Mensa Otabil - The Virgin Shall Conceive
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We are looking at prophecies in the Bible concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and today we look at Isaiah chapter 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. One of the unique attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ is his virgin birth. The birth of Christ by a woman was foretold in Genesis 3:15. Now the prophet Isaiah gives further light to that prophecy and says that this woman will be a virgin.
As with many Messianic prophecies in the Bible, at the time the prophecy is given, it has a dual reference. There is an immediate reference, and there is a reference in the future. The passage tells us three important things that I want you to take note of. The first is that this virgin birth will be a sign from God. It will be a sign; a sign is something that marks something as unique. God is going to use the virgin birth to mark out this particular child as unique. That is why, as you search through history, there is no one who has been born of a virgin, and there will never be anyone born of a virgin. Why? Because this is a sign. This is something God had to do by intervening in the natural course of life and doing something which has never been done before.
So although Jesus Christ lived a normal life among us, his beginning is like no other person’s; it’s a sign. The second thing is that he will be conceived without a man. This also goes against the natural laws of childbearing. There has to be a male and a female coming together for a child to be born, but this child is going to be born simply by a woman. The virgin shall conceive. The third thing that we see from the passage is that the child that is born will exemplify God with us. His name will be Emmanuel, God with us. So the birth of this particular child, foretold in Genesis 3:15 and affirmed in Isaiah, will mean that God is now living amongst us. God is making his habitation in our lives.
Now when you look at this prophecy, it shows us how God infuses the usual with the unusual, the natural with the supernatural. It also tells us something about what God is able to use. A virgin simply means an uninitiated person, an inexperienced person, somebody without much to offer in this world. Yet God picks this innocent vessel, without experience and without being initiated, and uses that person to do major things for his kingdom and for his glory. I believe God still does that today. He picks people who don’t seem to have much, who are virgins in the sense that they lack experience and haven’t had much to offer the world. But God takes them and uses them.
So if you don’t have much to offer the world, God can do a lot through you. If you think your life is just in the backside of a desert, that nobody thinks about you and that you are a nobody, God thinks you are somebody, and he can cause you to do great things for him and in Christ Jesus. In his birth, we see God picking this woman, Mary, and using her in this tremendous moment of history: a virgin conceived.
Let’s share a word of prayer. Say with me: Heavenly Father, you are a God of miracles, signs, and wonders. Use me for your purposes in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.