I love Christmas! However, it is essential we focus on its true meaning and purpose rather than being swept away by the commercialism of our day. Let not the gifts that we all enjoy remove our thoughts from the greatest gift of all.
So every year I seek to share the fact that at Christmas we are celebrating the virgin birth of our Lord and Saviour.
In my first student year at Bible College, some 40 years ago, I was sent to a local church as a student observer. It was to be part of my practical learning experience for Christian ministry. I was having dinner one day with the most prominent lay leader in the church. He said to me, “When do you think Jesus became God?” I thought he might be trying to trick me. I immediately said, “I believe Jesus didn’t become God, Jesus has always been God”. “Oh yes”, he replied, “I know all that – but when do you believe he really became God?
I think he became divine at his baptism”. I was mortified. This leader of the church didn’t understand the Christian message. Jesus wasn’t a good man who became special in God’s eyes. Every other religion has such a guru. Christianity proclaims that in Jesus, God was with us.
And that is why the Virgin Birth is so important. This was no ordinary conception as Mary “was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit”. It’s God’s irrefutable sign. As Matthew records: “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us’.”
It is true
There are a number of explanations people proffer for not believing in the Virgin Birth. All of them can be answered. The first is that there is not sufficient Biblical evidence for the doctrine. This is simply not true. Both Matthew and Luke record the Virgin Birth in their opening chapter. Both are in agreement that the Holy Spirit will be the responsible agent for the conception, that the child will be God’s gift, and that angels bring the good news.
They go on to bring their own perspectives – Matthew tells us of the Magi and Herod’s evil plan, whilst Luke reports on the shepherds. As a former lawyer this is what one would expect of reliable reporting: agreement in the essential facts, whilst still bringing one’s own emphasis on other issues. Here we have the ring of truth! Also John chapter one, whilst not mentioning the Virgin Birth certainly supports this emphasis in declaring Christ to be the eternal Word.
The same is true for the rest of the New Testament. And don’t forget the Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah 7:14 proclaims the same truth.
A second issue is offered by religious skeptics and Christian liberals. That is the Virgin Birth requires a belief in the supernatural and such thoughts are unsophisticated and inappropriate in today’s world. This is really fundamentalism at its worst! They refuse to look at the Biblical evidence and allow their narrow world view to override the facts.
Most Australians believe in a supernatural God. The Bible proclaims a supernatural God. These people are simply allowing their own personal biases to rule.
We will stand together
My plea this Christmas is that all of us, and all of our churches proclaim unapologetically that 2000 years ago the Lord Jesus was born of a virgin. To lose this truth is to turn Christmas into just another holy, remembrance day. To hold to this.
Truth is to bring this extraordinary message of hope – Jesus is Immanuel. This means the model life of Jesus we follow is the perfect life of God with us. This means the one who died on the cross for our sins could truly bear the sins of the world as it was God’s son who was crucified.
This means the one who rose again and reigns on high acting as our advocate and hearing our prayers is no high ranked angel, but actually the Lord God himself. This is why we should be confident as we journey through the trials and joys of life – it is the risen Christ, the second person of the Trinity who walks with us. The truth is the essential good news of Christmas.
May you all have a very special and blessed Christmas, and let’s ensure we don’t lose the heart of its message in all the trappings: Immanuel – God is with us!
Rev Dr Ross Clifford AM is the Principal of Morling College (NSW Baptist) and author of numerous books many of which focus on Christian Apologetics. He is a Vice President of the Baptist World Alliance, President of the Asian Baptist Association, an acclaimed international preacher and speaker, a columnist in many Christian publications, winner of many national and international awards and for many years the Sunday evening Sydney Radio 2CH host. Ross is married to Bev, father and grand father.