“HERE WE ARE ALMOST TO THE MOMENT OF ANOTHER ‘CHRISTMAS.’ YET, FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA , SO MANY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS HOLIDAY IS REALLY ABOUT. TODAY I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS…’”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast, and in a moment we’ll look into what history and the Bible have recorded about the most miraculous event ever to have taken place, the Virgin Birth of a man! Stay tuned…

… Do you know that our world’s biggest and most popular holiday celebrated around the globe is also one that is in most danger of losing its meaning and joy? Yes, it is the holiday or “holy” day called “Christmas.” Today, three great enemies are marching hard against it. First, is the worldly tendency to secularize it. Yes, for the vast majority today Christmas is simply the excitement of getting some extravagant gifts, eating a huge meals and dessert delights. Secondly, is the effort to mythologize it, by casting off the meaning of centuries and replacing it with Santa Clauses, tinsel, Christmas trees, light displays, elves, grinches and a whole bunch of nonsense and irrelevance when it comes to the real meaning and purpose of this worldwide celebration. Third there is a push to eradicate  all aspects of “Christian” emphasis in Christmas. Christmas parades are banning Christian songs and participation, school time refuses to allow children to write or speak about Christmas, and businesses like Target stores, are banning even the Salvation Army from seeking funding for helping the poor at this Season of Christ. 

Say, what has Christmas become to you my friend? Well after another pause for some lovely Christmas music, I’ll return to tell you the real meaning of Christmas and give you a handle on the truth and facts of history so neglected these days…

…Today I want to talk about history! Yes, real verifiable human history that surrounds the event called Christmas. Sadly, truth has a way of being left behind when it is overtaken by the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. Christmas these days seems to be nothing more than a time to give one another gifts, and spend time in fellowship and ease, with a day off from the labors of life. For many others it has become purely a mystical time of fantasy, surrounded by elves, grinches, and fairytale stories that delight children and adults alike, coupled with the gala light displays of reindeers and Santa Claus.

But my friend, Christmas, regardless of what year or century it occurs, can have only one meaning and continue to bring those who understand it, the greatest joy and glow of happiness!

What is the real meaning of Christmas? It is the “miracle” aspect of what happened that first Christmas day. You see the very word, “Christmas” only means, the birth of Christ; the one who Scripture had foretold of long ago, would come to this world. Now what’s so special about the birth of someone long ago? The answer is its miracle happening and purpose!

Yes, the miracle of Christ is the virgin birth of the GOD/MAN Jesus Christ. Now two miracle things are involved here you need to know about, (1) a real historical virgin birth occurred, (2) a miracle human child was born, (3) So, let’s talk about them… First of course is,

THE MIRACLE OF A VIRGIN BIRTH

Indeed, this is the fulcrum of the Christmas event. The Bible teaches us that one day, a miraculous event would occur that defies human anatomy, science, and reality. It would be that a young virgin woman, having sexually known no man, having had no impregnation of a man’s seed in any form or manner, would herself conceive a new human being, and as a fetus the unborn child would grow and be delivered into this world in the normal fashion of childbirth all humanity experiences.  Let’s enter this story as it unfolded to the participants of that glorious event.

First, we learn that the woman of history to bear the Christ child was named “Mary.” One day while she was planning her marriage to her beloved fiancé Joseph, in a dream at night God interrupted her plans with an angel’s special announcement.

Luke 1:26-38 (NLT)  “In the sixth month of Elizabeth ’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth , a village in Galilee , 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless you! 31 You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s already in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel left.”

Now of course, every birth is a miracle, and every child is a gift from God, but more than 20 centuries ago there was the “miracle of miracles.” A real human baby was conceived in the womb of a “virgin” and grew to be born on what we traditionally celebrate as “Christmas day.”

