“Prophecies of Christmas”
Isaiah 7:14
The Christmas story in the Bible begins earlier than you might expect, several hundred years earlier, in the Old Testament. One Old Testament prophecy after another promised the coming Messiah who would redeem the people of God. Whether you know it or not, the first promise of the coming Christ was given in very first book of the Old Testament, in Genesis 3:15.
The Prophet Isaiah writing nearly 600 years before the birth of Christ was able to see across the centuries and gave us an amazingly accurate picture of the birth of the Savior. He said, (7:14), "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
Isaiah said that the birth of Jesus would be “a sign.” We find perfect harmony with this prophecy when the angels announced the birth of Christ in Luke 2:10-12, for they said, "…Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. (11) For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
God has always used signs to get the attention and deliver His message to His people. In the birth of Christ we have a sign from God. But what is the birth of Jesus to a sign of?
First, It Is A Sign Of God’s Power. The birth
of Jesus was not a normal birth, it was a super-natural birth. He told us that “a virgin,” will conceive and bear a child. The word “virgin” used here denotes a woman who has never been sexually intimate with any man not just a young woman. The birth of Jesus was to be a miraculous event, unlike any the world has ever known.
In celebrating Christmas we celebrate the
fulfillment of this prophecy. God became man. Jesus, being God in the flesh, came and dwelt amongst us, being born of the virgin Mary.
In Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38 it is made very clear that Isaiah 7:14 had its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.
Let’s read Matthew 1:18-25, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. (19) Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. (20) But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (21) And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." (22) So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: (23) "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,"which is translated, "God with us." (NKJV)
Not Only Is It A Sign of God’s Power But Also…
Secondly, It Is A Sign Of God’s Love.
Isaiah says that He was to be called, “Immanuel” which means “God is with us.” It is a promise that God himself will appear in human form. You probably remember from the Old Testament incidents when God appeared to people as a person. In Genesis we are told that God walked in the garden with Adam. Later God appeared to Abraham as a weary traveler. So what is so unique about the appearance of Jesus? Jesus actually became a person. In the Old Testament, God took on human form, but in Jesus, God became a person. The theological word is “incarnation” that is God become flesh and blood.
In the scripture that almost everyone who has any exposure to the Bible at all knows, John 3:16, we are told, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It was because of God’s great love for the plight of man that He was willing to allow his only son to come to the earth, take human form, in order that he might pay the debt that our sin demands.
The Apostle Paul tells us the story from the viewpoint of Christ in Philippians 2:6-8, “…who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,(7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (NKJV)
One author said it so well when he said, “Jesus endured a human birth to give us a new spiritual birth. He occupied a stable that we might occupy a mansion. He had an earthly mother so that we might have a heavenly Father. He became subject so that we might be free. He left his glory to give us glory. He was poor that we might be rich. He was welcomed by shepherds at His birth whereas we at our birth are welcomed by angels. He was hunted by Herod that we might be delivered from the grasp of Satan. That is the great paradox of the Christmas story. It is that which makes it irresistibly attractive. It is the reversal of roles at God’s cost for our benefit.” [James Montgomery Boice. The Christ of Christmas.(Chicago: Moody, 1983) p. 59]
Not Only Is It a Sign of God’s Love But Also…
Third, It Is A Sign Of God’s Faithfulness.
“Dr. Charles Ryrie says that according to the laws of chance, it would require two hundred billion earths, populated with four billion people each, to come up with one person whose life could fulfill one hundred accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. Yet the Scriptures record not one hundred, but over three hundred prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s first coming alone.” [Today in the Word, MBI, December, 1989, p. 7 - www.bible.org/illus/c/c-42.htm]
“In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. He says, “The chance that any man might have ...fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.” (one hundred quadrillion).
Stoner suggests that “we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly... Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up [that one marked silver dollar.] What chance would he have of getting the right one?”
Stoner concludes, “Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, ... providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.” [Source unknown -www.bible.org/illus/c/c-59.htm]
Over 300 separate prophecies concerning
the coming Messiah give in exquisite detail the birth of Christ.
Hosea 11:1 prophetically points to Jesus’ escape to and coming out of Egypt.
Jeremiah 31:15 prophetically points to the grief and sorrow that came to the Bethlehem mothers and their refusing to be consoled in spite of their being good reason for such.
Another of those prophecies of Christ birth is found in Micah 5:2. Here Micah told exactly where Christ would be born, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
This verse begins with the word “but” and is the introduction to something new, something grand, that is about to enter human history. And surprise, surprise, the origin of this grand new work is not in one of the world’s capitals, not even in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem.
We all know about the town of Bethlehem and we are used to hearing the name of Bethlehem. This morning we sang the song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” we have heard of this town ever since we were old enough to understand the Christmas story. But 2,000 years ago, Bethlehem was not a very well known place. It was similar to being from a small town, like Vilonia, Arkansas. When you are asked where you live and you reply Vilonia, what is the next question? “Where is that?” You not only have to tell where Vilonia is located you usually have to spell it for them as well. Bethlehem was like that, it was a pretty obscure little country town, so obscure in fact that he has to tell us what Bethlehem he is talking about! He says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah,” or the Bethlehem by Jerusalem.
Micah proclaimed that the Messiah would
come from Bethlehem...but a week before Christ’s birth, Mary was still in Nazareth... 80 miles away from Bethlehem... And in a day where they walked everywhere they went, that was a long way.
But God was in control and He took care of that. Caesar Augustus order a census be taken, and this census required that Joseph be register in the city of his families roots (David’s).... Bethlehem.
So Mary and Joseph at just the right time made the four day journey to Bethlehem. As we have seen Bethlehem was to the world a small insignificant village full of blue collar workers, nothing special... But Bethlehem was significant and the thing that made it special and the reason we still sing about Bethlehem today is, that Jesus Christ was there.
Even more amazing than the prophecy of the location of the Savior birth is that his “goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” That is that this One, who was to come, is like God, He is eternal. The word “everlasting” means infinite or timeless in duration and refers to Christ eternality. The prophecy clearly predicts that the existence of Christ predates the creation of the Universe. God the Son, became God-man when he was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea (Isa. 9:6, John 1:1, 14).
Conclusion
Let’s make today’s message personal. Isa.
7:14 said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.¨ I want us to l look at a couple of truths in closing.
First and foremost, God is always faithful to His word. All of those comforting promise verses you read when you need help or have lost hope ...you can be assured that those promises made by God, will be kept.
Second, Jesus was God coming to you as a man. You could not save yourself, but God loved you enough to come to you. Jesus came to set you free from the curse of sin. The gift God gave in Jesus was a gift of hope, a gift of freedom, a gift of salvation. This gift is PERSONAL. IT IS FOR YOU! Catch that? For all people. The Hebrew word “you” in Isaiah 7:14 is plural and means all of you! Do you remember what the angel said to the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night? In announcing the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:10: “But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.¨
God loves you so much that He sent you a personal Christmas present in the form of His son. The baby Jesus grew into a man, and died upon a cross for your sins, and God raised Him from the dead. Today, if you will put your faith and trust in Him, you can receive the greatest gift ever given to anyone – eternal life.
