Years and years ago, Isaiah, a prophet of Israel, foretold the story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus: A virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and His name will be Immanuel (which is a Hebrew name that means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:22-23 (VOICE)

 

The prophet Isaiah prophesised the birth of Jesus some seven hundred years before He was born. He specifically stated that Jesus would be miraculously born of a virgin mother and without a natural father. Many people dismiss the virgin birth as fanciful nonsense, but it is important to our Christian faith for many reasons.

The virgin birth was necessary so that Jesus may be fully God and fully human—like us in every aspect except for sin. If He had not been, Jesus would not have been the pure, spotless, and sinless Lamb of God. As the supernatural fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy, the virgin birth affirms that God is with us in our brokenness and will not forsake us in our suffering.

As the eternal Son of God, Jesus became Immanuel by sharing our humanity. This unique embodiment of God in human form makes Jesus the perfect mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5).

Though born without sin, Jesus sympathises with us in our sinful frailty and failings and mediates for our salvation. He did not become human to simply fix the fall, but to fundamentally reverse its curse by becoming a curse for us. In doing so, Jesus defeated sin, sickness, and death on the cross so that we can live victoriously through abiding in Him and resting in His finished work.