Prophecy Fulfilled!

In my previous blog post, I asked the question, what is the purpose of prophecy?

Prophecy tells of the character, love, and plans of God, but also of the future. God, who sees the end from the beginning, is able to tell the future (GE 3:15) and has the power to make it come to pass (John 3:16).

I didn't think about this until after I had written that post, but as I write this one, Christmas looms near. The Christmas story in Matthew and Luke chapters 1 and 2 is a story of prophecies fulfilled.

Abraham so deeply trusted in the Lord that he was willing to obey the command to kill his own son. He knew beyond doubt that the Lord could resurrect him.

The Maji came from far away, following prophecies, to worship Jesus, knowing that he had come even though nobody of importance in Israel knew.

Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, knew Jesus as the son of David, promise of Abraham, Savior, and his own nephew. Imagine the joy in his heart as he sang!

The Lord had promised to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. One day, the time came! He went into the temple courts, held Jesus in his arms, and praised God. Anna the prophetess joined in at that very moment. I would love to have heard her sermon!

I pray that you share my joy over the trustworthiness of the Living God; it is beyond my ability to convey.

What, then, is the purpose of prophecy?

To turn the hearts of men to the Living God.

He leaves us no excuse.

What is the Purpose of Prophecy?

Prophecy is an interesting subject. There are the occasional predictions of the end of the world or Jesus' Second Coming. There is the Left Behind series of books and movies. There are prophecy teachers who talk about signs of the end times and make fascinating predictions, many of which don't come true. Some of you may be familiar with those who call themselves prophets. Often they will lay hands on people and prophesy good things and blessings into their lives. What's the truth in all this?

Basically, prophecy is foretelling or forthtelling; telling the future or telling a message from God. But why?

Actually, I want you to answer that question. It's very important.

Reasons for Our Hope

I believe that in this current generation, that is not educated in the word of God, it is critically important that Christians know the Bible and be able to share what they believe. I've already shared my personal testimony and the Apostles' Creed, particularly the modern musical renditions of Rich Mullins and Third Day. In order to keep this brief, I won't repeat the lyrics to the song. The following are Bible verses that support the statements in the song/creed; I pray you find them helpful. These are important because they prophesy the work Jesus did many hundreds of years before it happened. Only God knows the future. Genesis 1:1 and 3:15 Psalm 22 [a medically accurate description of crucifixion] Psalm 98 Isaiah 7:14 and 9:1-7 These were written Jesus saved us from our sins. John 1:1-4 and 3:1-21 Acts 2 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Phillipians 2:6-11 Colossians 1:15-23 and 2:9,10 Ephesians 1:22,23 2:15 3:11,12 4:7-10 5:27 Hebrews 1:1-3 2 Peter 1:16-21 Please read the following verses from the King James version (the word 'quick/quicken' is from this translation) John 5:21 and 6:63 Acts 10:42 Romans 4:17 and 8:11 2 Timothy 4:1