Emmanuel, God With Us:
The Promise of God With Us
- Josh McDowell:
“The authors of the book Science Speaks ran calculations to analyze the probability of a single person being able to fulfill all Old Testament Messianic prophecy. By analyzing just eight prophecies, they found that the chance of any man fulfilling all eight is 1 in 10 to the 17th power.”
Why Do We Need Jesus Our Savior?
Genesis 3.1-24
- Adam and Eve Sin Against God
“Protevangelium”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Abraham
Romans 4.3
The Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
- Further, in Genesis, we see a picture of Jesus in the life of Abraham, as he is tested by God to offer his son to God, we see God’s plan foretold:
Genesis 22
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”
And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.
Romans 4.17
Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
- In the book of Exodus we see many pictures of Jesus the Messiah:
- The Voice in the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-6; Jesus says “I am” @ John 8.48-59)
- The Passover Lamb of God (Exodus 12:1-28; John the Baptist about Jesus John 1.29)
- The Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13:3-10; John 6.35 Jesus says “I am the bread of life.)
- The Rock/Pillar of Cloud and Fire leading them (Exodus 13:21-22; John 8.12)
- The Red Sea Crossing (Exodus 14; Jesus our deliverer 1 Cor. 10.1-13)
- The Manna from Heaven (Exodus 16; John 6.28-51)
- The Source of Living Water (Exodus 17:1-7; John 4; John 7.37-39)
Leviticus 17.11
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
Deuteronomy 18
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.
- (See also: John 3.16-21)
- Throughout the legacies of all the kings of Israel and then Israel and Judah, we will see kings who obey God, then fail, then return to God… and some who are just villains.
- We see our need for a ruler who will rule with the heart of God.
- The second King of Israel, called a ‘man after God’s own heart’
(1 Samuel 13.14 and Acts 13.22) named David is placed as king andbecause of David’s heart toward God, the Lord says that the Messiah will come from the family line of David.
Isaiah 11
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.
4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.
…
10 In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time
to bring back the remnant of his people—
those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt;
in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam;
in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
12 He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel.
He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 53
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Psalm 22 - Jesus’ words on the cross were revealed to David more than 1000 years
1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
- Could Jesus just put himself in the right place and the right time to look like he was fulfilling prophecy?
John 5
37 The Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,
38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
Galatians 4
4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
Acts 2.22
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.
23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.
24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
25 King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
26 No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
28 You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.
30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.
31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.
34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
35 until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
