What do virgin birth & rebirth have in common?

Holy child and holy life

A few weeks ago I was working on a Dutch article about the danger of calling certain biblical events myths; the virgin birth for example. The fact that we don't really understand how that happened is no reason to label it as fiction. While thinking about divine birth I began to wonder if the people who struggle to accept the virgin birth are the same people who have trouble with rebirth. Well, maybe they are not... but it made me think about the subject once again.

Rebirth is a difficult subject for many Christians and without doubt a weird concept for unbelievers. If, for whatever reason, the subject comes to the table we often end up pointing to the discussion Jesus had with Nicodemus. Nothing wrong with that scripture of course, but I believe the Bible has much more to say about the subject. During the following weeks I began to scribble some notes and corresponding schriptures in my journal based on 1 Peter 1:3, In his great mercy he has given us new birth... and I would like to share them in this blogpost, hoping it will help you to get a fresh perspective on the birth of Jesus as well as on your own new birth.

• The apostel John wrote about Jesus and our rebirth in John 1:12-13, To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
• In his first letter John made it even more clear, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1). Naturally we are born of a human being, but spiritually we are born of God.
• The apostel Peter had something to say about divine birth too, You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:23). We are born again of imperishable seed, that is God's seed, or the Holy Spirit.
• In 1 John 3:9 we read the following, No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him. There we have it again, God's seed, the same seed that conceived Jesus, remains in us.

As the Holy Spirit came over Maria she conceived the holy child Jesus. In Matthew 1:20 the angel of the Lord explained to Joseph how that happened, ...what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. In the same way the Holy Spirit will come over us and conceive new life in us, a born again spirit. Virgin birth is not a myth, it is a miracle from God and it is not too difficult to see how it runs parallel with spiritual rebirth. The virgin birth was necessary in order to conceive a holy child, our rebirth is necessary to conceive a new holy nature in us, Gods nature. I am forever thankful that Jesus went before me to make it possible for human beings to be born of God! What a rich and full Christmas message that is!