Made Of A Woman

by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4).

This is a key verse related to the incarnation, and therefore to the whole plan of salvation. The promise was made in the very beginning, when God promised that the seed of the woman would bring salvation from sin and Satan (Genesis 3:15). But it would be at least four thousand years before God’s “fullness of the time was come.”

But, right on God’s schedule, He came, miraculously conceived and born of “the virgin” (Isaiah 7:14). Paul, carefully choosing his words, says He was “made of a woman.” The word rendered “made” (Greek ginomai) is not the usual word for “born” (gennao). Paul did not say He was born of a woman, but made of a woman, evidently to emphasize that the human birth of Jesus was unique—different from all other human births. In fact, His human body had to be specially “prepared” by God (Hebrews 10:5) so that He could be born without either an inherent sin-nature or any inherited genetic defects from either parent. In order to “redeem them that were under the law” (Galatians 4:5), the Son must Himself be “without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:19).

Not only was He “made of a woman” so as to be without inherited sin, but He was “made under the law” so that He could be shown to live without committing sin. It is only through God’s written law that we really know what sin is. “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). And we know that we cannot possibly “keep the whole law” (James 2:10).

But Christ did! Therefore, since He was “made under the law” and had come “to fulfill” the law (Matthew 5:17), He can indeed redeem every sinner who will come to Him in repentance and faith. HMM