The Virgin Birth is Everything

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:3-5)

Paul wrote that Jesus was made of a woman. That word made is ginomai in the Greek, which means to be brought to pass, to be fulfilled. This was not accidental. This was the fulfillment of what God had spoken all the way back in Genesis 3:15: that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. It was not the seed of a man; it was the seed of a woman.

The virgin birth is not a side doctrine. It is not a nice Christmas story. It is the entire crux of the Gospel.

Here's why it matters. Every human born through natural conception inherits a sin nature from Adam. That is why Paul says in Romans that death passed upon all men because all have sinned. But Jesus was not born by a natural man. He was conceived by God Almighty in a woman's womb. This means He entered the world without inheriting a sin nature. He lived as a fully human man and never sinned—not once.

That matters because a substitute with sin could not pay for sin. You cannot ransom someone with counterfeit money. The payment must be pure. Jesus was pure from conception. And because He was pure, He could take your place on that cross as a legitimate substitute.

Then Paul used the word exagorazo, which means to redeem. It means to buy up, to rescue, to purchase. God did not just feel sorry for humanity. He purchased humanity legally, completely and at full price. You were bought back and restored to original design. That is what the virgin birth made possible.

Practical Application

Don't let the simplicity of the Christmas story make you underestimate what it truly accomplished. Reflect today on the significance of Jesus being born sinless and how His sinlessness forms the foundation of your redemption. Thank Him for it specifically.

Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23