Someone has said
that prophecy is history written in advance. This is particularly intriguing
when it comes to the birth of Jesus. There are hundreds of prophecies that
relate to the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and return of our
Savior.
This post is longer
than I prefer, but the subject is too important to abridge. Here are four
prophetic themes that point unmistakably to Jesus’ birth.
First, God’s overall plan for a Savior. Genesis
3:15, set in the Garden of Eden, is a curse God pronounced over Satan. But in
the process He gave strong hints about the birth of Jesus. "I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The Lord speaks of two distinct lines of people – the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of
the woman. Spiritually, there are
only two kinds of people in the world. The enemies of God, whom Jesus described
in John 8:44 as “of your father the devil,” and the spiritual descendants of the
Messiah, who was born of a woman.
The prediction is
that, in conflict with the serpent, the woman’s “seed” would mortally wound the
devil – a wound to the head. But the Messiah, though grievously injured, would
recover. All of this – Christ’s virgin conception, atoning sacrifice, resurrection,
and victory over Satan, is expressed in only 16 Hebrew words, penned 1400 years before Jesus’
birth!
Second, a series of prophecies
about the lineage of the Savior. God
promised Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed
(Genesis 22:18). Though both Abraham and Sarah were elderly (and Sarah unable to conceive), a miracle child was born. ..."you shall call his name
Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his
offspring after him." Genesis 17:19
