Monday, February 11, 2008

Core Truth #2 - The Virgin Birth - Part 2


The following "short" version of our Wednesday night youth group lesson is from Alex McFarland's book, Stand.  Core Truths for an Unshakable Faith.  The bottom of this post contains some discussion questions for parents and their teens.

Core Truth #2 - The Virgin Birth

  • Common Objections to Belief in the Virgin Birth
    • the first objection some scholars raise centers on the language of the Bible.  Some translations of  Isaiah 7:14 read “ a young woman shall conceive and bear a son” rather than “a virgin shall conceive. 

When Isaiah was written in the Hebrew language did the word that’s translated as “virgin” mean what we think it means?  Had Mary truly been a virgin or was she “just a young woman?”

 The Isaiah 7 word that is usually translated “virgin” is the Hebrew word almah.  It occurs only seven times in the entire Bible.  Scholars have noted that in every case, “virgin” is the only meaning attached to the word.

 When the translators were taking the Hebrew to the Greek they used the Greek word, parthenos, which can only mean virgin.

    • The second objection is disbelief in miracles

For about 150 years, since the theory of evolution became popular, there has been a widespread belief that miracles do not occur.

Naturalism says that there can be no miracles, absolutely nothing supernatural.  For them God is not a factor, they think the universe evolved.   One objection they use is against the virgin birth because it goes “against nature”.

  The naturalist says “The virgin birth story arose at a time when people were too ignorant to know better, after all we all know how babies are made.”

Think of the arrogance behind that statement.  Do they really think that people 2,700 years ago didn’t know how babies are made?

So how does all of this relate to the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ?  Simple, If God is powerful enough to create this planet and all of the people on it why wouldn’t He have the ability to work within it.

Who Jesus was and what Jesus did and what he said all of these mean nothing if Jesus was born mortal like us.

 

The Greatest act of Caring

Matthew 18-12-14

You matter to God.  Jesus virgin birth and miraculous life are proof positive that God cares for you.

 Because of sin, there was need for a Savior.  Jesus Christ met all the qualification for “saviorhood.  Psalm 40 was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born and later cited in Hebrews 10:4 as proof of Jesus authenticity, predicts that God would one day take on human form.

79% of Americans say they believe in the virgin birth.  


Parent/Teen Discussion:

What do you think your friend's objections to the virgin birth of Christ might be?

Parents, you may want to share the opinion you had before trusting in Jesus as Savior or share the opinions of some of your friends with your teen.

Do you believe in miracles?  Why or Why not?

Why do you think the virgin birth is important to our faith?

Spend a few minutes reading together the scriptures cited above and talk about any questions or interesting thoughts either of you might have.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoa. Good stuff Andy.
Our Sr. High kids recently had an opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in Kentucky. I highly recommend it to all other Youth Ministers and their students.

After my OWN kids and I discuss your questions, we will be sure to blog!

Andy Lawrenson said...

Cool!
is the Creation Museum Ken Hamm's place?

Anonymous said...

Yep, that's the place. In Petersburg, KY. My daughter purchased a book there that is an excellent resource for those kids going to public high school and are learning about the theory of evolutionism. The book she bought hilights sections of evolutionism found in the top 5 biology textbooks used in the US. It offers students a counter look at what the Bible tells us about those very points in the text books. It also empowers the student by offering respectful arguments for creationism.
My daughter is reading over my shoulder and asked if I thought you, your wife, and your adorable son may consider relocating if we offer you enough cash! I told her with a view like you get every day, we'd have to break the bank to get you to move where it is below zero and we have 2 feet of snow on the ground!
I'm sure the kids at Nags Head would hate to ever see you leave. Keep up the great work.
p.s. I have a feeling with all the bloggers focusing on the Lawrenson family, the NagsHead tourism may increase in 2008!

Andy Lawrenson said...

thanks for the offer. I think I like looking at snow on TV more. I know when it does snow here (once every 10 years) the snow will be gone within a couple days max. Below zero is nuts! I've done that a few times and didn't like it. Good thing is during the winter you don't need to buy an extra freezer, you just stick your frozen foods out on the porch.

I'll have to look into the Creation Museum, I didn't even know it existed.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Oh Man! You have gotta check it out! It starts at the very beginning (Adam and Eve)and you have to follow through in chronological order through the bible. The displays are amazing, it is accurate and took years to build. It is completely paid for...they built it as they had resources. Google it, they do have a website.
We finally made it above zero today. Right now it is 4. Four. I've lived here all my life and it is still ridiculously cold. And yes, we do keep things in the garage and they stay nice and cold.

CJolly said...

Seriously good stuff Andrew!! Discussions on creation VS evolution make me crazy! How can anyone actually believe a God created our universe, this earth and man??

How about... how can anyone believe that something so perfect and complex as the human body, this earth, and universe, evolved out of some mass of flying objects that occured after a big bang when something (uh, we don't really know what it was that went bang, or where it came from, but we know that's what happened!)exploded.

I look around and I know Who made this...

CJolly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Amen, C Jolly

New Site is up and Running

My new web site which now hosts my blog posts is up and fully functional. You can check it out at andylawrenson.com . There is also a ...