The Gospel According To Isaiah

Prophecies of the OT Fulfilled in Jesus Christ of Nazareth: There have been described in the Old Testament 300 prophecies of the first coming of the Messiah and 500 of the second coming, all of then made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. George Heron, a French mathematician, calculated that the odds of one man fulfilling only 40 of those prophecies are 1 in 10 to the power of 157. That is a 1 followed by 157 zeros. Compare it to this; your odds on winning the state lottery are 14 followed by 6 zeros. Another mathematician, Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, claims the odds of being fulfilled only 60 of them by the only person who claimed to be the Son of God, and who died on a "tree" on Calvary, and who rose the 3rd day are astronomical! not just one in one trillion, but one out of ten to the 895th power. That is a one over a one followed by 895 zeros.

“THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ISAIAH" IS 9:2-7

You have heard of the four gospels, the gospel according to Matthew, The gospel according to Mark. The gospel according to Luke, The gospel according to John. Have you heard of the gospel according to Isaiah? This book was written some 750 years before Christ came into this world as a baby. You can search everywhere but you will not find predictions about anyone else who was to bring us to God. There are many religions but none of them had anything written about their leaders before they were born. All other religions were man made. Mohammad, Confucius, Buddha or any other man or being were self proclaimed by man. They have nothing written about their coming as God with man.

The elements of the gospel were foretold by Old Testament prophets. Concerning the coming of the Messiah. Concerning the establishment of His kingdom. We could call his book "The Gospel according To Isaiah." Let’s review some of the prophecies found in the book of Isaiah.

There is Good News about the man we know as Jesus. He will be born of a virgin. This was fulfilled with the birth of Jesus by Mary. He will be of the family of David. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him. There is Good News about His ministry. He will be preceded by a forerunner. He will be anointed to preach good tidings. He will bring light to those living in Galilee. He will not advertise Himself. He will suffer in our behalf.

I would like for us to look at some of the names given to him from Isaiah from 9:6. They are listed as five, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Another version lists Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Another version lists His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. Another version lists: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. One man named Ellicott lists the names as Wonderful-Counselor, God-the-Mighty-One, Father of Eternity and Prince of Peace. These are names that are given for Jesus 750 years before He enters into our world. I wonder because you hear those names why we have trouble believing Jesus is God. As one reads the Gospel accounts He fulfills all of these names. Let us look at the list according to the KJV version which his five.

A. His name will be Wonderful. It is because of all that Christ accomplished He alone is worthy of the title Wonderful. PS 119:129 “Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore does my soul keep them.” 139:1-6 “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” Jesus would be “wonderful” in his nature as God-Man. It is said that his teaching astonished those who heard it MT 7:28. Jesus was wonderful in His in his doings IS 25:1 “You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.” I read this week that of all the people that Jesus healed only seven of them sought Him out. Jesus was wonderful in the circumstances of his birth, of his death, in his resurrection, and in his ascension into heaven. Jesus was wonder in all His word, works and witness to for God. Even the religious leaders of His day remarked, “They saw the wonderful things that he did.” In Acts 2:22, “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God, by wonders.” He was wonderful in His teaching for is has exceeded the world’s greatest scholars. He is wonderful in His character for He never had to repent of sins and by His life others came to know God as their Father. He is wonderful in His life because He lived a life of purity and the only thing they could really find Him guilty of was Love in the first degree. “Wonder” would be the first response which his appearance would motivate others. Manoah asked the angel his name when he was told he would have son named Sampson. He was told the name was too wonderful for him to understand it.