JESUS CHRIST IS FULFILLED PROPHECY

Peter tells us, “And now, brethren, I wot [know] that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers [killed the author of life, Jesus Christ, Acts 3:15]. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled” (Acts 3:17–18).

     Regardless of this plain scriptural statement, currently two thirds of the world does not recognize Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. And a portion of the one third who do, don’t understand what He really represents and what His gospel message is really all about. So many of the traditional teachings within the so-called Christian community have camouflaged the truth, resulting in a misunderstood purpose; and, consequently, misdirecting the many “Christians” today into believing a blurredand confusing Christian theology of what God the Father, through Jesus Christ, is accomplishing.

      Unfortunately, this has caused “the many” to be exposed to the jeopardy of what Jesus described as those who think they are pleasing God but, in fact, are not! Notice: “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils?And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [lawlessness]” (Matthew 7:21–23).

      On the one hand, in today’s secular liberal environment where the opinions of even the “village idiots” are heard, Christianity is often the target. This has contributed to the demise of what little credibility the Bible has retained among the world’s “scholar elitists.” Yet, on the other hand, traditional Christianity has presented such a compromised version of the original theology of the “Christ-centered gospel” that it should be no surprise for us that “many” would come claiming Christ is Messiah, but shall deceive the many (or most). (See Matthew 24:4–5).

Where Is the Proof?

      So is it possible to prove from the Bible that Jesus Christ is, in fact, the promised Messiah? And if that can be done, can we prove beyond a shadow of a doubt what exactly was the definition and scope of His God-ordained mission? These are legitimate questions that deserve answers, and they can be answered! In order to properly answer these questions, we must first remember the Old Testament Scriptures were the only God- inspired documents available at the time of Jesus Christ’s ministry. Many fail to realize that the New Testament church was established and built on the texts of the Old Testament writings (Ephesians 2:20). This is why it’s absurd to consider mitigating the influence these manuscripts of the law, writings, and prophets had on the early New Testament church.

      Contrary to the opinion of many liberal Christian scholars, the Old Testament manuscripts substantiate the New Testament texts, including the very Messiahship of Jesus the Christ! As a matter of historical fact, the Christian “way” was originallyconsidered an extension of the ancient Hebrew religion. Unfortunately, too many have forgotten this, and have dismissed the Old Testament and “mothballed” it, relegating it to ancient history and/or cute little Bible stories that have a “moral to the story” by the circumstances described.

      Sadly, this is an enormous mistake, because the Old Testament has much more value than that. It is the Biblical proof that these canonized books verify the very hand of God in human affairs. To marginalize the Old Testament is a decision to rule out a major historical record of God’s personal involvement, describing how He is orchestrating the human realm for the fulfillment of His purpose and telling His-story. The Old Testament prophecies pertaining to Christ and His “suffering servant Messiahship Ministry” is just one of the many very important components sanctioning and authenticating God the Father’s role in the scope of His salvific plan.

What Is the Truth?

     Unfortunately, the specific statements that pertain to Jesus Christ’s first coming, as the “Lamb of God,” the suffering Servant, are overlooked by many, and especially, generally speaking, the Jewish community of the twenty-first century. It’s amazing how so many clear and concise prophetic statements concerning this fact can be ignored. Sadly, Nostradomus, Edgar Casey, and other alleged prophets and clairvoyants receive more recognition and credibility than the straightforward prophetic documentation provided in the Old Testament. Yet, the record is there for any who have “eyes to see,” that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, whom most Jews today continue to dismiss.

      It’s regrettable that this obvious and understandable truth is disregarded and unaccepted! Clearly, Isaiah 9:6–7 explains that a Child will be born, destined to be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father, and Prince of Peace for a government that would have no end. And additionally, He would be connected to the lineage of King David, who was from the tribe of Judah. This links up with Luke 1:26–35, where we read the story of Gabriel’s visitation to Mary, announcing the fact that she was chosen to bear this Child, Son of the Highest, who was destined to receive the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob (all twelve tribes) forever; ruling a kingdom without end. Gabriel also explains this would be a virgin birth, conducted through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

      Now notice how this was prophesied almost 800 years before it happened. In Isaiah 7:12–13, we see the story of Ahaz, King of Judah, fearing that his brother nation Israel and its confederates would destroy his nation to the south. God assured him this wouldn’t happen. But notice the reason Isaiah gives for preserving the nation Judah, even though Ahaz would prefer not to know (verse 12). Isaiah explains the reason is because a virginwill conceive a child, naming Him Immanuel, meaning God with us! The New Testament corroborates this in Matthew 1:18–25, where it’s written He would be from the House of David and His name would be Emmanuel, which also means, God with us! These plain, uncorrupted Scriptures emphatically connect Jesus Christ with the ancient prophecies foretelling how this would happen, authenticating He, Jesus Christ, was the promised Child King, born of a virgin.

      But the story continues and gets even better when Micah explains that from the city of Bethlehem, a ruler of Israel will come forth who was promised “from everlasting,” or “days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2). Second Timothy 1:9 clearly tells us that the purpose of Christ was decided on “before the world began.” Obviously, this is just another way of explaining He was promised “from everlasting” or from “days of eternity.”

      There are so many more prophetic connections we can illustrate from the Old Testament prophets that are incredibly stunning in their detail. For instance, in chapter 9, verse 9, Zechariah, speaking some 500 years before Christ was physically born, tells us this King would ride into Jerusalem on a colt. Later, we’re told He would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9) for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12), and this betrayer would ultimately find this “blood money” paying for a potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13).

