Ready for What’s Next? (Part 1)

Volume 3, Number 2

January 3, 2009

The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. (Isa 52:10)[1]

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thess 4:16-17)

We have just celebrated the first advent of the Messiah, and we now look forward to His second advent when He comes to reign on earth as KING of Kings and LORD of Lords. Just as His first coming was precisely foretold by the prophets of old, so His second coming has been predicted. Since the prophecies about His first coming were fulfilled with accuracy, we can trust that the prophecies about His second coming will also come to pass with equal accuracy.

With the prospect of the most liberal government in the history of our nation, one that for all practical purposes is anti-God and especially anti-Christ, we can start setting our eyes to the eastern sky in propitious anticipation of our Lord’s return.

In this series of articles, we will briefly cover some of the prophecies of His first coming. Next we will look at some of the prophecies of His second coming. Finally, we will analyze our own preparedness for a certain yet uncertain future.

Signs of His First Coming

Before time began, God has had a plan in place for the redemption of His creation. That immediately raises the question as to why God would create something that He would have to redeem in the first place. Why did He not make it so that there would be no opportunity for sin? We might have to ask Him that when we meet Him in heaven, but part of the reason was that He might manifest His glory. Referring to His bringing Israel back to her land after many years of dispersion, God declares, “Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.” (Isa 43:6b-7). Why would He do this? “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.” (Isa 48:11) Jesus made a similar statement in His High Priestly prayer: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) There is no religion on earth whose god makes such claims. It is inconceivable that any god would love or even care enough for its creation to condescend to their lowly estate, and pay the price for their redemption. On the contrary, all other gods demand that their worshipers tow the line and comply to their every whim otherwise severe punishment will ensue. That is how they get their glory. So when the true God does all He has done for His creation, we are awestruck. We are dumbfounded. We can do no less than fall before His presence in praise, adoration and worship. He is glorious, and He deserves all the glory we can give.

Another reason God planned for redemption was that He wanted a reciprocal love from His creation. Therefore, He created mankind in His own image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). In doing this, he gave man a free will to choose right from wrong, to obey or disobey, to love God or not to love Him, to accept Him or to reject Him. Though the concept is inexplicable, God wants a genuine relationship with His creation. Even the hardest of hearts recognizes that a relationship between two people cannot be forced upon an individual. A relationship has to be by the mutual consent of the participating parties. Knowing this, and knowing that man would rend the relationship, God devised a plan to set things right again through His own sacrifice.

Part of His plan to redeem His creation was to make His plan clear to mankind, and so He laid it all out in His Word, the Bible. He would send (actually, He Himself would come as) a redeemer to take the penalty of mankind’s sin upon Himself. This Redeemer would be the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15) not the seed of a man. We see this prophecy was fulfilled in Matthew 1:18. The Savior would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). This was fulfilled in Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:26-27, 34. He would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and David (Genesis 18:18, 22:18, 28:14; 49:10). Jesus’ genealogy is listed Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38. God told us that His Son would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). His birth is recorded in Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4-5, 7. The prophet Jeremiah predicted an effort to exterminate Messiah by killing children of Bethlehem (Jeremiah 31:15), and this came to pass and was recorded by Matthew (Matthew 2:16-18). In order to save the Christ child, His parents had to flee to Egypt. This was foreseen in Hosea 11:1 and recorded in Matthew 2:14-15. David declared that He would be called the Son of God (Psalm 2:7) and Matthew testified to it in Matthew 3:17; 17:5. Isaiah said he would be rejected by His own people (Isaiah 53:3), and the fact was recorded in Luke 23:18 and John 1:11. Zechariah foresaw His public declaration to the throne of Israel and His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9) and all four Gospel writers record the event (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-38; John 12:12-15). David said the Lord would be betrayed by a close friend (Psalm 41:9) and we find in Luke 22:47-53 that Judas turned Him over to the Jewish authorities. Zechariah prophesied that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12) and his prophecy was fulfilled in Matthew 26:14-15; Mark 14:10-11 and Luke 22:3-6. Isaiah told us that He would be killed along with common criminals (Isaiah 53:12) and we read about this in Mark 15:27-28. He would be pierced (Zechariah 12:10, fulfilled in John 19:34; 20:27). The soldiers would gamble for his clothes (Psalm 22:18, fulfilled Matthew 27:35-36). David told us that none of His bones would be broken (Psalm 34:20). When the soldiers came to break Jesus’ legs in order to expedite His death on the cross, they found that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs (John 19:32-33, 36). Isaiah foretold that He would be buried among the rich (Isaiah 53:9). Matthew reports that Joseph of Arimathea (a rich man) requested Jesus’ body and placed Him in his own tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). His resurrection was foreseen by David (Psalm 16:10) and testified by all four Gospel writers (Mark 16:6-7).

