JESUS SPEAKING
“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5: 37 -40)
FAITHFUL THOUGHTS
Long before the birth of Christ, many Old Testament figures were inspired by God to record prophetic descriptions of the future Messiah. The things of which they foretold were made manifest in Jesus Christ. This is why He said the scriptures “testify of Me.” Apart from the Judeo-Christian faith, no other religion in the world has ever accurately predicted future events with any degree of precision.
The book of Isaiah was compiled sometime between 600 to 800 years before Jesus was born. In it we read, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel” (God with us.) Later in this book we read, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed…yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” In addition we read, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgement and justice, from that time forward, even forever.” Other Old Testament prophecies include the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, and having His hands and feet pierced (as was done during the crucifixion.) We are also told that men would gamble for his clothing, which occurred at the foot of the cross. Other prophecies describe him healing the sick, curing the blind, and bringing the good news to mankind.
Prophecy enables us to reaffirm that our faith is genuinely inspired by God. No one other than God can know the future; and so we can recognize what is true and be transformed by it. Jesus is the Messiah, and the Holy Scriptures are the only divinely inspired collection of texts in this world. May God’s word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
“Lord Heavenly Father, we recognize Your use of prophecy and are greatly blessed by it. You alone possess the knowledge of truth. May we continue to walk in that truth with You, and be transformed by the power of Your Holy Spirit. We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, according to Your will, in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.” God bless all of you!
