The
Virgin Birth
By
Shelby
G. Floyd
The cross of Christ is the event in human history that
towers above time and eternity. Before our Lord died upon the cross he had to
enter our world, and he entered our world by a supernatural transaction that we
call the virgin birth.
Many
passages in the Bible allude to the virgin birth. For instance, Romans 1:3-4
says that Jesus Christ was the seed of David according to the flesh, but he was
the Son of God according to the Spirit. Philippians 2:5-11 says, “Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
Then, there is the passage Galatians 4: 4 that says, “But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”
These
are just a few passages that allude to the fact that our Lord entered our world
by a miraculous birth. Today there is a motley crowd of modernistic professors
who, like termites, are eating away at the sub-flooring and foundation of every
major educational institution in our land. Like moths they are eating away at
the old religious fabric of our society. They are trying to destroy the
cardinal doctrines on which Christianity rests. Until just a few years ago, one
hardly heard a denial of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Now even in some of
our own Christian colleges the bible professors’ parrot what is taught in
schools like
THE VIRGIN BIRTH IN PROPHESY
First, let us notice the virgin birth in prophesy.
Prophecy is like a telescope. A telescope allows someone to see something that
is far away by bringing it close. The prophets could look through the inspired
telescope that God gave them. They could see events taking place 700, 1,000 or
1,500 years in the future as if they were taking place in their day. That is,
by looking into the future God revealed what was to happen in later ages.
Genesis 3:15
The primal prophecy of the virgin birth is in the
third chapter of Genesis. After our first parents sinned, God confronted them
with disobedience and he pronounced the curse upon the land and upon man and
upon woman and upon the serpent. Then he stated this primal prophesy of the virgin
birth. God said in addressing the serpent, “I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15.) Notice here, the enmity was to be
between the serpent and the woman, not between the serpent and Adam, but
between the serpent and the woman.
Concerning the relationship of
woman to man, Paul says that a woman shall be saved through childbearing if she
continues in faith, sobriety and all of those qualities he enumerates:
1 Tim 2:13-15
13For Adam was
first formed, then Eve.
14And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
15Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety.
KJV
This seems to refer to the
fact that woman brought Christ into the world. Through the agency of woman, the
Christ child, the Savior of the world, came into our land of sorrow and death.
There is no doubt that what Moses recorded in Genesis is
what God said to the serpent. What did he say? “I will put enmity between
thee and the woman.” Enmity is hatred. Starting with Genesis 3 and going
through the great drama of redemption from sin, we see the constant warfare
between Satan and the woman; between the seed of the serpent, those who serve
Satan, and the seed of the woman. Now notice he says, “It shall bruise thy
head and thou shall bruise his heel.” The pronoun “it” here refers to Jesus
Christ. “It shall bruise thy head; thou,
Satan, shall bruise his heel.”
There is something important
in this. The heel is the lowest part of our human frame and human body. The
head is the highest part of man. It contains the brain, the ruling power of the
human organism. Here in this primal prophecy, God is saying, “Satan you are
going to bruise the lowest part of the nature of Jesus Christ.” What was the
lowest part? His human nature was the lowest part of his person. When did Satan
bruise the human nature of Christ? He did so on the
cross of
Referring to the conflict of
Christ and Satan, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, he said
“Thou, (Christ), shall bruise his head.” Now Satan would only bruise the heel
of Christ, but Christ would bruise the head of the serpent. When did he do
that? When he arose the third day from the grave, he dealt a mortal blow to
Satan. He has never fully recovered from that blow and he never shall. Thus,
back in the beginning of time, Genesis 3:15 prophesied the virgin birth and the
ultimate victory that would go to the seed of the woman over Satan.
All great Bible commentators
have understood the seed of the woman referred to Jesus Christ. Until just a
few years ago it was thought that woman did not contribute a seed toward the
birth of a child using the natural laws of procreation. It was believed that
man alone contributed the seed for the birth of a child. Now we know that is
not so. Man in the natural order contributes the seed or the sperm, but woman
also contributes a seed called the egg.
In this primal prophesy, man
is left out of the picture altogether. That shows the birth of this child of the
woman was to be without the agency of man. It would be exclusively by the seed
of the woman. Today we know from a scientific standpoint that this is actually
the case, the woman does have a seed that is the egg. However, in all the
annals of time a human birth has never taken place apart from the agency of
man.
