“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith also vain? . . . For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. . . And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” 1 Corinthians 15:14, 22, 45

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 NIV

“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface; stamp thine image in its place. Second Adam from above, Reinstate us in thy love.” Lyric from “Hark! The Herald Angel’s Sing”

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus from Mary, a virgin.  There are some churches who teach that the virgin birth was just a legend that was incorporated into the Bible’s account.  It is true that other religions have similar legends that a leader or important figure was virgin birth, similar to the account of the Bible.  However if the virgin birth is not true:

1. The Bible has errors. In Luke 1:27 Gabriel comes to a virgin in Galilee. And Mary confirms this in verse 34.

2. The Messiah hasn’t come.  In Isaiah 7: 14 it is prophesied “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.”  And we know that Immanuel means God with us.

3. Jesus was not sinless.  Romans 5:12 says that since Adam sinned, death and sin was passed on, so that “all have sinned.” (All of Adam’s seed that is.)  I look at it like a kernel of corn.  If you plant a kernel of corn, you expect that it will grow and produce many ears of corn each with many kernels.  Each of the kernels will have a small piece of the original kernel; therefore all that are born of man are Adam’s seed and sinful.  Jesus was the seed of the Holy Spirit.

4. We could not have eternal life.  Had Adam not sinned, I believe he would have lived forever because he had God’s perfect blood within him.  The last Adam’s birth (Christ) brought about a second (eternal) beginning, again with God’s blood/seed.

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ cannot be dismissed by Christians as a legend of the Savior’s coming.  As in 1 Corinthians 15:14 above, if the Savior was not virgin born, “we are of all men most miserable.”  (v. 19)