Born of a Virgin

Did you ever wonder why God chose to send Christ to us through a virgin giving birth? His plan of salvation could have been anything He wanted…He is God. Obviously He didn’t choose to incarnate Christ through a married woman. Any fruit of that union would always remain suspect. No one would believe the child was the son of God. Beyond that, however, God wanted to teach us something about His plan for mankind. The story of Christ being born of a virgin holds a much richer significance for His people.

Remember that the Bible is something like a first grade primer. The Creator of the universe is attempting to teach mortal beings with three pound brains His spiritual truths so He uses language and symbols we can understand. God uses similes, metaphors, analogies and allegories of things we do understand to give us a glimpse of deeper truths. Marriage, birth, fishing, carpentry, and blood sacrifices etc. are all a part of our world so God uses them to teach us those deeper truths.

In the case of Christ’s stepping out of eternity to walk among us as one of us, God uses the birth of His only begotten son through a virgin as a way to teach us about the destiny of His other children. Three important images are presented in the story of Christ’s incarnation: a pure virginal woman, marriage and birth. These three symbols are important themes used throughout the New Testament to teach us greater truths.

We should first examine the story of Christ’s birth then each of these symbols for what they represent and what God is teaching us.

Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) was betrothed to the carpenter/ builder Joseph when the angel Gabriel came to her and told her she was to bear a child. Mary was a virgin, untouched by a man…neither had she ever served another god. A betrothal in the Judea of Mary’s time was quite different than today. The marriage would have been arranged by her parents. Joseph was probably a much older man, established in his career and able to support a family. The betrothal was considered a binding legal contract. Jewish custom recognized a betrothal as a marriage even before consummation. Such an agreement could only be broken by an official decree of divorce.

When Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy he wrestled with what to do. The law allowed that he could have her brought before the elders to be stoned to death for infidelity. He thought instead to quietly divorce her without making it public until an angel appeared to him in a dream. The angel explained that Mary was to fulfill the prophecy that a virgin would give birth to the one who would be the savior. Joseph, being a righteous man, obeyed what the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary home as his wife. He didn’t touch her until after Christ’s birth.

The rest of the story is well known except, perhaps, for the fact that most of worldly Christendom venerates the story of Christ’s birth and Mary the mother of Christ as the “Virgin mother of God”*.
Mary was no longer a virgin after Christ’s birth.  She went on to bear several children that were Jesus half-brothers and sisters. What I would draw the reader’s attention to here is that Mary was a devout and righteous woman, legally betrothed when the Holy Spirit came to her and impregnated her with the one who would be Christ.

Both the nations of Israel, and later the church, are symbolized as a woman in the scriptures because it is through women that new lives come into existence.  The church is likened to a virgin, a pure and chaste woman untouched by a man. A harlot is symbolic of a false church because she has allowed other spirits to enter her. Mary was a type of the church. Her story, the story of a virgin giving birth, is recorded in God’s word both as history and as a lesson for His church.
The story of the virgin birth is often overlooked by Sabbatarian churches because it’s the focus of so much attention by Catholics and Protestants. Ironically those who focus so much on it don’t actually seem to know, or care, what the scriptures really say. They accept tradition in place of scriptural teaching. While the story has been twisted and skewed by non-biblical sources over the centuries, God ensured that we have the scriptures to come back to for the truth.  

This brings us to the symbolism of marriage used in scripture.

When God began working with Israel He did so before giving them His Holy Spirit to dwell within them. He entered into a covenant relationship with the patriarch Abraham. That covenant included Abrahams descendants, the physical nation of Israel. That’s the way God deals with His people, through covenants. A covenant, ‘brith’ in Hebrew, is a kind of binding legal contract. Both parties in a contract agree to do something for the other. The covenant God made with Israel is likened in the scriptures to a marriage covenant. It was in affect long before the marriage ceremony. We know that God will one day make Israel His bride. Because Israel didn’t live up to their part of the covenant that relationship changed. Some say it was transferred to the church but it would be more accurate to say it was extended to include the church.

One metaphor used in the scriptures for physical Israel, those who are descendants the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is of a tree, a living thing connected to the source of life. When Israel disobeyed God and would not live up to their part of the covenant God made with their forefathers God changed the nature of the covenant He had made with them. The tree was metaphorically pruned then He grafted in Gentiles, those who were not physical descendants of the patriarchs, onto the tree. God is still betrothed to Israel but the physical nation of Israel has been altered to include some Gentiles. Thus the New Testament church, the future Bride of Christ, is made up of physical and spiritual Israelite's.