There are records that show
the birth of a child, after conception took place in a test tube, but this was
not miraculous. The sperm was extracted and united with an egg cell. This was
done in a test tube. Implantation in the womb of the mother allowed the birth
to take place. However, this was not a miraculous birth. It was natural. It was
a little bit out of the ordinary, but still according to the laws of nature. In
recorded history, a woman has never given birth to a child apart from the
agency of man, or the contribution of man, except the Lord Jesus Christ. This
makes the virgin birth unique. There has only been one and there shall never be
another. It stands out as a unique case in all the history of mankind. That is
what Genesis
The Scriptures identify the
seed of the woman so there can be no doubt left in anyone’s mind. God said, “I
will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed.
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15 KJV.) Who
was the seed of the woman that God was speaking about here to the serpent?
Genesis 12:1-4
In Genesis 12 God spoke to
Abraham the great father of the faithful saying, “Abraham, in thy seed I
will bless all the nations of the earth.” (Gen. 22:18; 12:4.) This promise
to Abraham had a threefold aspect. Number one, God said, “Abraham, I will make
a great nation out of you. Look up and try to number the stars. Your offspring
will be as numberless as the stars. Go down to the seashore and try to count
the grains of sand. If they can be numbered, then you can number your
offspring.” He is saying, “I am going to make a great nation out of your
people, Abraham.” Number two, he promised him a land area, the
We know that Sarah gave her
handmaiden Hagar to Abraham and she brought forth a son, Ishmael. God said he
was not the child through whom the promise was going to come. Years went by and
from a natural standpoint it looked as if Sarah and Abraham would never have an
offspring. God sent messengers to Sarah one day and she laughed. “Shall I being
old have pleasure in my lord?” She was skeptical when he said “Sarah about such
and such a time you are going to bring forth a son.” She laughed because she
was about ninety years old. Abraham was also up in years and yet God said, “You
are going to father a son.” The birth of Isaac was miraculous. God interposed
his power, but he did so with the agency of Abraham and Sarah. So the
miraculous birth of Isaac is not parallel to the miraculous birth of Jesus
Christ.
Time went on and Isaac was born
according to promise. He was the seed of Abraham through whom the ultimate seed
would come. And so we trace the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David
on down until we come to Jesus Christ.
How is it known that Christ
was the ultimate object of which that prophecy was speaking? Paul, an inspired
man, tells us. In Galatians
The Family Tree of Christ
Jesus Christ was literally the seed of David and the
seed of Abraham. Go back to Luke’s account of the genealogy of Christ. In Luke
3 he traces the family tree of Jesus Christ through his mother’s side of the
family back to David and Abraham and finally all the way back to Adam:
Luke 3:23-38
23And Jesus himself, when he began (to teach),
was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the
(son) of Heli,
24the (son) of Matthat, the (son,) of Levi, the
(son) of Melchi, the (son) of Jannai, the (son) of Joseph,
25the (son) of Mattathias, the (son) of Amos,
the (son) of Nahum, the (son) of Esli, the (son) of Naggai,
26the (son) of Maath, the (son) of Mattathias,
the (son) of Semein, the (son) of Josech, the (son) of Joda,
27the (son) of Joanan, the (son) of Rhesa, the
(son) of Zerubbabel, the (son) of Shealtiel, the (son) of Neri,
28the (son) of Melchi, the (son) of Addi, the
(son) of Cosam, the (son) of Elmadam, the (son) of Er,
29the (son) of Jesus, the (son) of Eliezer, the
(son) of Jorim, the (son) of Matthat, the (son) of Levi,
30the (son) of Symeon, the (son) of Judas, the
(son) of Joseph, the (son) of Jonam, the (son) of Eliakim,
31the (son) of Melea, the (son) of Menna, the
(son) of Mattatha, the (son) of Nathan, the (son) of David,
32the (son) of Jesse, the (son) of Obed, the
(son) of Boaz, the (son) of Salmon, the (son) of Nahshon,
33the (son) of Amminadab, the (son) of Arni,
the (son) of Hezron, the (son) of Perez, the (son) of
34the (son) of Jacob, the (son) of Isaac, the
(son) of Abraham, the (son) of Terah, the (son) of Nahor,
35the (son) of Serug, the (son) of Reu, the (son)
of Peleg, the (son) of Eber, the (son) of Shelah,
36the (son) of Cainan, the (son) of Arphaxad,
the (son) of Shem, the (son) of Noah, the (son) of Lamech,
37the (son) of Methuselah, the (son) of Enoch,
the (son) of Jared, the (son) of Mahalaleel, the (son) of Cainan,
38the (son) of Enos, the (son) of Seth, the
(son) of Adam, the (son) of God.
