The Birth Foretold

A Sign: "He will give you a sign"

Many Examples

A) The Old Testament is filled with prophecies that point to something coming down the road

1) Matthew 1:22-23 refers to Isaiah's prophecy of Jesus' birth

2) Isaiah 7

a) This chapter is about Isaiah the prophet visiting Ahaz, the king of Judea

b) Ahaz was worried because three nations were bearing down on him politically and militarily

(I) Kingdom of Israel under King Pekah

(II) Kingdom of Syria

(III) Kingdom of Assyria

c) Isaiah told the king to ask God for a sign

d) The king said no because he was not going to test the Lord

(I) Sounds pious

(II) Translates to he was not going to trust the Lord

e) Isaiah told him God would give him a sign anyway

(I) A virgin birth

(II) Immanuel

No Questions

B) God wanted to make sure that people knew exactly who He sent to the world

1) By giving them signs in advance

2) The prophet Micah predicted Jesus would be born in Bethlehem 720 years before it happened (see Micah 5:2)

3) Hosea predicted He would arise out of Egypt (see Hosea 11:1)

Unfulfilled

C) This is important because other religions' books lack fulfilled prophecy

A Son: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son”

Miraculous

A) The fact that a virgin conceived is miraculous in and of itself

1) Besides Jesus, no person has ever been born without a father

2) Human birth requires a human source

Inconceivable

B) This is why Joseph had a hard time

1) He had to get a special visit from an angel (see Matthew 1:20-25)

2) Virgin conception had never happened before and will never happen again

Nature Vs. Natural

C) Some creatures are conceived asexually

1) Parthenogenesis

2) This does not explain human virgin birth

3) Parthenogenesis can only reproduce genetically identical species

a) The offspring will always be genetically identical to the mother

b) Female

c) If Mary had conceived parthenogenetically, she would have had a daughter, not a son

At The Start

D) The first prediction of this is in Genesis 3:15

A Savior: "Immanuel"

The Man

A) Immanuel

1) "God with us" (Matthew 1:23)

2) A title, not a formal name

3) Designates what His position would be

4) Isaiah 9:6

B) He was human because He came through the womb of Mary

The Maker

C) He is divine because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit