This morning, we looked at the prophecy of Micah concerning Jesus as the Messiah. As I prepared this sermon, I was once again amazed at the accuracy of the prophet to describe the Messiah. So I went back and looked up a few more passages which predict the Messiah's birth. Josh McDowell states in his book, "Evidence that Demands A Verdict" that there are over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah fulfilled in the life of Jesus. I won't look at all three hundred, but will take a moment to peruse a few of them.
Isaiah (Writing in the 700's BC) wrote these prophecies - The New Testament fulfillment is beside it:
7:14 The Messiah would be born of a virgin Matthew 1:18
11:1 The Messiah would be from the family line of Jesse Luke 3:23, 32
7:14 The Messiah would be called Immanuel("God with Us") Matthew 1:23
40:3 The Messiah would be preceded by a messenger Matthew 3:1-2
Micah (Writing between 740-700 BC) wrote these prophecies:
5:2 The Messiah would be born in Jerusalem Matthew 2:1
5:2 The Messiah would be pre-existent Colossians 1:17
Jeremiah (Writing between 627-600 BC) wrote that the King would kill children after the birth of the Messiah in Jeremiah 31:15. Matthew 2:16
These are just a few prophecies about the birth of Jesus. I have even gone into the myriad of prophecies about His ministry, His life, His death or His resurrection. If you read these passages, you will find specific information about the Messiah who will save the world from their sin. There would only be one Messiah. Now either the Bible is accurate on this and is fully trustworthy on all matters or it is wrong about this an not trustworthy in any matter. There is no middle ground. If these prophecies are true, then Jesus really is the only one who can save us from our sins. He is to be worshiped, trusted, followed and obeyed. So check out the dates of these writers. The writers give us these prophecies centuries before Jesus is born. They are compiled and placed into the Bible so that generations to come can see the accuracy of our God. You see, Jesus was not a fall back plan by God. He was not a quick injection into a sticky situation. He was not a band-aid on an unexpected cut. No, Jesus Advent was planned from the beginning of time. God becoming man and becoming the perfect sacrifice was always what God was going to do. These prophecies bear this out.
Okay, so let's put this into our context. Six hundred years ago was the beginning of the 1400's. Western man still believed the earth was flat, the Americas had not been discovered and Joan of Arc had just been born. If you were alive then, could you have accurately predicted things like airplane travel? The Internet? The United States of America? And if you could predict the coming of the USA, could you have told us about the president in 2012? That is what these prophets had done. Okay, so you think you are up to the challenge? In the year 2612, what will our world look like? Tell me the leader of one country and what he or she will be like? Can you do it? Of course not, so we begin to see how incredible these prophecies are.
During Advent season, some overweight dude in the scarlet threads gets all the pub. He is as real as the Great Pumpkin. However, the Messiah...the King of Kings...Immanuel...Son of David...The Good Shepherd....The Lilly of the Valley...The Bright and Morning Star...Jesus SHOULD be getting the pub. Will you take a moment to read through those prophecies again and commit to sharing them with someone? It may just change their world!! Please remember who you serve during this Advent season. We serve the true Messiah who is the Lamb of God!
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