THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE VIRGIN BIRTH
A STUDY BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
Lesson 9
God used the miracle of the virgin birth to impart
His own nature to Christ, and that fact gives the birth of Christ a spiritual
significance that sets it apart from every other birth. Because the child born
of Mary has the divine nature, it can truly be said that He is “The Son
of the Highest, // The Mighty God, The Everlasting
Father” (Luke
Because of His miraculous birth, Jesus was born
without sin. Unlike us, his nature is not “Deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). On the contrary, the Bible tells
us that He is “The image of the invisible God” (Colossians
For that reason, the truth of Christ’s virgin
birth is of fundamental importance to all that we believe. In fact, it is not
too much to say that the Christian church is founded on the truth of
Christ’s virgin birth. After all, the Bible tells us that it is founded
on the knowledge that Christ is “the Messiah, the Son of the living
God,” and it is only because of the virgin birth that He is the
“Son of the living God” (Matthew
Since it was only Christ’s human nature that
grew in a womb and was born as a son, the title Son properly belongs to His
human nature. Nevertheless, the Bible uses the word Son in reference to the His
deity in order to make it clear that there is only one Christ, not two (one
human and one divine). At the same time, because Christ humbled Himself during
His sojourn on earth, He did not always avail Himself of the divine power and
knowledge that were at His disposal (Philippians 2:8, Matthew 26:53, Mark
The Athanasian Creed states the facts of
Christ’s incarnation thus:
For the right faith is that we believe and
confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God is God and Man (Romans
1:3-4);
God of the substance of the Father (John 10:30) existing before all worlds
(Micah 5:2, John 17:5); and man of the substance of His mother (Romans 1:3),
born in the world (Matthew 1:18);
Perfect God (Titus 2:13) and perfect Man (1Timothy 2:5) of a reasonable
soul and human flesh subsisting (Mark 15:37-39):
Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead (Philippians 2:6) and inferior to
the Father as touching His manhood (1Corinthians 15:28).
Who although He be
God and Man yet He is not two, but one Christ (1Corinthians 8:6, 1Timothy 2:5):
One, not by conversion of
the Godhead into flesh (Malachi 3:6), but by taking the manhood into God
(Hebrews
One altogether; not by
confusion of substance (Malachi 3:6), but by unity of Person (Jeremiah 23:5-6,
Colossians 2:9, John 14:9).
For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ
(1Timothy 2:5, 1John
At this point, let me share an insight into the virgin birth that came to me
from an unexpected source.
Some years ago, I was asked this question. “If God can do anything, can
He make a stone that is too big for Him to lift?” As I pondered that
question and prayed for the answer, this thought came to me. Since stones are
only hard for finite beings to move, God would first need to become a finite
being, subject to the laws of gravity and inertia before He could make a stone
too big for Him to lift. However, He would also need to remain God while
becoming a finite being, otherwise it would not be God
who was unable to lift the stone. That being the case, He could become a finite
being by being born of a virgin. Through the virgin birth, He could take upon
Himself the nature of man while retaining the divine nature. As a man he would
be unable to lift the stone, but as God nothing would be impossible for Him.
That answer helped me to understand why it was necessary for Christ to come
into the world. God loves us so much that He was willing to take our sins upon
Himself and die in our place. However, as God, it is impossible for Him to be
guilty of sin or to die. Therefore, in order to take our guilt and punishment
upon Himself, He became man — born of a virgin, born under the law. As
man, He was able to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place. Yet as
God, He was able to remain perfectly sinless and could, therefore, triumph over
sin, death, and the devil.
As the seed of David, Christ is the
rightful heir to the throne of David. In fact, all who trust in Him are the
citizens of His heavenly kingdom (Luke
1. What is the spiritual
significance of the virgin birth?
2. List three Bible passages that tell us that Jesus is God.
3. Why is the truth of Christ’s virgin birth important?
4. Why does the Bible use the word “Son” in reference to
Christ’s deity?
5. When did Christ humble Himself?
6. When did that time of humility end?
7. Could any mere man have taken our sins upon himself?
8. Who is the image of the invisible God?
9. Who are the citizens of Christ’s heavenly kingdom?
10. What are those who deny the virgin birth attacking?