It's amazing the things you uncover when you dig into Scripture....
Last night, my wife and I were doing a bible study with an online ministry that we enjoy. I have to give it to these pastors who have such a powerful gift...And that gift is presenting the gospel so clearly that you just cannot deny God...
And I'm not saying that the gospel is some secret club that only theologians can understand, far from it. But sometimes God's ministers can present things that just click. Let me explain...
So the lesson started out with the question of...Who was Jesus Christ of Nazareth?
A pretty big question for those of us that follow Him, but also for the world as a whole.
There are more books written about that question than anyone can possibly count but the following question / argument is what set the bible study off...
Christ is either:
- Lord
- Lunatic
- Liar
And going through the bible, I'm sure anyone that is professing the religion of Christ would agree....He is Lord!
How can we be so sure?
Prophecy!
The minister presented about 40 prophecies in the old testament that were directly fulfilled by Christ. And there's so many more, but he just wanted the students to get a picture of the 'big ones'...
His birthplace was prophesied in Micah 5:2 and fulfilled in Matthew 2:1. What tribe he would be from was spoken about in Genesis 49:10 and we see it mentioned directly in Hebrews 7:14. The time of His ministry would begin as mentioned in Daniel 9:25 and fulfilled to the date in Mark 1:14-15.
And that's just scratching the surface....
How he would be killed is shown to us in Zechariah 12:10 and fulfilled in John 19:18. And that He would not have a single broken bone as seen in Exodus 12:46 (passover lamb) and fulfilled in John 19:36.
But without these next prophecies, our religion is vain (Paul said it too!!)
His resurrection is seen way back in Psalms 16:10 and came to life in Acts 2:30-31. More specifically that He would raise on the 3rd day spoken of in Hosea 6:2 and fulfilled in Mark 8:31.
And again, these are just a fragment of the hundreds of Messianic prophecies found (and fulfilled) in the bible by.....Jesus Christ.
This was how the study ended, with a quote that I want you to really take some time with...
This....
So much this.
I think sometimes I need to remind myself where I came from....Secular. I hated religion. I thought it was all a scam. Utter nonsense made for one reason only, to control mankind....
But then evidence started piling up. Prophecies in the books of the bible and history lined up perfectly. And by His grace, this wrench is being transformed into His image. By His grace alone!
Sometimes, when the evidence is in front of you, and there is no other explanation....The mystery of God is revealed...