Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14).1
The above verse is the first prophetic reference in Isaiah’s prophecy to the promised Messiah. It can be emphasized that this first reference to the Christ of God is to His incarnation. And from this prominent, early mention of His incarnation, it can be noted that the incarnation of Christ is an essential element of the gospel.
Evidence of the Incarnation
The fulfilment of prophecies is one of several ways the Bible is proved to be true. This prophecy spoken by the Lord through Isaiah clearly refers to the incarnation of Christ and is confirmed in Matthew 1:23. Notice the details of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy and how those details are fulfilled in the New Testament records of Matthew and Luke:
- The angel of the Lord quotes this prophecy at the time Mary was found to be with child (Mat 1:22-23).
- Evidence of this conception in a virgin is found in Matthew 1:18,25, twice in Luke 1:27, and in Luke 1:34.
- Matthew 1:18, 20, and Luke 1:35 show that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that this miraculous conception was accomplished.
- The birth, specifically the birth of a son, is recorded in Matthew 1:25 and in Luke 1:31; 2:7.
Significance of the Incarnation
The early verses of Isaiah 7 show the house of David in need of deliverance from an enemy, and it is in this setting that this sign from God is promised. The One who would be born of the virgin Mary would be the promised Deliverer, for Mary was instructed to “call His name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” He would bring deliverance, salvation from an enemy far more treacherous than the enemies of Judah – “he shall save his people from their sins.”
Different references in the New Testament link the sending of Christ into the world as a man with eternal salvation from sin:
- John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
- John 3:17 says, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
- Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.”
- 1 John 4:14 reads, “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
Other articles in this series will expound on the immeasurable significance of the sacrificial, propitiatory death of Christ. The scope of this article is to reveal the great truth of His incarnation, the Son of God becoming man – Immanuel – God with us – that He ultimately might die as a sacrifice to God for the sin of the world.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