Listed above are just 21 of over 300 prophecies concerning Jesus’ First and Second Advent. Josh McDowell in his book More Than a Carpenter quotes from Peter W. Stoner’s book Science Speaks “who says that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight of the prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power.’ That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000”[2] or one in one hundred quadrillion. In his message of December 21, 2008, God in a Stable, Fact or Fable?, Dr. Robert Jeffress stated that the probability of Jesus fulfilling 48 of those prophecies was 1 in 10 to the 157th power; that would 1 in 1 followed by 157 zeros. Yet, Jesus fulfilled them all, and not one was omitted.

If God so precisely pointed us to Jesus’ first coming, we can trust the biblical indicators for His second coming. Are you ready for what’s next?

O come! O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

O come, Thou, Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.

O come, Desire of Nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel![3]

Notes:

____________________________
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quoted is taken from THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE UPDATE, (The Lockman Foundation, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995)
All rights reserved.
[2] McDowell, Josh, More Than a Carpenter, (Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, 1977), pp. 107-108.
[3] Neal, John Mason and Henry Sloane Coffin translation of a Latin Hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” The Baptist Hymnal, (Convention Press, Nashville, 1991), Hymn 76.

Something to Sing About

Volume 1, Number 30
December 11, 2006

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”( Luke 2:13-14)[1]

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Rev 4:11)

I am a musician of sorts, which predisposes me to a certain affinity to most kinds of music. Being that I have a personal relationship with Christ, I am especially partial to Christian music whether it be traditional, contemporary, liturgical or gospel. But of all the music that I enjoy, I must admit that I like Christmas music best of all. I like the happy tunes of “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santa Claus is coming to Town” and “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.” I delight in the schmaltzy, mushy, romantic tunes like “Let It Snow,” “White Christmas” and “Blue Christmas.” But the songs that really stir my heart strings are the Christian Christmas carols.
Christmas carols are so densely packed with solid theology that they make an excellent study in themselves. “What Child Is This” sings of God’s humiliation in coming into the world in the form of a helpless baby born in the “mean estate” of a stable and yet the line reads, “for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.” That is the Christmas message! And as that defenseless babe “on Mary’s lap is sleeping” another contemporary carol asks “Mary, did you know that this child that you delivered will soon deliver you? Did you know that your baby boy once walked where angels trod? Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation and that one day He will rule the nations?”[2] Still another contemporary carol sees Jesus through the eyes of Mary as she asks, “Do You wonder as You watch my face, if a wiser one should have had my place?”[3] Can you imagine the overwhelming responsibility of raising the Son of God – the God-Man? How can the human mind embrace the concept that the Almighty God transformed Himself into a soft little bundle of flabby flesh needing to be carried, nursed and have His diapers changed. That’s incredible! God did that for you and me! Does that humble you to think of what God has done for you? It does me.
One of my very favorite carols is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing;” translated into modern English: “Listen! The News Messengers Sing.” The first verse announces the Good News that the rift between God and Man has been repaired: “God and sinners reconciled.” If the nations could only get it, they would rise and “join the triumph of the skies.” Listen to the second verse:

Christ, by highest heav’n adored.
Christ, the everlasting Lord.
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the God-head see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel [“God with us”]

