What is the importance of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ?

from the old testament

• Long before Jesus’ arrival, God promised a special sign of the coming king: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). In Isaiah’s day, that sign reassured the fearful house of David that God was with them, while also pointing beyond the immediate crisis to a greater child who would embody God’s presence. This expectation of a miraculous conception became a marker by which Israel could recognize the true Messiah.
• That promise rests on an even older hope. After the fall, God said to the serpent (Satan), “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Referring to the fight being between the serpent and the seed of a woman pointed toward a deliverer arising from the woman’s line in a unique way, because normally descendants were considered to be from the man (e.g., Genesis 5:1).
• Isaiah said that this child would bear divine authority. He wrote, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given … and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). Calling the promised son “Mighty God” goes beyond any ordinary royal birth. It set the expectation that the son would also, somehow, share God’s nature. A virgin conception fits that expectation: God coming near in a real child.

from the new testament

• The New Testament records the fulfilment of the Old Testament promises. After Gabriel, an angel, told Mary that she would bear the promised king in David’s line, she asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34b). Gabriel’s answer was, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The way Jesus was conceived shows both His true humanity (from Mary’s line) and His divine sonship (from God).
• Matthew’s account indicates that Joseph was concerned about Mary’s faithfulness to him, but an angel revealed to him that Mary’s pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit, not a man (Matthew 1:20b-21). Matthew then commented, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:22–23). By preserving Mary’s virginity until Jesus’ birth, God made it clear that no human father was involved.
• Jesus’ unique conception highlights His holiness and His freedom from Adam’s guilt. All of Adam’s descendants share in sin and death, but Jesus entered the human family outside the ordinary means and was consecrated by the Spirit from the start (Romans 5:12, 18-19; Luke 1:35). That does not make Him less human; it means God provided humanity a second Adam who, being also fully God, could perfectly obey and be a sacrifice for sinners (Hebrews 2:14-17; 1 Peter 1:19).
• Jesus had to be fully human to die for humans. Though conceived by the Spirit through Mary, Jesus was fully human. Hebrews explains, “therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15). was born, grew older, experienced hunger, suffered, and even died.
• The virgin birth also fits with the New Testament’s confession that Jesus is God. John wrote, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Paul wrote that, though Jesus “was in the form of God,” He “emptied himself” by taking “the form of a servant” and being “born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). The virgin miracle was the means that the eternal Son of God could add on humanity to save us.
• Of Jesus, Paul said that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). Being “born of woman” highlights His true, albeit unique, birth whereas being “born under the law” points to His obedience in our place. By His life, death, and resurrection, He secures redemption for all who trust Him.
• The miraculous birth did not break Jesus’ connection to David. Matthew’s genealogy in Matthew 1 shows that Joseph’s line traces back to David (Matthew 1:1-16). Under the laws of adoption, Jesus was considered the legal son of Joseph and, thus, also a descendant of David. Many readers take Luke’s genealogy as intended to trace Mary’s ancestry (Luke 3:23-38), which also leads back to David. In this way, Jesus is both miraculously conceived and the promised Son of David.

implications for today

The virgin birth matters because it safeguards the truth that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Born of a woman, He entered into our human experience, facing weakness, sorrow, and temptation, yet without sin (Hebrews 2:17–18; 4:15). As the eternal Son of God, He also has divine power and authority to forgive sins, give new life, and reconcile us to the Father.

Because Jesus is truly human, He can empathize with your struggles. He understands what it means to hunger, grieve, and be tempted. Because He is truly God, He is capable of bearing the weight of sin and defeating death through His resurrection. Both truths are essential for the gospel to be good news.

Denying the virgin birth undermines the foundation of salvation. Scripture shows Jesus as the holy Son of God who became man for our benefit. In Him, you find a Savior strong enough to redeem and personal enough to walk with you through every trial. The proper response is to trust Him—resting in His death and resurrection for forgiveness and walking with Him confidently knowing He is both your Lord and your compassionate High Priest.