The virgin birth of Jesus is essential to the gospel because it affirms both His divine nature and His sinless humanity. It was foretold in prophecy and fulfilled in history to show that Jesus is the Son of God, not the product of human descent.
Isaiah 7:14 prophesied:
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
This sign confirmed that the Messiah would come in a supernatural way. Matthew 1:22–23 cites this prophecy in connection with Jesus’ birth:
“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet…”
The virgin birth ensured that Jesus did not inherit the sin nature passed down through Adam. Romans 5:12 says:
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin… thus death spread to all men.”
Had Jesus been born of a human father, He would have been born in sin. By being conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was born holy:
“And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'”
(Luke 1:35)
This miraculous birth made it possible for Jesus to be both fully God and fully man. Only as the sinless God-man could He serve as the perfect substitute for sinners.
Hebrews 4:15 confirms:
“[He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
The virgin birth also fulfills the requirement of the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), bypassing a human father and emphasizing divine initiative.
Jesus had to be born of a virgin so that He could be the spotless Lamb of God, untainted by sin, qualified to take away the sin of the world.
