The truth of the virgin birth (UCB)

'The virgin will...give birth to a son...' Matthew 1:23

Heaven announced the birth of Jesus in these words: 'The virgin will...give birth to a son, and...call him Immanuel - which means, 'God with us.' Isn't it ironic that the first people to question the miracle of the virgin birth were religious leaders? The Pharisees said to Jesus, '..."We were not born of fornication..."' (John 8:41 NKJV). Their insinuation was clear and cruel. After all, Jesus couldn't point to Joseph and say, 'He's my father.' Understand this: Jesus had to be man in order to die, and He had to be God in order to save. You were the child of an earthly father, so you were 'born in sin.' But Jesus was the child of a heavenly Father, so He broke the genetic cycle of sin before He was born. In the Old Testament a sacrificial lamb had to be without blemish (birth defect) or spot (something picked up along the way). Since Jesus had neither inherited sin nor practiced sin, He qualifies as '..."the Lamb of God, which taken away the sin of the world"' (John 1:29). The virgin birth is true because: a) The angel of the Lord announced it (Matthew 1:20); b) Mary's husband-to-be accepted it (Matthew 1:24); c) Elizabeth, her cousin, received it by divine revelation (Luke 1:41-42); d) The story was written by a well respected medical doctor who knew the character of all concerned: '...since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you...that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught' (Luke 1:3-4 NIV).