Conceived and Born, A New Adam

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

            It took me a long time to figure out whey the Virgin Birth of Jesus was so important. Historically, I guess, I just thought it was a miraculous birth.

            Then, I came to see that He was the first human who was not directly Adam’s son. Here Genesis 5:3 is interesting: “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” Previously in Genesis Adam and Eve had been made in God’s image; now Adam’s children were born in his fallen image. And let us not forget that in the two major passages dealing with the fall (Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15), Paul assets that sin and death entered the world through Adam. So, not being one of Adam’s children means that Jesus is not an inheritor of Adam’s corruption, that is, original sin, nor is He subject to death.

            Only lately have I seen another layer in the Virgin Birth, and it has to do with the manner of creation. Remember Genesis 2? The Lord God made the man out of a lump of clay and breathed the breath of life into him, and the woman was made from the man’s rib. Every other human since has been born in the natural way, as a result of the union of husband and wife, with the Lord God invisibly guiding the process. Every one—except Jesus. He is born in a manner more like Adam. His birth is a work of special creation, with the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God, bringing life in Mary’s womb.

            Not only is Jesus born without Adam’s corruption but also He is born in the way Adam was—by God’s direct action. In both ways, the Virgin Birth tells us that in Jesus, the story of humanity is getting a reboot. In Jesus, the story is resetting to Genesis 2 again—this time with the possibility of avoiding the disaster of Genesis 3. Jesus is the new Adam, the Adam who cannot sin, the Adam who will be everything God intended humans to be.