What Child is This: Part 1

Isaiah 9:6-7 (AMP): For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder, And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace, [He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From that time forward and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

There were over 300 different prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.  We are going to talk about a few.

Jeremiah 23:5 (AMP): “Behold (listen closely), the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as King and act wisely And will do [those things that accomplish] justice and righteousness in the land.

About 645 years later, we find the fulfillment in Matthew 1:1:16.

Micah 5:2 (NLT):  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

The fulfillment was nearly 760 years later in Matthew 2:1 and  Luke 2:4-6. 

Luke 2:1-7 (MSG): About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.  While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

Isaiah 7:14 (AMP): Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).

This fulfillment came about some 740 years later in Matthew 1:22, Matthew 1:23 and Luke 2:7. 

Matthew 1:22-23 (MSG): While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

Immanuel – God is with us.  Powerful!

There are so many others! We need to prepare our hearts for this amazing season!

Do you believe?

Acts 4:12 (AMP): And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].”