The Messiah Foretold

.... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

(John 1:1 - eternity)

.... These are the opening remarks from the Gospel of John, as he began to explain who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and He is One with the heavenly Father. He has been with the Father throughout eternity, from long before He was born in Bethlehem. As foretold through the prophet Micah:

.... "But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, 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."

(Micah 5:2 - 704 B.C.)

.... Jesus spoke of His own, eternal existence through another prophet, in foretelling that He would be sent into the world:

.... "Come near to Me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit have sent Me."

(Isaiah 48:16 - 712 B.C.)

.... Throughout the centuries and in many different ways, God foretold the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, whom He would one day send among us. He spoke to us through His servants the prophets, giving further details over time. He foretold these circumstances in such detail that more than eighty prophecies were fulfilled by His birth alone.
.

.... The prophets foretold the details of Jesus’ life, the teachings He would bring, and the miracles that would one day occur through Him – but they also did much more than this. They accurately portrayed His motivation and perspective; His attitudes, moods and character, even to the deepest thoughts of His heart in His most profound times of silence. By the time Jesus was born and the time for His ministry had come, thousands of points of prophecy awaited their fulfillment in Him.

.
.... At last the time drew near, and the days of the Christ were at hand. To prepare the way before Him, God sent the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, who would actually introduce the people to Jesus.

.
.... In those days, John came into the wilderness of Judea, baptizing, and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He spoke to the people of righteousness, sin and judgment, in relation to the Christ who was about to come. He turned them from disobedience to the Wisdom of the Just, to prepare their hearts and make them ready to receive the Lord:

.... "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

(Isaiah 40:3 - 712 B.C.)

This blog reads from top to bottom. To continue, please proceed to the article below.