Before his condensation, Jesus was worshiped by the angels of heaven. He is the eternal, everlasting Lord.[4] Here was God, veiled, disguised in human flesh, happy to come to live with humanity as a human. He is truly Immanuel – God with us! Halleluiah! The third verse reminds us that He is the heaven-born (not of earth) Prince of Peace. He brings Light – Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World”[5]—and life – Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life”[6] and He has risen[7] with healing in His wings. The Bible tells us that “Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (Phil 2:5-7) So, “Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.” If that does not just thrill your soul, you just need to get saved!
As you sing the wonderful carols of Christmas – not those cute or sentimental secular Christmas tunes – I mean the real carols that put the CHRIST into CHRISTmas, take time to pay attention to the lyrics and consider the incomparable Gift that God has so freely given. If you know Jesus as I do, we, more than anyone really have something to sing about.

Joy to the world! The Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.[8]

Notes:

--------------------------------------------
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE UPDATE. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation.
[2] Green, Buddy, Mark Lowry, “Mary Did You Know?”
[3] Grant, Amy, “Breath of Heaven”
[4] John 1:1
[5] John 8:12
[6] John 11:25
[7] Matthew 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6
[8] Watts, Isaac (1674-1748), “Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come,” Stanza 2 & 4, The Baptist Hymnal (Convention Press, Nashville, 1991), Hymn 87.

House of Bread

Vol. 1, No, 29

December 4, 2006

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity … This One will be our peace. (Mic 5:2, 5)[i][1]

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet …” (Matt 2:2-5)

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. (John 6:35)

Except for the singularly most significant event in all of history, this sleepy little lack-luster Palestinian town would hardly warrant mention in sacred Scripture. Isaac’s wife, Rachel, was buried near there.[ii][2] Ruth, the Moabitess, came to live there with her mother-in-law, Naomi. There she met and married Boaz and became the great-grandmother of the greatest king Israel ever had,[iii][3] and consequently she became an ancestor of the Messiah. King David was probably born there,[iv][4] and it is there where Samuel anointed him to become Israel’s king.[v][5] The fertile valleys around Bethlehem provided ideal pasture lands for raising the sheep that David tended for his father.[vi][6] Situated just 5 miles south of Jerusalem and in the shadow of the temple, sheep-raising later became profitable for the sale of the sacrificial lambs used in temple worship.

It was not to the grand palace of Alexandria that the Creator chose to come. It was not to the Roman courts of Augustus Caesar that He made Himself known. Nor did He identify with Herod the Great, the puppet king of Israel. No, instead He made His grand entry into the world at the little insignificant village of Bethlehem. Having left the unspeakable splendor of Glory, His welcome was offered not by a royal delegation, but by smelly stable animals. His first bed was not covered with the finest linen, but with rough, prickly straw; it was not a soft down canopy bed fit for a king, but an ordinary feeding trough intended only to keep the cattle’s feed away from the dung and urine on the sod floor. His bedchamber was not of polished marble draped in velvet and satin, but rather the walls of a dark limestone cave adorned with spider-spun silk. His arrival was announced not to kings, princes or potentates, but to a motley group of low-life sheep herders.

It was here to this nothing little town – Bethlehem, the “house of bread” – that the Bread of Life made His entry. It was to a small, lowly band of Bethlehem shepherds that the Lamb of God was proclaimed. It was in a single moment, in resounding silence and resplendent obscurity, that the insignificant became all-significant. Into a cold and darkened world the radiant Light of the world burst through. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Surely, some out-of-towner that night asked the local inn keeper, “What’s new in Bethlehem?” to which the inn keeper answered, “Nothing. Nothing ever happens in Bethlehem.” Yet, in its dark streets shown the Everlasting Light!

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear can hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him,
Still the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in;
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel![vii][7]

Notes:

[i][1] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE UPDATE. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation.
[ii][2] Genesis 35:19; 48:7
[iii][3] Ruth 4:17
[iv][4] 1 Samuel 17:12
[v][5] 1 Samuel 16:4
[vi][6] 1 Samuel 17:15
[vii][7] Brooks, Phillips (1835-1893), “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Stanza 3 & 4, The Baptist Hymnal (Convention Press, Nashville, 1991), Hymn 86.