ADVENT 2015 - "PROPHECY"

For the next 19 days, I will be sharing our 2015 Advent Devotionals, written by Diana Barker.

“We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’” Acts 13:32, 33 

This Scripture passage explains how an Old Testament prophecy came true. Dictionaries define prophecy as: spoken or written communication from God; usually a prediction of a future happening. David wrote these words in Psalm 2:7 probably because he knew God would fulfill His promise of bringing the Messiah into the world through his blood-line. 

Second Samuel 7:16 states, “‘ Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” House in this verse refers to David’s earthly dynasty which lasted four more centuries. Jesus Christ, a direct descendant of David, was the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. 

In Acts 2:14 we hear, “Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say." Early churches taught that God was approachable only through angels. People could not worship God directly. Hebrews chapter one clearly reveals this is false teaching. 

 In Hebrews 1:5, 6 we are told, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father?’ Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?’ And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’” The name “Son of God” is greater than the names and titles of any angels. 

There is no authority greater than Christ because Jesus is God. Since Jesus was God’s firstborn Son, he held the place of highest privilege and responsibility according to Jewish family tradition and culture. This proved Jesus was superior to any created being. A main reason Gospel writers believed in Jesus was through the way his life fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.

Micah 5:2 says, “’But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’” Luke 2:4-7 confirms Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem as does Matthew 2:1-6. 

Another example is Isaiah 7:14. “’Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and will call Him Emmanuel.’” Matthew 1:22, 23 explains, “’all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ –which means, ‘God with us.’”

Luke 1:26-37 reveals how the angel Gabriel, sent by God to Mary, promises her a son to be named Jesus. “’He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’”