A Sign

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 NIV).

The virgin birth of Jesus was foretold almost seven centuries before it happened. It was a “sign.”

This sign shows that the sending of God’s Son to this earth was no accident. It was all part of His plan.

This sign tells us that God used a humanly impossible method to bring Jesus to this world. A virgin was enabled to bear a child.

This sign tells us that Jesus was born sinless. It was made possible only through His virgin birth. Let us remember David’s lament: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5 NIV). That means that every man born through a physical union between a man and woman carries with him the sinful nature even from the moment of conception. But because Jesus had a virgin birth He was born sinless.

This sign foretells the birth of a “son.” Let us read it along with Exodus 12:5. There it talks about the Passover lamb. It was commanded that the animal chosen for Passover sacrifice must be a male. Let us now read it along with 1 Corinthians 5:7: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

The sign finally tells us about God’s heart. He wants to be with us. Therefore the Son would be called “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us!”

What a sign has God given us!

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