While the new covenant Christ spoke of is yet to come, the betrothed are legally bound by that covenant now. The covenant will be officially sealed with the marriage ceremony of the Lamb after the return of Christ. This is very much like Mary being betrothed, legally bound, before her marriage to Joseph. Mary was impregnated with the Holy Spirit while betrothed but before her marriage ceremony. The members of the Body of Christ, the church, have been given the Holy Spirit before the marriage of the lamb. In both cases a marriage covenant was entered into.

Members of The Body of Christ enter into a new covenant with God when they accept Christ and begin to obey God. Remember that a covenant is a contract in which both parties agree to do something for the other.

The church, the spiritual organism that is the likened to the Body of Christ, will one day officially become the Bride of Christ. The Body of Christ is the betrothed of God and receives Gods Spirit in a way not unlike the way Mary did. The church is, in a sense, impregnated by God.

This brings us to the symbolism of birth used in the scriptures. The story of Mary and Christ’s birth reveals an important part of Gods plan to His people.

The story of Christ’s birth is closely related to the doctrine of being born again as will be shown. The process of being ‘Born Again’, however, is widely misunderstood.  The scriptures are clear, to enter God’s Kingdom one must be ‘born again.’ Most evangelical Christians believe that they are born again for simply accepting Christ as their savior. A study of the scriptures will reveal a different picture of these teachings than the ones widely held.  

To be born again means to be born of the spirit. All those born of the spirit ARE spirit. A careful study of the third chapter of John will make that clear. The scriptures teach that only spirit beings may enter the Kingdom of God. Christ was the firstborn of God and until Christ returns and those dead in Him are resurrected and those living believers are changed into spirit beings no one else will be born of the spirit.

In a sense Christ did the reverse of what His brethren will do. Christ was born as a physical, mortal human being. He stepped out of eternity and became flesh; he went from being spirit into being born a physical being. Those sons and daughters of God yet to be born will go from being born of the flesh to being born of the spirit. God’s children will step into eternity. God’s new Sons and Daughters will be born again when Christ returns. They will be born of the spirit by being given spirit bodies. Mary bore a sinless being.  When the church bares God’s sons and daughters they too will be sinless because they will no longer sin.

The scriptures are full of such parallels. Consider one example in the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac to prove his faith towards God. God showing His faith towards us, so to speak, sacrificed His only son Christ for us. As believers grow in grace and knowledge, obey God, and study God’s word they will discover more and more connections between biblical teachings.

For members of the church to receive God’s Holy Spirit they should not defile themselves by heeding or worshiping other spirits. The church, ideally, should remain pure and chaste to become Christ’s bride. The reality is teachings of other spirits have entered into the physical organizations that contain the members of the Body of Christ. There are spiritual forces that seek to destroy the Body of Christ. That’s why vigilance on the part of believers is essential. Additionally men have added their own teachings to those revealed by God. This is one of the main reasons God gave us His word to guide us. Any teaching or doctrine must be proven in the scriptures. All spirits must be tried by God’s word.

What Mary went through, being imbued with the Holy Spirit before her marriage and then bringing forth the son of God is a type of the process the church is going through. The Holy Spirit is given to human beings before the marriage of the Lamb. Those so imbued are the betrothed of God. When they ‘come to term’ at Christ’s return they will be born again…born of the spirit.  It is in the church, the spiritual organism likened to the Body of Christ, that the children of God are nurtured and it is through the church, the virgin mother, that new spirit beings will be born.

God doesn’t do anything by accident.  He reveals His plan to us in several ways through His word. His Sabbath reminds us He is our Creator, the weekly rest we have in Him as our Sustainer, and reveals His ultimate destiny for mankind in the millennium, the time of His tabernacling with men. His Holy Days reveal His overall plan of working with mankind.  He reveals the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice by the various animal sacrifices in the Books of Moses. He reveals His personal plan of salvation through the design of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He reveals His plan for the spiritual birth for His children in the story of Mary and her child’s birth. These ‘layers of truth’ are one of the proofs of the Bible being Gods revealed word to mankind.

Some thoughts to consider…

*The Body of Christ is a spiritual organism. It is not completely contained in any physical organization. The scriptures indicate that some of Gods people are even in the great harlot Babylon. They are called to come out.

*Like some early followers of Christ, many modern Christians regard Mary as a higher than Christ. That has become a Catholic tradition. Some modern Christians regard their church as somehow more important than Christ…both are wrong.

*It is often overlooked that those people who survive into the millennium as physical beings will NOT be in the Kingdom of God. The scriptures are clear, flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. It is not until they are changed into spirit bodies, born of the spirit, that they will enter the Kingdom. How that will happen is not stated in the scriptures. They may die and be resurrected in spirit bodies or perhaps they will be changed before they die. The story of Adam and Eve seems to indicate that there will no longer be pain in the birth process.

*God used both Jewish Rabbi’s and the Catholic Church as instruments in preserving His word.