The Coming Messiah

Today we will look at the prophecy of the birth of Jesus. Before we do, let’s take a quick look at last week. In the last post, I shared prophetic scriptures that promised salvation through Christ alone that was established at the beginning of life on Earth. I shared that God has a unique plan for each of us and challenged you to pray and listen for where God wanted to use you. I would love to hear from you if God laid anything new on your heart. If you have not read that post, you can read it here.

Prophecy Of The Birth Of Jesus

We read in scripture many prophecies that were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. Old Testament prophets proclaimed that the coming Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), to a virgin, that He would come out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), and that He would live in the town of Nazareth (Matthew 2:23).

We can see each of these fulfilled. Jesus was born in Bethlehem like the prophet Micah proclaimed, and soon after His birth, He was taken to Egypt by Joseph and Mary. Later He lived in Nazareth, giving Him the name Jesus of Nazareth.

Born Of A Virgin

Let’s look at more scriptures pertaining to prophecy and fulfillment.

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Prophecy

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: 
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, 
and will call him Immanuel."
~Isaiah 7:14

Both Prophecy and Fulfillment

"But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; 
you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, 
and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the 
Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father 
David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his 
kingdom will never end.”
~Luke 1:30-33

Fulfillment

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. S
he wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, 
because there was no guest room available for them."
~Luke 2:6-7

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He Is Who He Says He Is

There are countless scriptures on prophecy and their fulfillment of the birth of Jesus. When we look at these scriptures, it helps us better understand that Jesus has to be who He says He is. There is no way for one person to fulfill so many proclamations with things He could have no control over.

So where does this leave us?

We could explore so many aspects, but what jumps out to me is who was prophesied about other than Jesus, and one of those was Mary. I have to wonder what she thought when she realized she was part of the fulfillment of an age-old prophecy. She was part of the fulfillment from prophets like Isaiah. Raised in a Jewish home, Mary would have read the old testament scriptures. She got to see first hand the scriptures fulfilled through her. What do you think she felt? I would love to read your thoughts below in the comments.

God Doesn’t Call The Qualified

I love that God chooses people that don’t fit the profile we think they should have. A better option than Mary, from our human perspective, would have been someone in a royal position, a queen or princess, but God chose a very young girl who was engaged to be married to a carpenter. I love that God chooses unassuming people to fulfill His plan. People that none of us would pick for such honorable roles.

This shows me there is hope for the rest of us. Like I said last week, God has a plan for each of us. We may not be giving birth to the Savior of the world, but we are called to serve Him in mighty ways. Please take a moment and think of how important it is that we fulfill the ultimate commission.

We are called to go and make disciples of all nations. We are called to share the good news of Jesus with the world and disciple each other. This means helping others grow in their faith. How are you doing this?

My challenge to you this second week in lent is to ask God who you need to share Him with or who He may want you to disciple. If each of us who call ourselves followers of Christ actually shares Jesus with just one person and opened ourselves to disciple one other, can you imagine the dynamic change that would happen? There is no greater time than now that we need to see this change. Stop and pray now of who God would put on your heart to pour into. I can’t wait to hear your stories.

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Ways To Disciple

Before I finish today, I want to leave you with a few ways you can begin to disciple others.

1. Have coffee. Take the person God has put on your heart out to coffee. Chat about what is going on in your lives and where you are on your walk with the Lord. Encourage one another on your journeys so you can go deeper in your relationship with the Lord.
2. Host a Bible study. This is one of my favorites. Gather a few people that God has put on your heart together for a study. You do not have to be a theologian to do this. Select a study that interests you and let the author of that study do the teaching. Use the discussion time to grow in what you have learned.
3. One-on-one time with another. Make this look however you feel necessary. Maybe invite them over, go to lunch or have a phone call. Just ask God to lead the conversation. Maybe He will lead the two of you to read a book together, or the other person may need prayer. Just seek the Lord for guidance. He will lead you.

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If you like the second option I suggest using Beth Moore’s, “Chasing Vines.” My small group really enjoyed it.