Lately people have been
interested in tracing their family trees. Alex Haley helped stir that interest
with his drama, “Roots.” Can anyone trace his roots back to Adam? Luke traces
the family tree of Christ back to Adam on his mother’s side. Literally, he was
of the seed of David and the seed of Abraham all the way back to Adam.
Also, legally he was the seed
of Abraham and the seed of David. In Matthew 1, he traces Christ’s genealogy
through his stepfather’s side of the family:
Matt 1:1-17
1:1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob;
and Jacob begat
3and
4and Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat
Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon;
5and Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begat
Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6and Jesse begat David the king. And David
begat Solomon of her (that had been the wife) of Uriah;
7and Solomon begat Rehoboam; and Rehoboam begat
Abijah; and Abijah begat Asa;
8and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat
begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah;
9and Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat
Ahaz; and Ahaz begat Hezekiah;
10and Hezekiah begat Manasseh; and Manasseh
begat Amon; and Amon begat Josiah;
11and Josiah begat Jechoniah and his brethren,
at the time of the carrying away to
12And after the carrying away to Babylon,
Jechoniah begat Shealtiel; and Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel;
13and Zerubbabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat
Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim;
and Achim begat Eliud;
15and Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat
Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
16and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,
of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham unto
David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to
Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the
Christ fourteen generations.
Joseph was not his literal
father, but was his legal father. So, legally and regally he was the seed of David
and the seed of Abraham. That ought to settle that prophecy.
Isaiah 7:14
There is another great prophecy about the virgin birth
of Christ. It is in Isaiah 7:14. Ahaz was king of
The prophet told Ahaz, “Just
ask and the Lord will give you a sign that things will turn out all right.” Ahaz
was stubborn and would not ask for it. The prophet said the Lord would give him
a sign anyway. Here it is: “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14.) There is the prophecy.
Until just a few years ago nobody denied it was a prophecy identifying Jesus
Christ as the virgin born son and connecting it back with Genesis 3:15, “The
seed of the woman,” which Paul says is Christ in Galatians 3:16.
The Revised Standard Version
of the Bible was introduced in 1946. It is all right to have one of these for
reference, but we hope no member of the Church will use it for his regular
study. Modernist professors of the Bible influenced this translation. Their
intention was to blot out every reference to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ
in the Bible. It stands in the way of their humanism. They think that Christ
was a good man. They believe in his ethical teaching and want to take his
ethics and discard the supernatural. These men try to do away with the
miraculous aspects of the life of Christ and the supernatural aspect of
Christianity.
So, what did they do when they
came to this great passage in Isaiah 7:14? Here is what they did. “Behold a
young woman shall conceive and bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel.”
What is there about a young woman giving birth to a son that is a sign? A sign
is a supernatural mark of identification. What kind of sign would it be for a
young woman to bear a son? Since the beginning of time young women have been
bearing sons. Since the beginning of time virgin women have been giving birth
to sons. The virgin birth of Christ was not unique simply because a virgin was
going to bring forth a son. It was the fact she would be a virgin after she
conceived and even after she had given birth to this son. Thus, completely
excluded from the process was the agency of man.
Modernist professors today
want to do away with the virgin birth so they have taken the great word
“virgin” out of Isaiah 7: 14 and have replaced it with “a young woman.” It will
not work. The Hebrew word here translates “virgin” in the King James Version
and “virgin” in the American Standard Version. Forty-seven scholars translated
the King James Version. There is a book that gives the credentials of these
forty-seven men. These men, under the auspices of King James, made a faithful
translation of the Bible in the English tongue from the original Hebrew and
Greek. It is doubtful if we have anyone or group of men today as scholarly and
as well informed in literature as these men were.
In 1901 one hundred one
American translators revised the King James Version and this version is the
American Standard translation or the Revised translation. If you add them
together, you have one hundred forty-eight of the world’s wisest scholars. They
gave us two translations of the Bible that are superb, extraordinary in their
accuracy and in their literary quality. It is doubtful we will see in our time
an English translation that will be superior to the King James Version and the
American Standard
Version.
The Revised Standard Version
of 1946 substituted “a young woman.” Some say the Hebrew word “
THE VIRGIN BIRTH IN
HISTORY
Matthew 1 records the birth of Christ. Matthew said
that Christ’s birth was a fulfillment of what the Lord had said through the
prophet. He then quotes it,
Matt 1:22-23
22Now all this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us.
