By Todd Barrier  

One of the many things that goes along with this time of year is the birth story of Jesus. Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room at the inn. We find so many lessons in the determination of Mary and Joseph in the birth of Jesus. In the very beginning of Matthew and Luke we find what happened before this: the account of how Mary, being a virgin, was pregnant with the Son of God. It was one of the greatest miracles of the Bible. The sad part is there is a declining number of people who believe this account. For the Christian, it seems to me, this miracle is a must believe. If you don’t believe the first miracle mentioned in the New Testament, how would you believe any after it? Here are just a few things to remember to strengthen your belief in this wonderful miracle of God. Let’s remember we use a lot of prophecies to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. The virgin birth is one of those; it was prophesied in Isa. 7:13-14. Then, both Matthew and Luke confirm that Mary was the virgin and Jesus was the baby in the first chapter of each of their gospels. There are other references to Jesus being the Son of God as well, such as Gal. 4:4, where Paul describes Jesus as His Son born of a woman. So, there are many places in the Bible to prove that the virgin birth was real, even if the percentage of people that believe it is going down. Don’t listen to skeptics who seek to undermine Christ but instead listen to the writings of the apostles, whom we get so much of our faith from, when they unequivocally teach us, Jesus is the Son of God, born to a virgin. Believing this miracle strengthens our faith.