"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

Have you ever wondered what's up with the virgin birth? Why do we as believers make such a big deal out of it, especially when it makes us sound totally nuts to some people? "You really believe that an actual virgin gave birth?" Yeah, I do, and here's why: the virgin birth is absolutely necessary to solve the problem of sin.

When Jesus was on the cross, the first words out of His mouth were "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). Why? Because forgiveness from sin is our greatest need. I still remember when I was a kid and I offended my mom or dad (which was rather frequently), I always felt this need to make things right, to get forgiveness.

So how does the virgin birth play into that need for forgiveness? Because only through a virgin birth can you have a child who is both human and divine. Jesus is human in that He was born through the womb of Mary, but He's divine in that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That's the meaning of Isaiah 9:6: "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given."

This means He's the perfect solution to our sin problem. As a man, He's the perfect representative of us. As God, He's the perfect sacrifice for us, because He took all of our sins on Himself, even though He Himself committed none.

Picture Jesus with His hands stretched out on the cross. With one hand, He could take the hand of the Father. With the other, He could take the hand of humanity, bringing us and God together and granting us forgiveness through His blood.

That was all made possible because of the virgin birth. When I think of the intricacy of God's plan--that He gave a Son who would also fulfill the prophecy of the virgin birth--it's marvelous to me. It shows just how much He loves us. Jesus paid the price, and all we have to do is the believing and the trusting.