Oxford dictionary conceive: Create (an embryo) by fertilizing an egg.
Luke 1:31
ESV - 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Community answers are sorted based on votes. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is.
Yes, Christ in His incarnate form was miraculously conceived within the body of a virgin as a true human being, but He was also fully God, and, as such, had always existed. He made multiple statements recorded in the gospels that attested to his pre-incarnate existence, and to His memory of it, such as "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." (Luke 10:18); "Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58); and in His prayer to the Father in Gethsemane (John 17:5) If these statements were not true, He was lying, and could therefore not be God, or capable of redeeming mankind.
An interesting thought struck me as I meditated on what to proffer about this question. Before I could write anything, a list of what should be considered in the attempted answer appeared and I was asked to agree to each consideration. At the bottom, the guidelines made the statement, 'Create an answer, using Scripture references.' This I believe is the key to all things in a spiritual realm that we offer as "proof" to a secular questioner. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us as Christians to be ready to give an answer for our belief and hope. God's Word is the greatest proof we can offer. Is Jesus eternal, or did He have a beginning and was made or created? That is the criteria to consider. John 1:1-3 establishes that Jesus was eternal, as the Logos or Word before His incarnation or putting on flesh and dwelling among men. With God shows He was separate in personal existence distinct from God but associated in fellowship and Godhead with God. The word "nothing" means exactly that nothing was made without Him. IF Jesus had been created than that would have meant He would have had to create Himself. The Scripture says both the Word or pre-incarnate Jesus and the Father both existed for eternity. Hebrews 1:1-2 says Jesus speaks the thoughts of God.The Bible is the written word of God, and Jesus Christ is the living personified Word of God. Not created, but the Speaker of Creation. One more thought Jesus was not 'conceived" in a natural way, but in a supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit hovering over Mary and she as a virgin became impregnated. Luke 1:35.
One of the greatest evidences that Jesus is eternal is in found in the original Greek writing of the New Testament---John 1:1 "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS GOD". The word "the" is missing before "beginning". The word "the" is a definite article and if "the" had been before "beginning" you would have a definite time that was the beginning and you could say Jesus was created before that "beginning" and that is why He was there in the "beginning". The fact that the word "the" is missing in the original writing of the New Testament means there is no definite point that is THE BEGINNING--so beginning can be any point in the past you want it to be and Jesus is already there; a hundred billion years to the hundred billionth power or even farther back--Jesus was there. There is no place you can go and call the "beginning" without having to say Jesus was already there "with God" and He was already "God" which means He is the uncreated, eternal God.
All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED.
Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines.
A good answer provides new insight and perspective. Here are guidelines to help facilitate a meaningful learning experience for everyone.