At Christmas time, many people become sentimental about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Songs and carols concentrate on the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem. Yet the real reason why Jesus Christ had to come in our flesh and blood is often misunderstood, disregarded or slighted. It is, therefore, our responsibility as church to break through all sentimentalism, emotionalism and ridicule, and defend and confess the amazing significance of Christ’s conception and birth. It is necessary to our eternal salvation that we should believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ (Athanasian Creed Article 29). The conception and the birth of Jesus Christ is the gospel of the womb for the womb. It is an essential part of our faith. It is so essential that the apostle John writes,

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.1 John 4:2, 3

The Son of God took Upon Himself Our Human Nature⤒🔗

The Son of God did not come down in wrath and judgement, as He could have, but He assumed our flesh and blood in his immense and unfathomable love for his people. Article 18 of the Belgic Confession summarizes the doctrine of Christ’s incarnation as follows:

We confess, therefore, that God has fulfilled the promise He made to the fathers by the mouth of his holy prophets when, at the time appointed by Him, He sent into the world his only begotten and eternal Son, who took the form of a servant and was born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7). He truly assumed a real human nature with all its infirmities, without sin, for He was conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by the act of a man.

The eternal Word, who was with God and was God, emptied Himself of his godly glory. He humbled Himself, stooping below the level of his godly dignity, to save us from our sins and eternal perdition. The Son of God took hold of our human nature so that it became his own. He did not put on his humanity like we might put on a coat, only to lay it aside after his redemptive work was accomplished and his earthly ministry was completed. The flesh and blood He assumed will remain with Him forever.

The Miracle of Christ’s Coming in the Flesh←⤒🔗

Every time we say with the Apostles’ Creed, “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,” we are confessing a tremendous miracle. Nevertheless, the miracle of Christ’s coming is not in his conception and birth as such. Every conception and birth is truly amazing. We stand in awe of the life which God creates. David sings of this in Psalm 139:13,

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

From a human point of view, Christ’s birth was similar to every other infant born into this world. His birth, however, was miraculous because of the manner in which He was conceived.

What made his conception and birth miraculous? It should be understood that a miracle is more than something supernatural, a happening that defies the laws of nature. In the Bible the connection is not between a miracle and the laws of nature but a miracle and salvation. A miracle is a surprising act of God with a view to the coming of his kingdom and the redemption of his people. Isaac was born to the elderly Abraham and Sarah. It surprised everyone. It is a miracle because it is an act of God with a view to the coming of his kingdom. Similarly, the waters of the Red Sea part to let the people of Israel pass through as a surprising act of the LORD’s deliverance. God parts the waters of a sea to show his people that He does not and cannot depend on people to accomplish his redemptive plan. It is in this sense that Christ’s conception and birth are miraculous. God sends forth his Son so that his kingdom can come through the removal of man’s sin. The Lord our God brought this about by his own power, and not through human effort. The conception of Christ by the Holy Spirit and the virgin birth not only defy the laws of nature but are a perpetual reminder that salvation is accomplished through the supernatural work of God. Beyond all question, great indeed is the mystery of our religion (1 Timothy 3:16).

Why Redemption Needs to Begin at Conception←⤒🔗

In Psalm 139 David admires human conception and childbirth. The same author confesses in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Sin begins right in the womb at conception. This pattern has been there ever since the fall into sin and will be there until the day of Christ’s return. No matter how many children are born into the world, they fall under the condemnation of Adam and the curse of God. We are conceived and born in sin and cannot free ourselves from sin. The Lord in his infinite goodness and kindness starts his work of renewal where our problems begin. His conception and birth assure us that He will set us free from our original as well as our actual sins.

Christ Himself Determines How He will be Conceived and Born←⤒🔗

The manner in which Jesus Christ is conceived and born is beyond our human comprehension. He who has God as his natural Father is conceived by the Holy Spirit. As the angel said to Mary,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.Luke 1:35

The only natural Son of God adopts Joseph to be his earthly father. He is born to a daughter of Adam but he is not generated through a son of Adam. He partakes in Adam’s flesh and blood without taking part in Adam’s sin. In this way he is able to set the life of his people on an entirely new foundation.

Christ willed his own conception and his own birth. He is the only one who legitimately controls his own birth. He chose his own mother and determined when He would come into the world (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4). Nothing was forced upon Him. The Heidelberg Catechism says Jesus took upon Himself true human nature from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary (Lord’s Day 14). He voluntarily accepted our human nature.

Think for a moment what this means. If you were told beforehand that your conception and birth would mean enormous suffering and that it would mean having to bear the burden of God’s wrath against sin, would you choose it? Christ could have continued enjoying the bliss and glory of heaven. Nevertheless, He willingly takes upon Himself our human nature, knowing full well it would mean suffering, punishment and death. Our Saviour realized fully that his conception and birth would culminate in the cross. To save us from eternal perdition and to restore all things to the perfection of Paradise, He willingly humbled Himself and took upon Himself our human nature.

The Blessing of Christ’s Coming in the Flesh←⤒🔗

Today we may confess the gospel for the womb. It is comforting for us to know that He who came forth from the womb of Mary, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, is our Mediator. Being in Him we may have the assurance that our sins are covered in the sight of heaven. Outside of Christ, all life is cursed at conception. He takes the curse which lay on us because of our sins and replaces it with his blessing. Great indeed is the gospel for the womb!

Sin results in the curse of God. Under the blessing of Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are restored to communion. Jesus was and remained God in his human nature so that He could represent both sides of the covenant and could bring them together. Even though He was ridiculed and mocked by his own people and was forsaken of God and man, He did not utter one curse. Jesus did not curse the womb of his mother; He did not curse the day He was born, as Job and Jeremiah had wrongfully done while in the depths of despair (Job 3:3-19; Jeremiah 20:14-18). Christ bore the cross and despised the shame in love for us so that we should never come under the curse of God.

This is the benefit of Christ’s incarnation for the womb. Covenant life is not senseless or useless. Christ blesses our homes, our marriages, and the conception and birth of children in the covenant. Therefore, no individual, regardless of how difficult he or she may have it, has the right to curse his mother’s womb, his conception or his birth. No child of the Lord has reason to say, “I wish I was never born.”

Christ begins his redemptive work at the beginning of our life so that all of our life may be filled with his blessing. He blesses the wombs of mothers who bear children in the covenant. Life is sanctified in Christ our Mediator so that also those who never get married or never receive children of their own are rich. They have everything in Christ. The gospel for the womb is also for those covenant children who are deformed, handicapped, or who never see the light of day. Christ’s conception by the Holy Spirit and the virgin birth result in this gospel: we are now free to ask the Lord for his blessing on the pregnancies of covenant mothers, upon covenant families and individuals.

At this time of the year, we confess the mystery of God’s love. He who was without mother in heaven is without an earthly father so that He might redeem and renew our life as our Mediator. He redeems the totality of life. Christ’s coming in the flesh is for our eternal benefit. In Him the gospel for the womb is an amazing part of your life!