      Even some of the prophetic details concerning the death and crucifixion of Christ are simply remarkable! Notice, in Psalm 22 we are told of how the people witnessing the crucifixion laughed at Him and shook their heads in scorn. We’re told He was pierced in His hands and feet and watched His clothes gambled away by lot. Also, some of the very last words Christ would roar from His crucified condition are found in verse 1. Psalm 69:21 mentions the vinegar that was given to Him when He asked for a drink. You can validate the fulfillment of these many prophecies by simply reading and comparing the record of Matthew 27, Luke 23, and John 19.

      It would be remiss not to mention Isaiah 53 and the detailed description of events and reasons for these circumstances, explained and outlined there so we could understand why this had to happen the way it did. The plan of God is underscored and anchored on the foundational principle that remission of sins can only be achieved by the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22–28). This is the “patterns of things in the heavens” which God the Father set in motion, when it was decided that the Creator God, the Word manifested later as Jesus Christ, came to die for His creation (Colossians 1:9–20; John 1:10–16). Admittedly, this was the prophet that Moses also spoke of in Deuteronomy 18:15–19 and of which the apostle Peter confirmed when he said, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren [Jesus was Jewish; see Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5]. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days…having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3:22–26).

The God-Ordained Mission

      Throughout the course of the many scriptures already referenced, we are explicitly told that the Child, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, was to be a “King” for a Kingdom linked to the Jewish Davidic lineage, destined to be eternal—a Kingdom without end! It was to be a Kingdom described by the prophets as a utopia: a kingdom of peace, ultimately ruled by this Prince of Peace who would change the nature of not only human beings, but even that of the animals. There would be a complete reshaping of the social order by virtue of reinstituting the laws of God, resulting in the “Kingdom of God.” This would finally bring peace to the earth. (Remember, the reward of the saved is not heaven). Unmistakably, God’s Kingdom will be established on this earth! “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9).

      This God-ordained intervention will change the order of things. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [who was King David’s father], and a branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him… And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loin, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid… and the cow and the bear shall feed… and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [nation]: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse [Jesus Christ is the “root”], which shall stand for an ensign of the people…” (Isaiah 11).

      The rulership of the “root of Jesse” was always at the foundation of the “mission.” From the initial announcement of Gabriel to Mary, fulfilling the prophetic utterance of Isaiah the prophet in chapter 9, we are decidedly told that this God Incarnate Child, the Word, manifest in the flesh as Jesus Christ (John 1:14; Revelation 19:11–16), would come and die for His creation, go back to the Father as a High Priest, and “appear a second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:24–28). Remember, the disciples were told by the angel, upon witnessing Jesus’ ascension, that this same Jesus would return in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven (Acts 1:10-11).

      When He comes thundering back, His mission will be to reshape the world order and bring peace to men of good will. Isaiah 2:1–4; Jeremiah 23:5–8; and Micah 4:1–4 all speak of this God-ordained project that the Father is determined to accomplish through Christ. He has a tremendous investment devoted to this salvific program of redemption. He’s been telling us about it since the Garden of Eden when He created man in His own image. It’s always been about assuring mankind that he (mankind) has the potential of becoming part of His “God Family” if we so choose to exercise our “birthright.” Sadly, so many don’t recognize the formula, which results in atonement with God. Yet, God is eager for all of us to understand why He is so interested in us, and more importantly, how we can achieve our potential. It all begins with accepting Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God and King of Kings, the prophesied Messiah of mankind (Hebrews 2:5–18)!

      These specific fulfilled prophecies throughout your Bible areunquestionably the proof of this definitive fact!  r

Messianic Prophecies

Fulfilled!

Some scholars have estimated that well over 300 prophecies were spoken in the Old Testament relating to Christ. By the laws of compound probability, the statistical odds of only 55 prophecies being fulfilled are one in 36,028,797,018,963,968! Even though many events were beyond His control, each was fulfilled precisely! Jesus Christ is indeed the promised Messiah!

Prophecy                                        Found In                                        Fulfilled

Line of Abraham                              Genesis 12:2–3                              Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16

Line of Judah                                   Genesis 49:10; 1 Chronicles 5:2    Matthew 1:2; Hebrews 7:14                               

Line of David                                    2 Samuel 7:12–16                          Matthew 1:1

Virgin Birth                                        Isaiah 7:14                                     Matthew 1:23

Born in Bethlehem                            Micah 5:2                                       Matthew 2:6

Call out of Egypt                               Hosea 11:1                                     Matthew 2:15

Forerunner: John                              Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1                 Matthew 3:3

King                                                  Numbers 24:17; Psalm 2:6             Matthew 21:5

Priest                                                Psalm 110:4                                    Hebrews 5:6–10

Will bear world’s sins                        Psalm 22:1                                      Matthew 27:46

Will be ridiculed                                 Psalm 22:7–5                                  Matthew 27:39, 43

Hands & feet pierced                         Psalm 22:16                                   John 20:25

No bones broken                               Psalm 22:17; 34:20                         John 19:33–36

Soldiers gambled                               Psalm 22:18                                    John 19:24

Christ’s prayer                                   Psalm 22:24                                     Matthew 26:39; Hebrews 5:7

False witnesses lie                            Psalm 35:11                                     Mark 14:56

Disfigurement                                    Isaiah 52:14                                      John 19:1

Beating & scourging                          Isaiah 50:6; 52:14; 53:5                    John 19:1, 18

Followers scattered                           Zechariah 13:6–7                              Matthew 26:31

Resurrection                                      Psalm 16:10; 22:22                           Matthew 28:6; Acts 2:27–28

Ascension                                          Psalm 68:18                                      Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11

All rights reserved. Printed U.S.A. Copyright © 2011 The Church of God International. Author: Bill Watson