Compelling Love

The evidence of God’s supernatural creation of the world is all around us.  Paul writes in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead”.  Appreciation of the beauty and wonder of God’s creation causes one to look beyond the creation to the Creator.  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 4:18, “we do not look [only] at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The pinnacle of God’s work of Creation in Genesis was His creation of the first man and woman.  Out of all human beings who have ever lived, they are the only ones who did not go through the process of gestation in the womb.

The entrance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, into the world was equally supernatural.  Like every other human being after Adam and Eve, Jesus experienced the gestation and birth process beginning from a tiny embryonic form.  Jesus, alone of all human beings ever born, did not have a human biological father.

Some Biblical critics argue that the virgin birth is a biological impossibility. Dr. Henry Morris cogently writes, “It is an impossibility only if there is no God. It is indeed a mighty miracle of creation, as is uniquely appropriate for the entrance of the infinite God into the finite body of His creature, man.”
(Henry M. Morris, “Many Infallible Proofs: Evidences for the Christian Faith”, Kindle Location 1071, Master Books, Kindle Edition)

An important question regarding the conception of Jesus is: Did the Holy Spirit utilize a human egg from Mary, or did He simply miraculously create the embryonic child?  Some would argue that Jesus could not have been human without His conception being from a human egg, but this is manifestly untrue.  The creation of Adam and Eve did not involve conception from a human egg, yet no one would deny they were fully human.

Jesus, on the other hand, went through the entire experience of gestation in the womb beginning with His conception, and is most certainly just as human as Adam and Eve, or any of us, whether or not a human egg was utilized.

To answer the above question one should consider whether Jesus would be fully “God come in the flesh” if he inherited the genetic flaws, and innate depravity that has plagued all descendants of Adam and Eve since their rebellion from God.  Dr. Henry Morris rightly contends that for the eternal Word to be made flesh, “A newly created body was necessary, free both from physical defects and transmitted depravity, “without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19). Yet in order to be truly the Son of Man, He must experience the totality of human life beginning from the conception itself. “Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren” (Heb. 2:17). The only way in which these requirements could all be satisfied was by miraculous creative conception and then virgin birth”.
(ibid, Kindle location 1098).

The miraculous creative conception of the Savior, rightly understood, is an inseparable aspect of the incarnation of Christ.  Dr. Henry Morris writes:

“Long before it actually occurred, the incarnation had been planned in heaven. Jesus Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20). Indeed, He was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

“It was promised through the Old Testament Scriptures that God himself would enter the human family in order to suffer and die and rise again, to redeem the lost world and reconcile all things to himself.

“The first of these promises was given immediately after man’s first sin, concurrently with God’s imposition of the great curse on man and his dominion. In Genesis 3:15 (known as the “proto-evangel” or “first announcement of the gospel”), God promised: “And I will put enmity between thee [i.e., the Serpent, or Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [or, better, ‘He’] shall bruise [literally ‘crush’] thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

“Since neither Satan nor “woman” could produce literal seed, it is clear that this promise refers to a spiritual seed in both cases. Nevertheless, the “seed of the woman” requires an actual birth into the human family. In some way, therefore, the promised deliverer would be born of woman, but without genetic connection to His human parents. Clearly implied, though in veiled terminology, is the supernatural entrance of God himself into human life, in a great incarnation.

“This primeval promise was made much more explicit over three thousand years later, through the prophet Isaiah. “Behold, [the] virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). The use of the definite article (the virgin) is justified by the Hebrew original and thus implies a very specific virgin, most likely referring to the “seed of the woman” of Genesis 3:15.” (ibid, Kindle Location 987-999)

Joseph and Mary each had an angelic visitation announcing the miraculous conception of the Son of God, as described in Matthew and Luke respectively.  Here is Luke’s account of this supernatural creative act:

Luke 1 (NKJV)
Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary
²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

²⁹ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel 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 bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; 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 of His kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Rightly understanding the supernatural conception of Jesus described in Matthew 1 and  Luke 1 helps us to better understand and apply to our lives the transformative revelation of Jesus in John chapter 1.

John 1 (NKJV)
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 10/27/2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1)  https://www.biblestudytools.com/inspirations/08292015-psalm-19-1-social.html
(2)  http://www.321biblestudy.net/Johnc1v29t36LambOfGod_handout.html
(3)  https://www.amazingfacts.org/news-and-features/scripture-pictures/scripture-pictures-by-verse/verse/e/17797/t/isaiah-7-14
(4)  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/321514860890797608/
(5) https://kristiann1.com/2016/06/08/jn11213/