Why don't you go ahead and turn to Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus Christ, which is found in Matthew chapter 1, starting in verse 18. Matthew records: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25, ESV). I will stop reading the passage here. The account of the wise men, which appears at the beginning of Matthew 2, actually did not occur at the birth of Christ, but sometime later.

       Now I want to focus in more here on the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and what some of the specific evidence is of it. The virgin birth of Christ is predicted in the Old Testament, specifically Isaiah 7:14. The verse states, “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, ESV). The prophet Isaiah predicted this about 700 to 800 years before the birth of Christ. It wasn't until the angel of the Lord physically appeared to Mary one day that this prophecy would be fulfilled (see Luke 1). He told her all that God had in store for her, and she even questioned how it would be possible for her to become pregnant since she was a virgin. But that was the purpose of God, for the seed of sin comes from the man (which should be encouraging to you ladies). If Christ had been born of a human man, he would have inherited the sin nature that affects all humans. Nonetheless, God the Holy Spirit would make the birth of the child, the Christ, possible.

       Before we get to more specific details about the virgin birth, I want to focus briefly on the genealogies surrounding Jesus Christ. Both Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Gospel give us our genealogies (just as they give us the birth accounts, which I will touch on shortly). Luke's genealogy is complete, as it goes all the way back to the first man to ever to live, Adam himself. Nevertheless, Matthew's genealogy only goes back to Abraham, whom God first established a covenant with (see Genesis 12). Again, Luke likely used Mary's family line, as Jesus was truly related to Mary by blood (which I also will get to in a moment), but not to Joseph. Matthew, though, uses Joseph's line of linage.

       Speaking of trails and tribulations, another purpose for Christ's coming into the world was to ultimately destroy the works of Satan and his demons. It was penned of God in Hebrews 2:14-15 that, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (ESV). When Jesus died on the cross, Satan and his demons, the fallen angels, ultimately lost the war. I also want to note from this passage that we as Christian never have to fear death, because in our eyes, as the Apostle Paul said, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:6-10, ESV).

       How was Jesus faithful in his life to God, though? Again, Peter notes that: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:21-24, ESV). For the Christian truly walking the Christian life, there are going to be trials and tribulations, just like anyone else has in the world. The difference is that we as Christians can work through them while we trust in God to get us through them. Unbelievers don't know God and therefore cannot have the benefit of trusting in him through their trails and troubles.