which Jesus passed; the human nature of Christ was derived from flesh and blood, like us; if not, there exists not relation between us and Him as is necessary to render His mediation effectual for us.]

[Geerhardus Vos:  “neither sinful nor holy human parents could produce an offspring who is God.  It is beyond their humanity.  And neither could a virgin human mother do this.]

[John Calvin:  “We make Christ free of all stain not just because He was begotten of His mother without copulation with man, but because He was sanctified by the Spirit that the generation might be pure and undefiled as would have been true before Adam’s fall.”]

[Reymond:  The Bible is quite adamant that Jesus’ full and true humanity was in no way threatened or impaired by the miracle of His virginal conception, but just to the contrary, by being conceived by a human mother He ‘shared’ our humanity (Heb 2:14) and was ‘like’ us in every way (Heb 2:17).  The objection of some that the virginal conception precludes the possibility of our Lord being truly and fully man is hypothetical and unsupportable.]

Discuss the consequences to Mary and Joseph (Pg 41-top of pg 42)

Discuss the consequences of His incarnation as Son of God
    He died because of it.

Read and discuss last paragraph pg 42