birth? The virgin birth of Christ simply means that the human na ture of Jesus Christ was con ceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power o f the Holy Spirit without the aid of man. The angel said to Mary, “ The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34, 35). The Holy Spirit, therefore, was the efficient cause of that human nature which was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. This excluded the activity of man as an efficient factor. The Apostles’ Creed thus says that Jesus Christ “ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, bom of the virgin Mary.” The second miracle involved in the incarnation of Christ was the miracle of preservation. The hu man nature of Jesus, in the hour of conception, was preserved from the corruption of original sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us that all men are bom with a sinful nature. Thus David wrote, “ In sin did my moth er conceive me.” This means that David was bom with a sinful na-
that the dead should arise? Yes! Incredible that GOD should raise the dead? No! Incredible that a baby should be bom of a virgin? Yes! Incredible that GOD should bring to pass the virgin birth? N o ! I f God is what the Bible de clares Him to be, infinite in His wisdom and power, there surely ought to be no real problem with miracles. The real question, there fore, is not, Can I believe in mira cles? but, Do I believe in a sov ereign, omnipotent God ? Even the skept i c , John Stuart Mill, ac knowledged this point: “Once ad mit a God, and the production by His direct volition of an effect, which in any case owed its origin to His creative will, is no longer an arbitrary hypothesis to ac count for the fact, but must be reckoned with as a serious possi bility” (Three Essays on Reli gion). Three Miracles of Bethlehem As a matter o f fact, however, there were three miracles associ ated with the coming of Jesus Christ to this world. There was first the miracle of His virgin birth. But, precisely what do we mean by the virgin
angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and £he power o f the High est shall overshadow thee: there fore also that holy thing which sljall be born of thee shall be called the Son o f God” (Luke 1: 34, 35). The virgin birth was the modus operandi o f the incarna tion. We must be careful, there fore, to distinguish between the virgin birth and the incarnation. The incarnation is like a large room, whereas the virgin birth is the door by which we enter that room. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is permanent. Jesus will forever be the God-Man. The vir gin birth, however, is momentary. The incarnation refers to the re sult ; the virgin birth is the meth od by which that result was achieved. The virgin birth, of course, was a miracle; and we have no desire to minimize this. In the final an alysis the question of miracles is really the question of God. The Apostle Paul, in connection with another miracle, said to King Agrippa, “Why should i t be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). Incredible
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JAN UAR Y, 1970
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