There was a question in a Facebook group about original sin. This question also carried over to Jesus' sinless life and His virgin birth. After reading some of the responses I felt urged to look into the matter further. To begin, I will start in Genesis where sin originated and God sets forth His punishments.

Genesis 3:15

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

God says and prophesied a lot in this statement. God is cursing Satan here. This point of enmity between seeds reflects the importance of the virgin birth. If it weren't for the virgin birth Jesus would have been conceived by the seed of Adam (not to mention the curse of Jeconiah which I have yet to study in depth).

Before I get into the second part of that verse I want to skip over to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus.

John 3:3

"Jesus answered and said to him 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"

Let me ask, why is it Jesus used the phrase "born again" or new birth? Is it because we are born sinners?

Psalm 58:3

"The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."

God's grace is revealed in the second part of Genesis 3:15. Notice that "He" has a capital "H". This means God is referring to Jesus. Lets look at the latter, "and you shall bruise His heel" What is God talking about when He here?

Isaiah 53:5

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."

Now the second part -- "He shall bruise your head"

Romans 16:20

"And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly."

Lastly, let me reemphasize the importance of the virgin birth. The virgin birth not only blocks arguments of Jesus being born a sinner, but also defends His deity and fulfills prophecy (Isaiah 7:14). The Bible refers to Jesus as the "Son of God" and the "Son of Man".

Philippians 2:5-8

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

Galatians 4:4

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law"

It is in my opinion that with the support of these verses I can say that everyone is born a sinner except for one because of conception by the Holy Spirit. It is also essential to believe in the virgin birth for salvation because it was prophesied (Isaiah 7:14) and to understand and know Jesus' deity.

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I apologize for not having an updated post, but my wife and I just came back from vacation.

Our first stop was Niagara Falls. It was fun, but a little too touristy to me. The maid of the mist was probably the highlight.

We then traveled to Boston. I enjoyed this because I love to see and learn about American history. The tour of the USS Constitution was exciting, but the highlight was probably the tour of Fenway Park (and I am not even a Red Sox fan).

Lastly, we went to Philadelphia. This contained more American history, but it was easier to see because everything was centralized. I liked seeing Carpenter's Hall and Independence Hall along with the Liberty Bell. I was disappointed I did not get to see the Rocky statue nor Valley Forge because it was raining.

I will have a new post soon.

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We had a guest speaker at my church today who specializes in eschatology. When I say specializes, I mean he has had years of studies in the area. He mainly talked about different theological teachings such as premillennialism, amillennialism, postmillennialism, dispensationalism, covenant theology, and replacement theology. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, I encourage you to look them up because they are important and it would take up too much space to define them all.

The main point was premillennialism vs amillennialism, not to be confused with pre-tribulation and post-tribulation. This is an interpretation about Revelation chapter 20 when it talks about Christ reigning for 1,000 years. Premillennialist believe that is a literal 1,000 years and that in order for it to happen Jesus Christ has to return. In contrast, amillenialists believe that it is not a literal 1,000 years and that it has already happened. They believe it is a spiritual reign not physical.

He then raised an interesting question. Do we put too much emphasis on heaven? It sounds like a ridiculous question, but let me explain. If a believer dies, he goes to heaven and everything is good for him, but there is still evil on earth. If this doesn't sound important take a look at Jesus' model for prayer in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6:10

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."

Should we really be anticipating God's kingdom instead? Premillennialist believe that Jesus' 1,000 year reign is the first step.

1 Corinthians 15:24-25

"Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. (25) For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet."

I know this is deep stuff and I by no means consider myself an expert, but I am starting to become more interested in this. In my opinion this makes sense because while evangelism is great and commanded by God, the overall purpose is to give God Glory.

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This is a a good reference if anyone does not know what is going on and a bit comical for those that do.

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