Today’s P & W thought: Jesus truly is the Messiah…The Promised Messiah. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”(Mark 1:1-3 ESV) The easiest characters to miss in the story of Christmas are the characters that are not physically there: the prophets. Although they had all died centuries before Jesus’ birth, God uses them to remind us that the story of Christmas is part of the much larger story of scripture, the story of God’s interaction with humanity. Simply put, prophecies are statements God makes about the future. When a prophet spoke in the Old Testament, he was claiming to speak with God’s authority. The weight and warning attached to prophecies was so great that the consequence for making a false prophecy was death (Deuteronomy 18). This was because all prophecy was rooted in this one overwhelming fact: God does what He says He will do. Prophecies are found throughout the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. One theme that threads it’s way through many of these prophecies is the hope of a promised Messiah- an “anointed one” who will redeem God’s people and restore all things. Other prophecies concerning the Messiah bring increasing clarity: • He will be a descendant of King David. Jeremiah 23:5 • He will be born in the town of Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 • He will be born to a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 • He will begin his ministry in Galilee. Isaiah 9:1-2 • He will enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 • He will be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:4 Here’s an excerpt of one of the prophecies from Isaiah 9:1-7:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan– 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned….6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. According to Peter Stone in his book “Science Speaks” the chances of one person fulfilling eight of the Messianic prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th power, or one in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (one hundred million billion). How do the Old Testament prophecies influence your confidence that Jesus truly is the Messiah? How do the prophecies impact your belief that God will fulfill every promise He makes? This should encourage you my dear friend that all the promises that God has made over your life will be fulfilled if you commit your life to Him… Have a Smashing Saturday my friends ...
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 14:59:30 +0000
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