Born of the virgin Mary

The virgin birth does not idealise virginity. Sexual union is approved as right in Scripture given that it is within heterosexual marriage. There are those who are called to remain single for the sake of the work of the gospel, for the want of a believing partner, and so on. Mary was not always unmarried and had a naturally conceived family after the birth of Christ. If we idealise virginity the focus comes to be on Mary, when it is Christ who is the centre of this story.

The virgin birth points us to the miraculous divine incarnation - or the "in-flesh-ation" of God - God come in the flesh. We do not know exactly what happened to Mary in biological terms. The Holy Spirit came upon her and she conceived, quite by-passing the role of a man (Luke 1:27, 34-35). Resultantly, the one born was truly God and truly man.

That Christ was truly God is evident from John 1:1&14, and Hebrews 1:8. As Charles Wesley expressed it in his great Christmas hymn: Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity.

That Christ was truly man was insisted upon by 1 John 4:2-3 and Hebrews 2:14. The humanity of Jesus is ever before us in the Lord's Supper: This is my body broken for you; this is my blood shed for you.

Both the humanity and the divinity of Christ are in evidence in Philippians 2:6-7. The form of something is what it is. For example a piece of steel in the form of a sword is a sword. The same steel in the form of a plough is a plough. Christ was in the form of God and took the form of man: He was God; He was man.

Now, does all this matter? Yes.

(i) That it is true matters. What is at stake is the integrity of God's word. It is taught in Scripture and if it is not true, the Bible cannot be believed. In that sense it matters. It also matters to the reality of our salvation. We need an effective mediator. In France I need an interpreter who know both English and French. Christ speaks the language of earth and heaven so that He is thoroughly equipped to be the one Mediator between God and man.

(ii) That you believe it matters. This is not because acceptance with God depends on dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s of Christian doctrine. We simply cling to Jesus knowing that only His blood is sufficient to cleanse from sin and only He can present us faultless before a holy God. But knowing Him is eternal life (John 17:3). It is a matter of our communion with God. We will be blessed as we get to know more and more of His person and character.

This is the key to so much else. Men say they cannot believe in the miracles or in the resurrection, but if Christ is God come in the flesh any of these other things are possible. It stumbles Jews, Muslims, Unitarians and liberals, but this is a foundational doctrine.