The Virgin Birth

Jesus' virgin birth is extremely important to understanding who Jesus truly is!  Where he came from, how he got here, and how he relates to us are all intertwined with his miraculous birth.  First we need to look at what was foretold about him:

Isaiah 7:13-14

Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?  Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

עַלְמָה `almah - The Virgin.  Some say that the word means "young woman [of a marriageable age]" but it is not specific and is generally speaking.  The prophet is speaking of a specific sign for a specific event at a specific time it will take place.  The reason why "virgin" is the correct translation is because "young woman of a marriageable age" would be and assumed to be a virgin anyway unless the context denotes otherwise; thus "the virgin" is exact, correct, and specific.  Usually this argument is an attempt to erase The Virgin birth prophecy.  Isaiah knew exactly what he was speaking of when he was talking about a specific sign for a specific event.

הָרֶה hareh - will conceive

עִמָּנוּאֵל `Immanuw'el - him 'Immanuel', "Immanuel" - 'God with us' or 'with us is God'

Isaiah is declaring something that God is going to do.  He calls for Israel to be patient.  The salvation Israel was waiting on and the Messiah who was to bring it is coming but they were getting impatient.  The sign that they were told to look for was THE Virgin will have THE son and his name will be "God with us".  That is a pretty straight forward sign.  So for 500 plus more years, mankind waited.

THE NAME - IMMANUEL

This name is extremely significant. The name of the first born son from a virgin is "God with us"!  Because Mary was a virgin, and this birth is a miracle, he is from God.  But his name goes farther and states that HE is God.  

Why is God suddenly "with us" when this miraculous person is brought into the world?  Joseph can not even claim this child as his own! He and Mary had not come together yet; she was still a virgin. 

Also read Jesus Is God

Matthew 1:18, 20

After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit... an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

How did Mary, as a virgin, become pregnant?  The Holy Spirit does what he does best; brings material and immaterial together and manifests something supernatural.  He brought THE Angel of The Lord from the Old Testament,  The third person of the Trinity, THE Son of God himself, into the material world.  He was called Immanuel and named Jesus.  He was God who came to save his chosen!

Even Mary could not understand this.  Luke 1:34 she questions the angel.  Much like a lot of people in our modern age who can not seem to grasp or accept supernatural manifestations in the natural.  But Mary on the other hand had faith that God, creator of the natural and supernatural, was doing something beyond her understanding.  We do not know the processes of how the supernatural manifests into the natural but we can trust that God is good and sovereign.

Galatians 4:4

When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law

Remember that patients thing Isaiah was talking about over 500 years ago?  When the time came for God to send his Son, he did.  It was completely dependent on God and not any amount or prayer by man.  I'm sure for the 500 years after announcing the coming sign, people prayed... for generations.

Notice: "born under the law"

How was the Son of God and God himself 'under the law"?  He was born into the corrupted world and willingly clothed himself in a fleshly body.  His legs got tired.  He got hungry and thirsty.  He was in a human body and lived as a human.  He willingly subjected himself to the limitations of being human without giving up where he came from and who we was on the inside.

This is important because he needed to (1) fulfill the law to free us from it (which he had to be born under it first) and (2) perfectly relate to us to be our perfect and acceptable replacement for our sin on the cross.

This is extremely difficult for our minds to comprehend.  The eternal, Perfect, timeless, immaterial Spirit incarnated himself in time and in material.

What Denying The Virgin Birth tactfully Means: 

If "Christians" deny the virgin birth it reveals their misunderstanding of the person of Jesus.
(1)  It calls into question Jesus fulfilling the Isaiah Prophecy; thus believing that Isaiah was wrong or there was not real prophecy anyway.  Prophacying that a general and vague woman will give birth to a son at some point in history is worse then calling a modern psychic hotline for horoscope tips.  That would mean that prophecy was fulfilled billions of times throughout history; thus making that idea irrelevant.
(2)  They then must explain how Jesus came into this world, as God, with out sin- with biblical explanations for their conclusions.  Usually this misunderstanding is that he was not divine or God while in human form.    
(3)  The reverse misunderstanding could be made.  That Jesus was not even fully human; thus denying his perfect reliability to us and a nature that is He (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14-17, 7:26).

For more in depth studies on his Divine Nature and Human nature also read Jesus Christ's Hypostatic Union | Jesus, The Son of God | Jesus, The One Like a Son of Man

Conclusion:

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, from heaven, was born through Mary by The Holy Spirit.  He came into this world fully man while at the same time he was fully divine.  The virgin birth is where these two realities intersect.  Where God and the supernatural immaterial become incarnated and manifest into the natural and material.

Corrupting or attempting to 'change' the understanding of the virgin birth impacts knowing and understanding the person of Jesus and his natures; which makes The Virgin Birth necessary for understanding and knowing the real and true Jesus.