Christ the God-Man: An Advent Reflection on the Virgin BirthSample

As we studied yesterday, the virgin birth helps us avoid certain false teachings related to Christ’s incarnation. There is more to consider. 

God became completely and genuinely human… 

• without being divine only. Some held Jesus to be only divine, or divine in His spirit only. They allowed Him to possess a human body (and possibly a human psyche) but not a full human nature. The virgin birth counters Apollinarianism, which denied that God the Son took on full humanity. 


• without using His divinity to escape death. Jesus could only undergo death because He was human in every respect. Jesus says He could have called on the angels for protection, yet He didn’t use that escapist route. As really human, in submission to the Father’s purpose, He set out to feel the full force of humanity in His death. Jesus died. He couldn’t have died without becoming fully man. Jesus’ death—essential for the accomplishment of our salvation—was made possible by the virgin birth. 


• without forfeiting His pre-existence. For theological and emotional reasons, some scholars attempt to divide the second person of the Trinity from the Palestinian-born Jesus. The virgin birth preserves the connection and the continuity of the Person. The Bible says, “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). The pre-existent Jesus came in the flesh through the virgin birth. 

How can God be really man? The virgin birth.