So that Mary’s intended husband would not become duly alarmed when he heard his fiancé was pregnant, God sent an angel to Joseph to apprise him of Mary’s faithfulness and God’s choice of her to bear the long awaited miraculous Jewish Messiah. We read again in Scripture,

Mat 1:18-22 (NLT)  “Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancée being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly. 20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:”

Now the last part of this announcement is most important! This miracle of miracles, the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus of Nazareth, was not something that just happened. Rather, it was an event God had scheduled and planned, even before the world was created, and of course executed right on time as well. You see the “Virgin Mary” is really the virgin of history, for history records such a miraculous event would one day occur. Now importantly, the very first announcement in embryo form was in the Garden of Eden, after the very first human beings sinned against God. We read of this in Genesis 3 verse 15. God spoke to Eve and told her that through her childbearing, one day would come a special child who would be the deliverer from their sins and its payment due. We read in,

Gen 3:15 (NASB)  “And I will put enmity Between you [Satan] and the woman,[Eve] And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

One of the best comments on this verse comes from Dr. Henry Morris in his Defender’s Study Bible. I quote, 

“The ‘seed of the woman’ can only be an allusion to a future descendant of Eve who would have no human father. Biologically, a woman produces no seed, and except in this case Biblical usage always speaks only of the seed of men. This promised Seed would, therefore, have to be miraculously implanted in the womb. In this way, He would not inherit the sin nature, which would disqualify every son of Adam from becoming a Savior from sin. This prophecy thus clearly anticipates the future virgin birth of Christ. Moreover, this primeval prophecy made such a profound impression on Adam's descendants that it was incorporated, with varying degrees of distortion and embellishment, in all the legends, mythologies and astrologies of the ancients since they are filled with tales of mighty heroes engaged in life-and-death struggles with dragons and other monsters. Mankind, from the earliest ages, has recorded its hope that someday a Savior would come who would destroy the devil and reconcile man to God.”

Yes, this was the very first inference to the fact that God would break through human history and send forth a “miracle of miracles” child, who one day would be the promised Messiah and Savior. Now back to what the angel said to Joseph. He concluded his announcement from God with a verification of things by saying this virgin birth event would be the exact fulfillment of the prophets of old, who foretold of a coming virgin birth. In particular, the angel referred specifically to the words of the prophet Isaiah in his writings written around 700 years before Christ was born. We read of this in,

Isa 7:14 (NNAS)  “”Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Now admittedly, doubts of this prophesy of the virgin birth of the Messiah have been a long  dispute because of a certain Hebrew word used to describe a “virgin” woman. The word in Hebrew is “almah.” Those who scoff at a virgin birth, say the word only described a young woman in age.

However, careful study of the Bible and the usage of this word in Old Testament writings reveal this word definition as a young woman is correct, but remember the context of a passage always interprets the true meaning of a word in use. We discover this word used in every other passage of the Old Testament refers to a young woman who was a “virgin.” (Gen 24:43; Exo. 2:8; Psa. 68:25; Prov 30:19; Song of Solomon 1:3; 6:8; Isa. 7:14) Again, there is no place among these seven occurrences of “almah,” that one can use the word to describe simply, a young woman in general. It refers specifically to a “young woman who was a virgin, and had never had sexual relationships with a man!”

Long before the Holy Spirit of God, who is the Creator, formed Jesus Christ, we learn God foretold the day would come when He would send a special one-of-a-kind human being who alone would be qualified to bear the sins of the world. This human being was none other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born of Mary. Now interestingly even at the birth of Jesus, we learn the Bible refers to this virgin birth distinctly. In the genealogy given of Joseph, that he was in the line of David to bear the promised miraculous virgin birth, the genealogy ends with this amazing statement,

Mat 1:16 (NNAS)  “Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”

“Note that Matthew was careful here to avoid saying that Joseph "begat" Christ, departing from the formula used for the other ancestors of Jesus. In verse 1:16   “by whom,” the word is a feminine singular, indicating clearly that Jesus was born of Mary only and not of Mary and Joseph! It is one of the strongest attestations in the Bible for Jesus' virgin birth!

Now establishing the fact that the miracle God who created the worlds and all men, could also one day create a single human being without the generation of the man’s seed, is not astounding ¾ unless of course, your view of God is He is not the all-powerful Creator, rather at the most He is a little god, with little to no power or might. Well, how important is it to maintain faith in this aspect of the Christmas story? The answer is absolute! Here are four reasons why the Virgin Birth is necessary to Christmas and the faith of Christians worldwide…

1. The doctrine of the Virgin birth determines firsthand whether you have a natural or supernatural Savior.
   
   If it isn’t the latter, then there is nothing Jesus could have done to save the world, let alone anyone else. He would be no different than Mohammad, Moses, Confucius or Buddha, and all other false saviors or gods to many in the world today. If Jesus Christ is not God Himself come in the flesh, none of us can be saved, and Christmas has no meaning at all! Secondly,

2. By creating a body to be inhabited by the eternal God the Son, it cancelled the sin nature of Joseph from being transmitted to the soul and spirit of Mary’s baby.
   
