The Virgin Birth Of Jesus

(Matthew 1:23) "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)."  (ESV)

The virgin birth or conception is a very important doctrine, it is one of the fundamentals of the faith.  Secularists and liberal theologians deny the doctrine saying it could not happen.  So can we believe in the virgin birth of Christ?  

(Matthew 1:23) is a quote of the Old Testament passage (Isaiah 7:14).  A question arises as to whether "virgin" is the correct translation of the Hebrew or if it should be translated as "young maiden".  Most scholars say the Hebrew used in (Isaiah 7:14) almost always refers to a virgin woman.  Also the translators of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, used the word that means virgin nearly all the time.  So the evidence supports "virgin" as the correct translation and not "young maiden".  Most of all Matthew inspired by the Holy Spirit used the word "virgin" when he quoted (Isaiah 7:14).  The birth of Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah.  

Why is the virgin birth only mentioned in Matthew and Luke and not in the rest of the New Testament?  It is likely that oral traditions about the birth of Jesus were widely circulated during this time.  The rest of the New Testament actually gives little detail about the early years of Jesus before his ministry.  The Gospel of Mark simply starts with the ministry of Jesus.  While the Gospel of John focuses on Jesus as the Word, his preexistence.  

What about Alexander the Great and Ceasar Augustus who were said to have been born of the gods?  Some have suggested that the Biblical account was influenced by these stories.  These stories actually bear little resemblance to the Biblical account of the virgin birth of Jesus.  They are very different and there is no basis for this argument.  Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy of the miraculous birth or conception promised by God.  

The virgin birth is an essential doctrine.  The divinity and sinlessness of Jesus depend on it.  Belief in Jesus as God's Son would be impossible without the virgin birth.  He would have been conceived by mere humans and would have been a mere human himself.  Also without the virgin birth Jesus would have inherited a sinful nature from Adam and would not have been without sin.  If Jesus was not God and was not without sin he could not have saved his people from their sins.  The doctrine of the virgin birth is essential indeed.  

Belief in the virgin birth actually comes down to the presuppositions a person holds, that is the basic assumptions one holds.  If you start by assuming that miracles cannot happen, you will conclude that miracles do not happen and deny the virgin birth of Christ.  But if you are open to the possibility of a miracle you will conclude otherwise.  If God is God he can certainly perform miracles, nothing is impossible with him.  It is totally reasonable and rational to believe in the virgin birth of Christ.  Most of all we should believe it because God has revealed it to us in his Word, the Bible.  

Does God Ordain Evil?

Does God ordain or decree evil?  Most modern American Christians would immediately say no.  But is the view of much of modern evangelicalism actually correct?  We will focus on the crucifixion of Christ to find the answer.  

(Acts 2:23) "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (ESV)

(Acts 4:27-28) "for truly in this city there were gathered together against you holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." (ESV) 

There has been no greater evil than the crucifixion of Christ.  Yet it was foreknown and foreordained by God, he predestined it to take place.  It was God's sovereign will that the crucifixion of Jesus take place.  Yet at the same time humans were responsible for crucifying Christ.  He was crucified by the hands of lawless men.  Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and the peoples of Israel were all held responsible.  The miscarriage of justice, the mockery, the beatings, and the crucifixion were all evils that humans were responsible for even though God ordained them to take place.  

It is important to distinguish between the two wills of God.  First there is his sovereign will which cannot be violated or thwarted.  Whatever he decrees will happen.  Second there is his moral will which can be violated.  God's moral will is violated whenever anyone sins or does evil.  

With the crucifixion of Christ we see God's moral will being violated while we see his sovereign will being carried out.  We see Judas Iscariot, Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and peoples of Israel committing great evil by their own free choice and being held responsible for it.  While at the same time it was all part of God's predetermined plan. 

So God ordains or decrees that evil take place and yet he is not responsible for it. God is not the author of evil, men are responsible for their own evil acts.  We see that the Bible presents the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humans as being fully compatible.  

So how can God ordain evil and not be responsible for it?  How can God be totally sovereign over everything and humans still make free choices and be held responsible for them?  We cannot fully understand, it belongs to the mysteries of God.  The finite cannot fully grasp the infinite.  God uses human agents to accomplish his plan and purpose.  There is an ultimate purpose for the existence of evil and it brings glory to God. 

(Deuteronomy 29:29) "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." (ESV)