Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
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“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
This is a quotation from Isaiah 7:14. Isaiah gave this prophecy of the virgin birth as a “sign” of authenticity. The time of Isaiah chapter seven was when ungodly Ahaz, king of Judah, was on the throne. The coalition of two kings (King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel) opposed Ahaz. God sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz not to fear, for the plans of these kings would fail. Before a son born of a virgin reached the age where He could tell his right hand from his left, the two kings would no longer be a threat to Ahaz.
Isaiah rebuked Ahaz, but Ahaz did not believe Isaiah’s message (Is 7:10-12). God then gave Ahaz a sign in the face of the fact that he did not want one. Isaiah 7:14 was that sign, the sign of a virgin birth—or, better, the virgin conception. The idea of “virgin birth” is a misnomer; it was not a virgin birth but a virgin conception. Also, Mary could not have been the “mother of God” because she was not the mother of Jesus’ deity but of His humanity.
Isaiah 7:14 follows the principle of dual fulfillment. That is, there was a fulfillment in the history of Ahaz’s day and there was a fulfillment in Jesus’ day.
Isaiah 9:6 speaks of the “Son” as the “Mighty God.”
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is 9:6
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Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
Joseph, upon waking from his dream, took Mary as his wife and abandoned his plan to divorce her.
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and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after Jesus was born. They did eventually have sex and that produced a number of children (Mt 12:46; 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3; Jn 7:3, 5; Acts 1:14; 1 Co 9:5; Ga 1:19). By Joseph’s adopting Jesus, Jesus became the legal heir of Joseph.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus Christ is both God and man.
APPLICATION:
The New Testament nowhere explicitly calls Jesus “Immanuel,” which means God with us. However, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. The person of Jesus is indeed God with us. Jesus came to be “with us” by virgin conception. The New Testament does describe the God-man in Philippians 2:5-8 and other passages.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:14
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jn 8:58
“I and My Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jn 10:30,31
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Jn 14:9
Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. Ro 9:5
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell… Col 1:15-19
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily… Col 2:9
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory. 1 Ti 3:16
