Why Was Jesus Born of A Virgin?

One of the most important Christian doctrines is the virgin birth, the belief that Jesus, unlike the rest of us, was born of a virgin, Mary, the husband of Joseph. Over the centuries, thousands of books have been written about this doctrine. Central to the Christian tradition, this belief is included in the Nicene Creed. Should any Christian have the misfortune of denying this doctrine, he or she would be considered a heretic.

My aim is neither to argue for nor against the validity of the doctrine. My interest lies in something more profound, something spiritual and revelatory which seems to have escaped the Church’s attention. I therefore want to share with you the real reason Jesus was born of a virgin. Regardless of your religious background, you can draw from this reflection valuable spiritual insight for your personal growth.

Let us start by getting one thing out of the way. Most people think Jesus was born of a virgin to show how different he was from the rest of us. But that misses the point. Neither the Father nor Jesus had any intention of the kind.

On the contrary, Jesus wanted us to know we are like him, and he is like us. This was his goal all along. He knew all people are made in the image and likeness of God. He knew, too, that this image is spiritual, perfect, and immutable. Unfortunately, most people operate from an incorrect self-image.

Jesus’s mission, then, was to show us how to think and act as God’s likeness. The details of his life, including the virgin birth, are not meant to suggest that he belongs to a different class of God’s likeness. God’s likeness is the same across the board, whether it’s Jesus, you, or the self-proclaimed atheist.

When God looks at us, He is literally looking at Himself, because we are His reflection and image.

Now, to the question, “Why was Jesus born of a virgin?” We will respond to this question with an equally important question: How was Adam born and who was his parent? Adam, according to the Bible, is the first human. Understanding Adam’s origin holds the key to understanding why Jesus was born of a virgin.

One thing is clear about Adam. He had no human parent. The only parent he knew was God, who is pure spirit. God alone was Adam’s mother (father). This point is crucial. Recognizing God as his only parent, Adam understood that his origin was divine, not human. He knew he was pure spirit, just like his father (mother). No mortal (i.e., flesh and blood) could qualify as Adam’s true parent.

At this point, we must emphasize that God intended the truth of Adam to be the truth of every man and woman, because everyone is ‘Adam’ in his or her own right. The ‘Adamic ideal’ lives in us all. This means our origin is divine, not human. God is the true parent of us all. The biggest mistake humans can make is to forget our divine birth and Who our true parent is.

Those we commonly refer to as our parents are, strictly speaking, temporary custodians of God’s children. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9, NKJV). Most people don’t know what to make of this Scripture, because it upsets conventional, unspiritual thinking. Yet, Jesus meant every word of it. The master was pointing the world back to the beginning when Adam knew God alone as his parent.

Jesus entered this world to reinstate the Adam ideal which had for so long been neglected by so many people. Hence, the Bible calls him the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). His mission was to reveal to all people their divine origin.

Everything about his life pointed to this. For example, whenever he spoke of his parent, he was referring, not to Joseph or Mary, but to God. He even got into trouble for it: “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He [Jesus] not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18, NKJV).

When Jesus was born of a virgin, it sent a strong, clear message. His origin was exclusively divine. God was his true parent, not Joseph or Mary. And he made sure everyone knew that. The real reason Jesus chose to be born of a virgin was to eliminate all confusion about his (and our) divine origin.

The virgin birth of Jesus is the virgin birth of everyone. Here, the idea of a ‘virgin’ represents a spiritual state of consciousness in which mortals are stripped of their supposed ability to procreate. In this ‘virgin’ state, God is acknowledged as the sole, universal Parent, Agent, and Giver of life. There’s no room, then, for mortals to boast about having brought life into this world.

What we term procreation is a misnomer. No mortal ever procreates anyone. To have a child is a privilege, not a right. It’s a favor, not the reward for our effort. Moreover, it is not we who choose the child. It is the child, rather, who chooses to join us. Those we call babies are, in fact, sovereign children of God who come to us as our guests. We don’t make guests. We receive and welcome them.

In addition to the virgin birth, there’s another fact about Jesus which sheds more light on the current subject. The Gospel according to Luke gives us an account of Jesus’s genealogy. The account starts with Joseph (the supposed father of Jesus) and traces the genealogy all the way to Adam.

Interestingly, Luke does not stop with Adam, the first man. In fact, the last line of the genealogy reads, “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38). The common theme is sonship. At the very end of the genealogy is God. This means one thing. Together with Jesus, our lineage is divine, not human; spiritual, not material. We trace our ancestry, not to a mortal parent, but to Infinite Spirit, God. The genealogy of Jesus is the genealogy of every man and woman.

In sum, where you trace your origin determines your identity, and your identity shapes your destiny. If you trace your origin to a mortal (biological) parent, you’ll suffer the fate of mortals: limitation, confusion, and decay. If, however, you trace your origin to a Divine Father (Mother), as Jesus did (as we all should), you’ll reap the fruit of divinity: endless peace, harmony, and vitality.

A change in origin is a change in destiny.

To know yourself as emanating, not from a mortal parent, but from eternal Spirit, is the end of mortal slavery and the beginning of heavenly bliss. Adjust your self-image today. Embrace your divine origin.

Love & Light

Ogoe