Who is that Baby?

People make fun of a virgin birth. They also write books, make movies, and mock it in television shows. Yet if God is God, the Creator of all things, why would a virgin birth be impossible?

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: after His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.  (Matthew 1:18)

The author of my devotional reading for today says that the virgin birth is an underlying assumption in everything the Bible says about Jesus. To throw out this part of His story is to reject His deity and the authority and accuracy of Scripture. It may not seem very important to the average onlooker, but the virgin birth is essential to the Christian faith.

This is true because the identity of Jesus is key to the essence of Christianity. Everything else the Bible teaches about Christ hinges on the truth we celebrate at Christmas — that Jesus is God in human flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. He came as a baby, born to a virgin, fully man yet fully God.

Because Jesus is God, He can be our Savior, the sinless Lamb of God who could atone for our sin because He had none of His own. Because He is God, death could not hold Him. He rose from the grave and lives forever to intercede for us.

Today’s devotional reading also says that the virgin birth is as crucial as the resurrection in substantiating His deity. Believing it is not an option, because anyone who rejects Christ’s deity rejects Christ and the Gospel.

This is a highly contended issue. If I get negative and argumentative comments on this blog, they are always over the deity of Christ. Those who reject Jesus might say He didn’t exist, or that He was a good man, or that He was an angel or a prophet, but they do not accept that He is God in human flesh. The implications are simply far too great.

How do I know that the virgin birth is true? I could claim the human side of things, like faith, believing what God says, and so on, but I know that I did not believe it until God opened my mind and heart. He did that one afternoon while I was reading in my living room. Suddenly I realized and knew beyond a doubt that the Jesus of the Bible was far more than a baby in a manger, a good man, or a prophet.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end . . . (Isaiah 9:6-7)

He is fully God in human flesh. Because that is true, He also saves me from sin and daily transforms my life.