HER FAITH INSPIRES Ep 266 God chose a woman

Season: 10 Episode: 150

Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:

Summary:

God could have chosen any avenue to send His son to the earth but He chose a woman. Why would He do that and what does that say about a woman’s purpose and value? We go all the way back to Genesis in this episode and talk about the prophecy of a virgin birth. Why did it have to be a virgin birth anyway? There are some who accuse the Bible of being sexist but after listening to this episode you won’t agree. We’re talking Christmas theology and keeping Christ in Christmas with this one. 

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Hey guys! Welcome back to another episode of the Her Faith Inspires podcast. Today, I want to talk about why God chose a woman to carry and give birth to the Son of God. There seems to be a stigma surrounded Christianity and the Bible that it is sexist and looks down on women, but my question is: is that true? Does God value men more highly than He values women? What does the birth of Christ tell us about God’s value placed on women? We’re going to talk about that today. 

Before we get into this Christmas episode, I want to remind you of the Christmas Advent Bible study you can get at Shandafulbright.com/shop. The study its 25 days of focusing on Immanuel, God With Us. We talk about the anticipation of Immanuel, God with us. The declaration of Immanuel, God with us. And the expectation of Immanuel, God with us. It’s a wonderful way to keep Christ the focus this season. Again, go to shandafubright.com/shop to get yours today. You can get the hard copy or the digital download. Both are offered to suit your needs. 

Ok. Today, we are going to talk about: 

1. Why did God choose a woman to give birth to the Son of God? 
2. Is the Bible sexist?
3. Why can you be confident in who you are as a woman? And if you’re a man, how can you show your woman that she is valuable in God’s eyes? 

Why did God choose a woman? 

1. Goes back to Genesis 315: we see God say He will use the woman’s offspring to crush the serpents heads. 

*And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

2. That still doesn’t tell us why He chose a woman. Just that He’s going to use a woman and her offspring. So why a woman and not a man? 

3. Romans 5:12-19 tells us that sin came through Adam. Now all that will be born of a man have the sin nature. That means we all inherit Adam’s sin nature and must be redeemed. 

4. Let me read you the first few verses: 

12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.”

5. Paul told Timothy that Eve was deceived and became a sinner but Adam was not deceived. That means a few things – women are still sinners and have a sin nature. But it also means Adam willfully disobeyed God and chose to become a sinner. Eve was duped by the serpent. 

So why did God choose Mary – a woman – as the means in which Christ would come?

I don’t think that it’s as much about Mary as it is about Christ, Immanuel, God with us. However, Christ had to be born of a virgin – without the seed of a man – because it was through the man that sin came. So the miraculous virgin birth is significant to a sinless sacrifice since Christ’s whole purpose was to die. Christ was both God – conceived by the Spirit of God – and man – from the womb of a woman. 

6. Christ chose the same means to be born that we are born today because He identifies with us in our weaknesses, yet without sin. 

7. Got Questions: “Gabriel’s reply indicates the miraculous nature of the conception: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The angel points not to any human act but to the Holy Spirit and the power of God as the agency of Jesus’ birth. Jesus would properly be called the Son of God.”

8. “The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was predicted in the Old Testament: “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, quoted in Matthew 1:22). There is also a possible allusion to the virgin birth in Genesis 3:15, which says that the “seed” of “the woman” would destroy the serpent.”

Is the Bible sexist?

1. No. Just because the Bible records how some people treated women does not mean the Bible condones how the women were treated. 
2. The NT defied cultural norms when it tells the men to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. That was contrary to the cultural norm of the day where men thought of themselves as more significant than women. 
3. The NT writers record that women were the first to find the empty tomb. That is also not something men would have wanted others to know since it shows the women were not intimidated by the politics of the day and the threats of the Roman officials as the men were since they were hiding. But the NT writers left it in. 
4. I think Gen 3 is one of the most compelling cases for how God showed the value of women when He made Adam realize his need for her.
   1. Animals were named – no companion comparable to him.
   2. God walked with him – still was not good for man to be alone. 

5. Women are valuable. We can recognize women’s value without devaluing men. 

Confidence as a woman:

1. The first thing I want to say and make clear before I move on to why women can be confident in who God made them is Christmas isn’t about Mary or God choosing a woman to bring Jesus into the world. He could have used any other means necessary. The avenue God chose – the womb of a virgin girl named Mary – doesn’t make women more special than men. It doesn’t mean women are sinless and don’t need a savior. It’s because Christ is both God and man. It was a miraculous conception and that’s how God chose to do it. Women need Christ just as much as men do. Not more. Not less. Just as much. 

2. On a separate issue, generally speaking, women have been trying to find their value since the fall. And I think we’ve looked to ideologies like feminism to say that we’re valuable. But I’ve said this before – we don’t need feminism to vouch for the value of women. God has already done that in His word when He created Eve last. He put Adam through a process of realizing his need for a woman; to yearn for a helpmate that would partner with him in life. And that’s saying a lot since Adam had God at the time. Does that mean God wasn’t enough for Adam? It just means creation wasn’t complete until the woman was made for the man but the mad first had to feel the loneliness and emptiness of life without her.

Finally

When she came along, Adam said, “At last” or, “Finally, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” In other words, she’s like me, and I finally have what my heart has been longing for. But that’s every woman. God made women valuable because she is the crown of creation. If we believe that – then we won’t need feminism to vouch for us because we’ll realize God already has. And let me add that the standard is high. Not high and mighty or haughty and think we’re better, but it will help us know our worth in the eyes of God as a daughter of God and we will act accordingly and choose a man who recognizes that worth and value. 

Close: 

So let me say again that the birth of Christ – God choosing a woman – does not elevate women to a higher status than men. It’s about Christ – it will always be about Him. 

But I do think it shows how much God values women in that He used a woman, a virgin, to give birth to His son. Jesus came as both God and man so He could identify with us. He is truly Immanuel, God with us. 

A husband can show his wife value when he shows appreciation for what she does for the family. He can show value to his wife when he loves her like Christ loves the church. A husband encourages his wife for who God created her to be and that is both for her beauty inside and outside. I believe a woman will live up to what others see in her and if she cannot feel value and worth from her husband, or the man in her life, she will seek out the message of the culture even if it’s through a toxic message of feminism. Men and women compliment each other and that is one way a man can help his woman grow in confidence. 

I hope this episode encouraged you. If you enjoy the podcast please leave a 5 star rating and review as that helps get the podcast into the earbuds of others. I have a YouTube channel where you can watch the podcast or even watch the exclusive Q and A videos I have on there. Don’t forget to go to shandafulbright.com/shop for all of the Bible study notebooks and even the upcoming 2025 Madalynn faith planner. You can email me at hello@shandafulbrigh.com for any questions and I’ll catch you on the next one.