KJV
Matthew quotes the Septuagint Version.
What is the Septuagint Version of the Bible? The word “Septuagint” means
“seventy.” About three hundred years before Christ, the Jews had been dispersed
throughout the entire world just as they are today. Wherever you went, you
would find a colony of Jewish people. They would set up a synagogue and adopt
the language, the culture and the habits of the people in whose land they found
themselves, just like they do today. Since they were separated from their
homeland in
Matthew quoted from the Septuagint
Version. Since he quoted from a version that used the word meaning “virgin,” he
placed his stamp of approval upon the King James and the American Standard
Versions. They use the English word “virgin.” By quoting the word “virgin” from
the Septuagint, he condemned the modernist translators who use the word “young
woman.” If Jesus had been born of a young woman and that was what it meant,
then Matthew would have found a version of the Bible that said “young woman.”
But he did not find one that said “young woman,” he found one that said
“virgin.” He placed his inspired stamp of approval upon the one hundred
forty-eight men who used the English word “virgin.”
Because the English word
“virgin” is equivalent to the Greek word “parthenos,” and the word “parthenos”
and the English word “virgin” are equal to the Hebrew word “alma,” they all
dovetail. They all fit together as mortis and tendon joints used by carpenters.
Yet, men today are trying to separate these links in the great proof and
evidence of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah
Matthew 1 will show further
how this is true. He says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just
man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away
privily.” (Mt. 1:18-19.)
I was talking with a
member of the Church and the subject came up of a young lady who had conceived a child out
of wedlock. This person told me, “I think the church ought to make an example
out of her.” This was said even after the young lady had made a public
confession. I said, “What did you mean to make a public example? When a person
sins, despite what that sin is, is it not the Christian way to forgive him and
encourage him in life from that point forward?” The person who spoke had missed
the essence of Christianity.
Joseph was in a similar
predicament. He was engaged to a young woman by the name of Mary. That is what
the word “espoused” means, an “engagement.” Back in the days of Joseph, an
engagement was looked upon for practical purposes as a marriage. Although it
was not consummated, it was still considered a marriage. If a young man was
engaged to a woman and she was unfaithful to that engagement by conceiving a
child with someone else, it was considered equal to adultery. He could put her
away as if he had really been married to her and the marriage had been
consummated.
Mary went to visit with her
cousin for three months. When she returned she was with child and Joseph was in
a predicament. What was he going to do? He was engaged to a woman, she was
expecting a child and he was not the father of this child. The only conclusion
he could draw was that she had committed fornication with somebody else while
she was away from his presence. He debated in his mind what to do. He had two
choices. As the person said, he could “make a public example” out of her. That
would cause her to go through a public trial, exposure and shame. Though he
considered she had sinned, he still loved her. He did not want to make a public
example out of her, exposing her to shame and perhaps even death itself. The
Law of Moses commanded that an adulteress or an adulterer be put to death. He
decided to take the other alternative. He would simply put her away or divorce
her quietly. The Law of Moses also allowed that.
An angel intervened saying, “Joseph,
that which Mary has conceived is by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Most High
has overshadowed her and you do not need to worry about her having been
unfaithful because God has intervened in this matter.” (Mt. 1:20.) Then the
angel said, “She shall bring forth a son and he shall save his people from
their sins.” (Mt. 1:21.) All this came about in fulfillment of what the
Lord said through the prophet. Who was speaking in Isaiah 7:14? The Lord was.
He was speaking through the prophet Isaiah. What did the Lord say to the
prophet Isaiah? “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and
his name shall be called ‘Emmanuel.’” Notice this, “Which by
interpretation means ‘God with us.’”
If Jesus Christ was born of a
natural birth or born of fornication, how could he be “God with us”? Some
infidels today have said that Jesus was born out of wedlock to a Jewish woman
and a Roman soldier. Such blasphemy! I detest it. As long as I have a breath in
my body I am going to defend the integrity of the Bible concerning the virgin
birth of Jesus Christ. The virgin birth, the cross of
The virgin birth of Christ
will stand. It is irrefutable. I believe it with all my heart and I hope that
you do too. It is the beautiful and wonderful story of how God brought Jesus
into our world. He grew up to be a great teacher and a great Savior because he
died for us and shed his blood for us. He is my Savior and he is your Savior
too. You must obtain the benefits of the life and death of Christ through the
gospel plan of salvation. We hope you will obey that gospel.*
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon