The Surrogate Birth

     I have a friend who did a most sharing thing; she had a baby for a couple who could not. She is a Christian and so are the couple. Some people questioned the wisdom of that; even I. Not only did I resolve their act of kindness in my head, but short of dying on one's behalf, giving life to a person is the greatest sacrifice. I worried about post-partem depression, but there has been none. Other than the physical aspects of pregnancy, the outcome made everyone benefit. My friend merely incarnated a person on behalf of another.
     What changed my mind? God did! The Word told me that my friend did what Mary did.
Let me stop there for a moment: "Immaculate conception" is a non-biblical event that was made by Catholic doctrine (Papal dictate) in the mid-1800s. That is the false doctrine that Mary was born without original sin. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). That includes Mary who, as David, was "shapen in iniquity" (Psalm 51:5). The so-called "immaculate conception" of Mary at her birth must not be confused with the virgin birth of Jesus.
    To be exact, my friend was far from being a virgin, having children of her own; I will not stretch the comparison that far! That does not reduce the generosity emanating from her heart. With surrogacy, there is money involved, but money was not her greatest objective. She wanted the other couple to have the joy that she has.
     It struck me like a bolt of lightening; her surrogate baby has not an ounce of her blood, and neither is the baby genetically related to either her nor her husband. My friend was merely a vessel for incubating a person until gestation. All that she provided was a womb, comfort, and nourishment. The unborn baby may have gotten some of her personality by experiencing her life outside while inside the womb. If that is true, then the new person will have some of the host person's emotions.
    Now let us examine the story of Mary (Oftentimes one gospel story is repeated in another gospel. In this case the full story if the virgin birth of Jesus takes two gospels; please read them both for the full account):

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. (Mat 1:18-25)

     The first thing to understand is that Mary was an ordinary woman. She had both father and mother. As such, she was born with original sin. It came to her through her father's Y-chromosome because original sin is accounted to Adam (Rom 5:12). It seems that Adam knowingly and willingly sinned, but Eve was deceived and beguiled to sin. Mary did not inherit the sin trait from her mother, but like everyone else, her father. Even the pleasure of coitus seems to be passed down by the man's seed.
     I believe David's iniquity (Psalm 51) is twofold: (1) being conceived in pleasure, and (2) inheriting original sin. Mary had at least the latter. It may be that when she was born, by grace, her parents realized the sacredness of their union, and conceived Mary without pleasuring in her making. However, that is mere speculation, but does make sense.  There are such things as Holy Matrimony and Holy Union. That is because God ordained marriage and pro-creation; "recreation" was never commanded, and many theologians believe that original sin was pleasuring without the intention of multiplying. I tend to agree with that viewpoint.
     God did choose a fairly clean vessel for Jesus's incubation. Mary was a virgin. Any type of fornication before that would have made her an unclean vessel for God. She did, however, have original sin in her soul. Souls can either be (1) empty, (2) be a vessel for future sin, (3) be contaminated with sin, (4) be imbued with sin, (5) be cleansed from sin, (6) be imbued with the Holy Spirit, or (7) be filled with the Holy Spirit. The soul is a sort of "cup" (Mat 26:39), which was also his purpose (dying for mankind; Mat 26:42). With Mary, she was born as a vessel for future sin (original sin being the propensity to do evil.)
     It can be assumed that Mary may have sinned, maybe not willfully, but because of her genetics. Therefore, Mary had surely been contaminated by sin but never the fornication of sexual sin. She had remained true to God and man. The angel said that she was "favoured by the Lord." She would be a satisfactory "vessel" for His use.
     Blessed was she among women. She was beatified or consecrated to the Lord. In other words, she was not only declared sacred, but made so! The Lord made her a holy vessel for the purpose of surrogating the Lord Jesus. Mary, as a surrogate, was a substitute for natural conception - coitus between man and woman. Mary did not pleasure in the making of Jesus, but served God's purpose. Jesus was not born in iniquity, and never had sin, even original sin, within Him. Jesus did not get Adam's Y-chromosome because no "Adam" was involved in the conception.
     Jesus was the "Son of Man." He obtained flesh through Mary. She was the "host" which provided flesh for the Lord's incarnation. The Father took the elements (or dust) from Mary, and as he did with Adam, and created Jesus's flesh in the womb. Let's look at original sin again for a moment:

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Rom 5:11-12)

     Adam was born to sin, yet lived. God knew he would because he has foreknowledge. Jesus was born to make the atonement for sin, and Jesus was born to die.  The Lord wanted mankind's flesh to suffer death. He used Adam's flesh, remembering that Adam was created in "our image" (Gen 1:26). God knew when Adam was created how he would create Jesus's flesh. Jesus was a soul before he was born (his cup), but as with Adam, the Lord was made a living soul. In the human lexicon, "living" is having flesh. In God's Word, it is having a glorified soul.
     The Word inferred redemption in the beginning: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15). Jesus was Mary's flesh (seed), and sinful man was Adam's seed. Jesus stepped on the Serpent's head with his heal on Calvary as Adam is believed to be buried beneath the rock of Golgotha (My own book, The Skull of Adam).
     Birth is deliverance from the womb, or in the case of "born again", it's deliverance from the confines of darkness. Jesus was never born again. He was born once. Everyone else must experience the Holy Ghost. Jesus's flesh experienced the Holy Ghost initially at his conception. His was not a natural conception, but was a natural birth; he was both Son of God and Son of Man.
     Mary conceived beyond the natural (supra-naturally): "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." Mary was imbued with the soul of Jesus - his cup - so to speak. Her part was to provide the nourishment to grow the flesh while God provided the "cup" and imbued Mary with the Spirit. Later when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit remained upon him. It makes sense that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but baptism was a sort of dedication and further imbuing or saturation of the Holy Spirit.
     There was no trace of Joseph's DNA or blood in Jesus. There was no spermatozoa involved in his conception. I it supposed that Mary's ovum provided the flesh, but neither does ovum have the mother's blood (All Things Conceivable Blog; "Surrogacy";  May 18, 2018). Neither does the mother's blood cross the system boundary of the unborn child - the placenta. In other words, Jesus has his and only his blood and only God's "DNA". Mary was merely a host and cleansed vessel for this one purpose. Mary is NOT "the mother of God." 
     Jesus said, "Who is my mother? " (Mat 27:48), then immediately placed her in his family, but not more significantly than his disciples. Jesus had no biological mother; only a Father as Mary was merely a surrogate for his incarnation. We must remember that Jesus pre-existed his birth. He was there in the beginning in spirit. (John 1:1-2) and when he was born he was "made flesh." (John 1:14). The word "made" in the Greek is "ginomai" and has as it's primary meaning "generated".  Jesus was "generated" at his birth, and had no need for regeneration because he was born perfect and true.
    Just like Adam, Jesus was without mother. Just as Adam, his Father IS God. Ironically, Mary was dust, for to the dust she will return (Gen 3:19). That is not implying that there is "a mother earth" but that Adam was without a mother just as Jesus was. 
     Should Mary be venerated? Not any more than the long sought after "cup" from which the disciples drank - the sacred chalice men still seek. Jesus did not even drink from that cup; he merely provided for the "blood" that others would drink. Mary was no more than a "cup" for growing Jesus's flesh. She was already honored by God; our honor is for Jesus. Making Mary any more than "blessed," is creating her as a god. She was not, and never claimed to be.