22 Dec It’s All About Jesus Sermon Notes
- Jesus = Joshua (God is salvation)
- Christ = anointed Messiah
- 2000 yrs ago, mom, dad, brothers, 30 years, 3 yrs ministry, simple resume
- Largest longest lasting most global movement in world history
- Calendar BC/AD, Christmas (birth) & Easter (resurrection Sunday)
- (Religion) holy place as headquarters vs (Relationship) Holy Person Head
New Millenium Newsweek cover story “By any secular standard, Jesus is also the dominant figure of Western culture. Like the millennium itself, much of what we now think of as Western ideas, inventions and values finds its source or inspiration in the religion that worships God in his name. Art and science, the self and society, politics and economics, marriage and the family, right and wrong, body and soul—all have been touched and often radically transformed by the Christian influence.”
When a big product or person is coming a marketing plan prepares the way
- Roughly 25% Bible prophetic when written
#1. 4000 B.C. Jesus’ would conquer sin and death
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [Jesus] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- No mention of an earthly father, unlike the rest of Genesis genealogies
- Humanity is the problem, not the solution
#2. 1400 B.C. Jesus’ family line would come from Abraham
Genesis 12:3 “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you [Abraham].”
Genesis 17:19 God said, “…your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him…
#3. 700 B.C. Jesus’ mother would be a virgin
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
- = God with us
#4. 700 B.C. Jesus’ birth would be in Bethlehem
Micah 5:2 “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 [eternity].”
#5. 400 B.C. Jesus’ would enter the Temple before 70 A.D.
Malachi 3:1 “…the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
- The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. so this has to be a past event
#6. 500 B.C. Jesus’ would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver
Zechariah 11:12–13 …they paid me 30 pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.
- The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. so this has to be a past event
#7. 700 B.C. Jesus’ would be crucified, buried, and resurrect
Isaiah 52:13-14, 53:5-11 “my servant…shall be high and lifted up…he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…he was cut off out of the land of the living…And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth…he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days…Out of the anguish of his soul…the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous…
#8. 1000 B.C. Jesus would return to Heaven & rule over all
Psalm 68:18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train.
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
Summary
- Bible has at least 61 prophecies about Jesus that came true
- No other religion has anything like biblical prophecy
- Despite technological advancements, we’ve made no progress in predicting future
- Burden of proof?
What are the odds of 8 prophecies being fulfilled?
Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollarand say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.
Professor of Science at Westmont College Peter Stoner in his book “Science”
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- The Bible is true & it’s all about Jesus!
- My testimony
- God’s Christmas gift to you is Jesus Christ!
