God With Us

Isaiah 7:14, Psalm 49:7-8

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700 years before the birth of Christ God gave an amazing prophecy through Isaiah. In Isaiah 7:14 we hear this:

Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

It’s incredible, right? 700 years before the birth of Jesus, God foretells that it’s going to be a virgin birth. Now, hold on a minute. There are many scholars today that say, just wait and let’s take a closer look at Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14. The word that sometimes translated virgin, almah, could be translated very easily, young girl or maiden. It doesn’t necessarily have to be one that hasn’t had relations with a man. It’s not for telling a miraculous birth, but maybe just an ordinary birth.

There are many Bible scholars and Jewish scholars that want to say these things about that word in Isaiah 7:14. However, consider this: two or 300 years before Christ, there was a translation done of the entire Old Testament. It was done by 70 Jewish scholars and it is a work known as the Septuagint. And in the Septuagint they obviously translated that passage Isaiah 7:14. Can you guess what word they used? The Greek word that they chose is the exact same word that Matthew chose in his gospel to refer to the Virgin. It’s very concretely referring to a virgin. Yes, there can be much talk what does almah mean, but it was clear that those Jews that translated the Old Testament into Greek, they certainly believed that this was referring to a virgin birth, a miraculous birth of Christ.

Why does this even matter? Well, it matters because of what it says next. The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Emmanuel. Many Christians are familiar with that name and they likely know what it means. Emmanuel means God with us. And how could this child be God with us if he is born in the ordinary way? If he has a human mother and a human father? So the only way that he could truly be Emmanuel God with us, God in the flesh, is if he’s born in a miraculous way. He’s conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary the way that Jesus was.

That’s really so critical for us as Christians to believe and to know. That Jesus, who was born and whose birth we celebrate at Christmas time, is truly God. And He’s Emmanuel, God with us, God in the flesh. It’s so important, especially for this reason. In Psalm 49 verse seven and eight, it says this,

But no one can by any means redeem himself. He cannot give God a ransom for himself— (Yes, the ransom for their souls is costly. Any payment would fall short.) (Psalm 49:7-8)

It tells us plainly in Psalm 49 that no one can give to God a ransom, a price, to buyback his life. No one can even do that for another. So how could Jesus possibly do that for all people and for the sins of all people? How could his death on the cross be valuable enough to cover the sins of billions of people who have lived on this earth from the beginning of time?

The only way that his life would have sufficient value is if he is God. And that’s exactly who he is. The one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas is born of a virgin. He is God with us, Emmanuel. God in the flesh. And we can rejoice that He comes to live and to die for us. And that his sacrifice, his life is sufficient for our sins because he is God.

So what a reason to rejoice in the virgin birth. What a reason to celebrate, especially at Christmas time. The one who comes for us is born of a virgin. And he is Emmanuel. Amen.