Virgin birth; Key Doctrines series

 After some thought and prayer, I felt led to share some keys to why we believe what we believe. Because it’s important to know why you know what ou know from the Bible. This’ll be every couple weeks for a bit. We have a BIG prayer need, too.

I’ll teach you some Arabic, too, in this one. Our first stop is the Virgin Birth. It’s a key because Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. He had to be fully man so He could die on the cross. He had to be fully God so He could rise from the dead.

He did not come from a man and a woman coming together. That is the Arabic Walad. It means a man and a woman created a human son. This is what Muslims use when they claim that Allah (which is the name of a false god) had no son.

There is another word for “Son” in Arabic. It is the word IBN.

  IBN means one has the same features, attributes, etc. as their father. The term “chip off the old block” or “spittin’ image” is what IBN means. It means Jesus had every attribute of God – that’s because He is God. He is God come down in flesh to show His love for us, to seek and to save that which was lost, etc.. The Bible uses Sonship as an easy way to understand it. In fact, Arab countries have a saying with a similar poetic phrase: “The word is the daughter of the lips.” In other words, lips come together to make words.

This is why we must *never* follow those who want to combine Christianity and Islam. They don’t worship the same God. Muslims also don’t believe Jesus died on the cross. They say Ishmael was the Son of Promise for Abraham in Genesis, the Bible says it was Isaac. Now, if a Muslim believes Jesus is IBN God – God in flesh – then they need to accept Jesus as Messiah/ Saviour. Muslims often search to learn about Jesus in secret till they are sure since they can be in huge trouble for trying to learn of Jesus. Missionaries to Muslim countries can be in great danger if we share about them on social media.

Back to the Virgin Birth, it was a miracle A miracle is when God steps outside of human limits – time, distance, etc.. The Holy Spirit works like that, too.

A missionary in Africa prayed for a hot water bottle for a premature infant whose mom died once long ago. It took months for ships to get containers there. The baby could die within days, with no way to even fly one there. Still, they prayed. Months earlier, Sunday School kids sent a container for the orphans there. There was no logical reason why anyone would expect a hot water bottle to be needed. Yet, God led someone to put one into the shipment months earlier. It got to the missionary in time and the baby’s life was saved.

“Sure,” some might say, “that could be coincidence.” But, it shows our all-knowing God works outside of time. He’s not limited like we are. So, He could cause a virgin to conceive – in Luke 1 Mary is told the Holy Spirit would come over her like a shadow passing over here. She said “Sure” – more poetically of course. 😊 Mary rejoiced – in Luke 1:47 we see her being so glad at God her Saviour. See, Mary needed a Saviour just like the rest of us. She was a normal girl in her teens, at a time when people married faster since they didn’t know when they’d die of some disease in their 20s or 30s. She married Joseph after Jesus was born, and had other kids, too. James & Jude were half-brothers of Jesus, in fact.You can read all about this in the Gospels. You can also see Luke 2:33 &43, which refer to Joseph and Jesus’ mother; this is why the King James is important because other versions say “Jesus’ father and mother.” But, Joseph was not Jesus’ father, God was. (Words for “stepfather,” “foster father,” & “Guardian” all exist, yet they won’t use any of those terms, which would make them much stronger on Jesus’ deity. This is one reason we stick with the KJV.)

As noted, Jesus’ Virgin Birth is crucial. Here, I have my Apologetics exam answers from Temple Baptist Seminary on my coputer, let me mostly close with 6 other ways Jesus declares His Deity. Then you can feel like a college student. 😊

1. He claimed to fulfill Old Testament prophecies, such as when He told the woman at the well that He was Messiah; for a specific one, when He read from Isaiah in the temple, and then closed the book and said, “This day is this prophecy fulfilled.” (Concerning the Kingdom of God.) (Note: You’ll find others as you read.)

2. He claimed to be co-equal with the Father (“I and my Father are one” John 10:30)

3. He claimed to be the I AM that spoke to Moses (“Before Abraham was, I AM,” which he said to the Pharisees who asked if He had seen Abraham, being less than 50 years old.)

Note here that the authorities knew He was claiming this with the same name God had given Moses; they tried to stone Him for doing so.

4. He claimed Divine authority, such as to forgive and condemn, like when he told the paralytic (who was lowered from the roof) that his sins were forgiven.

5. He claimed uniqueness for Himself, not just for a cause (John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”)

6. He claimed under oath to be the Christ, the Son of God – Pilate asked if he was, and He said “thou hast said,” which was the same as saying, “You got it!” today.