Christmas: Theology of the Virgin Birth of Jesus
As I had this commute conversation with Jesus (called mental prayer), the interior discussion led to wrapping my thoughts around the theology of the virgin birth of Jesus. Now hold on, We'll get through this! What I wanted was the shortest approach to answering if Jesus was God incarnate. Apparently, this was the answer I received during mental prayer. The Virgin Birth is the theology that the Holy Spirit was the divine method of Mary's pregnancy, and no human DNA from an earthly father. The facts are in the Bible, I will point out a few to put you on the right trail to answer this question for yourself.
First of all, we must examine the history of man to arrive at the conclusion of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. By this I mean we must return to the Garden of Eden, the cradle of creation. In the Garden of Eden, God created man, Adam, and His wife, Eve (Bible Study: Genesis 2). In the Garden of Eden, God provided everything for Adam and Eve, all they had to do was cultivate the food from the plants in the Garden. God commanded that Adam and Eve not eat from a tree in the center of the garden, the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.
One day in the garden, Satan either possessed a creature called a serpent or appeared as the serpent. We don't know all the facts here. Either way, it was Satan who appeared to Eve and deceived her to eat from the forbidden tree and gain the forbidden knowledge of gods. She was deceived into lusting for this knowledge and power. She ate from the tree (Bible Study: Genesis 3). Her husband Adam then ate from the tree. Both now were in complete rebellion to God for disobeying His command not to eat from the tree. They committed sin. Sin is the deliberate and free will disobeying of God's commands. The devil didn't make them do it. They caved into their own lusts and went against the will of God. Up to this point in history, they were free of sin. This event marked the fall of man. When man sinned, he became cursed. There is a lot that happened in this curse. In Genesis 2, Adam held legal rule over the earth. This legal rule was in place as long as man obeyed God. When Adam and Eve sinned, they surrendered their legal dominion over to Satan. And from there on all mankind was subjugated to Satan. A spiritual, legal transaction happened here. God vowed to restore the legal rule and restore mankind by sending His seed, His offspring, to crush the head (legal rule) of Satan. However, all mankind is born under the curse from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. This is called the curse of the original sin (Bible Study: Romans 5;12). It is what makes mankind's natural propensity to lean to do what is evil rather than what is right.
In order to crush Satan's head (headship, rule), the seed of the Heavenly Father would have to come with some legal bloodlines of kings.
15
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed ;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Genesis 3:15 ( all references are NASB)
The bloodline was established through King David (Bible Study: Jeremiah 33:14-15). Now we know from the Bible that Jesus' earthly father had the bloodline of King David's son, King Solomon, which carried the legal line of kings to the throne. Jesus' mother, Mary, was a descendant of King David's son, Nathan. Both Joseph (Luke 1:26) and Mary (Luke 3:23-28) were direct descendants of King David.
Now, why couldn't Joseph be the seed of Jesus? There are two reasons, and both are nasty curses. One, all mankind is born under the curse of original sin. Which means if Jesus father was Joseph, his bloodline at conception would be tainted with the curse of the original sin from the fall of the first Adam.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23
The seed of Jesus had to come from outside cursed DNA. And the only place to find pure DNA was from the creator Himself. Jesus' DNA had to come from elsewhere. That elsewhere is the Holy Spirit, the one who breathes life into existence. Second, there was another curse, by God, in Joseph's which forbid anyone from his bloodline to ever sit on the throne of David (Bible Study: Jeremiah 22:30). This canceled Joseph's bloodline from fathering kings. However, his bloodline possessed the spiritual headship for carrying on a line of kings. They just couldn't be from his own bloodline. A very interesting conundrum!
The only viable option for bypassing these two curses was for supernatural intervention. We know from Matthew that the conception of Jesus required the miracle from God, and the bloodline of kings from David.
20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:20-21
The Gospel of Matthew establishes that Joseph, with the title son of David, was of the direct Davidic lineage to the throne, from King Solomon. This is also established in the genealogy found in the beginning of Matthew 1. The conception of the child in Mary was through the miracle of the Holy Spirit. God became incarnate through the virgin Mary's womb. The miracle child, Jesus is the promise of God,
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Matthew 1:22-25
God's promise originates back to Genesis 3:15.
Keep in mind that Mary also carried the direct bloodline of King David, through David's son Nathan. But Mary's lineage did not carry the legal headship like Joseph's did. We also know that Mary was a righteous young woman, possibly 14-16 years of age. Her desire for God pre-ordained her for the mission she was about to be drafted in to. She also had to be an exemplary Old testament Saint. She was righteous in the eyes of God and a virgin.
30 The angel (Gabriel) 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 bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; 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 His kingdom will have no end.”
Luke 1:30-32
Mary was a virgin and favored in the eyes of the Lord. Joseph, too, was highly favored and righteous. However, his blood line was tangled with spiritual legalities. Joseph had two curses against him (original sin and direct curse on his bloodline), and Mary had one (original sin). Joseph couldn't be the earthly father because of his curses. Even if Joseph only had the original curse against him he still couldn't be the father of the redeemer. The redeemer had to have the DNA from outside of mankind (outside of the original curse from the Fall in the Garden of Eden). The bloodline of the first Adam was forever contaminated. Jesus was the second Adam, who bloodline was free from original sin. The Holy Spirit provided the seed into the righteous young woman.
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
Luke 3:34-35
We know that the Holy Spirit breathes life into existence. Mary being a righteous woman submitted to God's will. We know full well the society backlash she perceived would fall upon her, and yet,
38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Luke 3:38
Mary submitted fully to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit has the power to resurrect the dead as well as has the power of all creation. It was in this manner that Jesus, the Redeemer ( a slave trade term meaning to purchase from a slave master) of man, was conceived and born in the womb of Mary. The headship of King David was passed on through Joseph, to his son Jesus Christ. The bloodline of David was passed on to Jesus through His mother, Mary. The prophecy was fulfilled. The second Adam, Jesus came to earth, to live the life that first Adam failed at (Bible Study: Romans 5:12-21). Jesus led a sinless, holy life, which was pre-destined for Him to go to the cross and defeat Satan. At the cross, Jesus crushed the headship and redeemed mankind. In order for Jesus to be the redeemer of mankind He had to come into this world as both God and man. Jesus Christ was the Son of God. A savior is born from the bloodline of kings. The King of kings.
This, in a nutshell, is the background to the theology of the Virgin Birth. You'll notice there is a lot more to this than what I presented. In fact, there are 66 books written on this subject matter. But I tried to condense it all down for you to see here. This is "lite" theology addition. I included Bible references in this on where to go back and read and study. I hope this helps you understand background to the virgin birth and what the theology behind it is. Jesus is the creator of the universe (Bible Study: John 1, Colossians 1:16).
Merry Christmas to All!!!
Blessings
Rev. Michael Norton
M16 Ministries
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