   Sin and its nature in humanity is apparently transmitted by the father’s seed in re-creating another fallen human being. This is why we are all born sinners and our children likewise. Yet, Jesus being virgin born, with the seed of God, made Christ absolutely sinless by human nature as a human being (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:22-24; Heb. 4:15;7:26; John 1:14); Also, it qualified Him to be fully inhabited with the nature of God Himself. Jesus had a full human nature, but not one corrupted by sin. If Jesus had a sinful nature, He could not qualify to save anybody, let alone Himself. Thirdly
   

3. God promised the Old Testament saints that He would one day send forth a Redeemer, who would be NONE OTHER THAN God Himself come in human flesh. 
   
   So wrote John the apostle as he opened his gospel. We read in
   John 1:1 (NASB)  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14 (NASB)  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
   God fulfilled this in creating Jesus of Nazareth, a real live human being; However, His special nature was that of God Himself, fully residing and fused into human flesh. Indeed, that is why we call Jesus, “the infinite God-Man,” who came as promised on that first Christmas, to be qualified to save us from our sins. Fourth,
   

4. The Virgin Birth was necessary to fulfill the specific prediction we looked at in Genesis 3:15 .
   
   God promised in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of a woman, not the man, would bring forth a deliverer who would save mankind from sin and death that awaits us all in life and eternity. Adam and Eve’s sin brought death physically for now and eternally in the life to come. So it is with every human being ever born, except for Jesus Christ.

Yes friends, the Virgin Birth is the “miracle of miracles” that occurred that Christmas day long ago. Now as to whether Christ was born on December 25 or not, is really irrelevant because the point is Jesus Christ the “infinite” God-Man historically was born, and did arrive the first Christmas.

Ah but sadly today, Christmas has become for many, a silly fairy tale of a generous gift-giving supernatural godlike fat man, or a demon-like Grinch who steals away the lust-filled dreams and wants of children. For adults, it has become a dreamy fantasy world of twinkling lights, scents of cinnamon, pumpkin and pine, delicious desserts, fun filled parties, extravagant gifts, and for the totally secularized, simply a lazy day off to sleep in.

But my friend, to those who know true history, and believe truth as clearly as it can come to you -- twenty centuries ago, our Creator God fulfilled His promise and Word, and sent into humanity a single lone human being, unlike any ever before existing and ever to exist. Joseph caught the real meaning of Christmas when he heard the angel’s words…

Mat 1:22-23 (NASB)  “Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.””

Yes, “God with us.” God came to earth and was born in the darkness of night, that our whole world might be reborn into the light of Christ. God sent forth His Son, born in a stable and a poor humble family, that one day the entire world would be able to be reborn with the riches of God Himself. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus was born that chosen day, ultimately to one day die for the sins of the world, so that the entire world, through Him, might one day never die but be saved forever from their sins!

The real meaning of Christmas is found in the VIRGIN OF HISTORY. Mary’s virgin born child has brought us salvation and so Mary said upon learning of the miracle child created in her,

Luke 1:46-49 (NASB)  “And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. 49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.”

Indeed - God my Savior! That needs to be the heart cry of all who find the meaning of Christmas. Have you found and embraced it? When you do, the real joy and happiness of the season and the events in a true biblical perspective, will bring you the warmest happiness and joy. Yes, that day long ago in the city of David , a Savior was born, who is Christ the Lord! Oh what joy, what fulfillment and today still what excitement to say thank you Jesus for coming to earth to save a sinner such as I.

May the joy and blessing of Christ be yours my friend, and may you surely have bowed your heart and knee to recognize who it was that came that night long ago. God with us, the hope of eternity!

… Friends, THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS found in the Virgin Mary is truly the meaning behind the real celebration of Christmas. Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, to save us from our sins, and all who embrace Him for His Person and Work from Heaven, will be saved from their sins. Say friend, why not make this Christmas your best, by embracing the “Christ” of Christmas and turning your heart and life over to this wonderful God man who is your Savior and Lord? There is no other way for God to deliver sinners from their coming fate and judgment, except through a substitute in your place. That substitute is Jesus. Thank God for Christmas! May yours be such a time and event this year and every year till He, Christ comes again in glory.