Jesus Fulfills the Prophecies of Christmas! // Rev. Dr. Ed Glover

Matthew, being a Jew, is using the Jewish Scripture, which we call the Old Testament, to prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He does this by showing how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. Of the Messiah. And his point is this. Nobody fulfills these prophecies about the Messiah unless they're the Messiah. Let me say that again. Nobody fulfills these prophecies about the Messiah unless they are the Messiah. So, throughout the gospel, Matthew shows how Jesus' birth, life, and death, and resurrection connects back to the prophecies. And what he's saying there is it verifies and validates that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. [00:02:49] (38 seconds)  #ProphecyFulfilled

So did Mary and Joseph read the prophecy in Micah and head up to Bethlehem? Or I should say, down to Bethlehem? No. No, the most powerful man in the world at that time, Caesar Augustus, ordered them to. And what we see here is that we see the sovereign God orchestrating the events all around the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill what Micah said, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. [00:10:40] (30 seconds)  #GodsSovereignPlan

Caesar Augustus is the most powerful man in the world at this time. He's overseeing Rome. He's the most powerful guy in the world at that particular time. But we know more about a baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago than we do about Caesar. Matter of fact, a global following has been named after Jesus Christ. It's called Christianity. What is the global following that's named after Caesar? Salad? I mean, think about it. Salad? Maybe pizza. We even mark our time on the calendar. Because of the birth of Jesus Christ. [00:11:14] (46 seconds)  #JesusChangedHistory

You can use the name of God in most situations and nobody's going to give you a hard time. You can say God. But the moment you name the name of Jesus, you can either unite or divide a room. Either the lid stays on the popcorn machine or it comes off. Just by that name, Jesus Christ. Why is that? It's the same reason why when people get upset and angry and mad, they don't say Muhammad. They don't say Buddha. They don't say Confucius. They say our Lord's name in vain. You know why? Because even the demons believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who he said he is. [00:12:25] (41 seconds)  #NameAboveAllNames

Again, we see the hand of God, the sovereign hand of God, orchestrating the events all around the Lord Jesus Christ's birth in order to fulfill what he told Hosea to say, that the Messiah would come out of Egypt. But I want to jump back to the very first prophecy, the virgin birth. The virgin birth is one of the essential core beliefs of the Christian faith. Let me say that again. The virgin birth is one of the essential core beliefs of the Christian faith. That's why we say this in the Apostles' Creed. [00:14:41] (32 seconds)  #VirginBirthEssential

Because this is predicting the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this birth, it's telling us that Jesus would be born of God, not man. And that's important. Because if Jesus was born in a natural way, with a biological father like all of us, he would have been born with original sin. And if he contained original sin, then he would have never been able to be the perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sin. But God bypassed the sinful nature of the human race and miraculously overshadowed Mary's womb, thank God. [00:18:02] (42 seconds)  #BornOfGod

Let me say this, though. There is no salvation just in his birth. There is no salvation because he lived a sinless life alone. We are not saved from our sin just because Jesus was born sinless. There was a price to be paid for our sin. Then someone had to die, and he's the only one who could do it. And why? It's because he was born of a virgin, born of God, not of man. He lived a sinless life, and then he went to a cross. And because he went to the cross, he could be our substitutional sacrifice for our sins. [00:19:25] (46 seconds)  #SalvationThroughSacrifice

``And when he died on that cross, he said, it's finished. And he paid in full the penalty of our sin. And while that is going on, the world, the spiritual leaders of that day, the religious leaders, the Romans themselves, and Satan and all his demonics are laughing because they believe that Jesus Christ, they got him, he's dead, and we got him in checkmate. But they had no idea that the king of kings had one more move. He was going to walk out of the grave, and when he walked out of the grave, he now has all power and all authority to forgive you of your sin, yes, but to give to you eternal life. [00:23:55] (39 seconds)  #HeIsRisen

So it wasn't enough that Jesus just went to the cross, but he had to walk out of the grave. And when he did that, he can forgive you of your sin, and he can give to you eternal life. Why? Because he was your substitute. He was our substitute. He took our place. And when he took our place, he satisfied the law. The law required what? Death. He died. Then he was raised again. And he says, anyone who believes upon me, I can forgive you and give to you eternal life. [00:25:29] (32 seconds)  #SubstitutionarySacrifice

How does that happen? By believing. By simply understanding that A, B, C. A, you're not perfect. B, Jesus died for you on the cross. C, you're willing and ready to commit your life to him. And if you're willing to do that, the greatest gift that has ever been given can be yours. You can know Jesus in a personal way. I'm not talking about religion. Religion is dead. Jesus is alive. He's in this room. He's right up close and personal with you, and he's asking you, do you want me? Because I want you. [00:26:02] (30 seconds)  #BelieveAndCommit

Jesus went to a cradle. He went to a cross. And then he's wearing a crown. When he comes again, he won't be a lamb that has been slain. But he'll come as a lion, the king of kings, to rule upon this planet. Until that day, may we be faithful. And may we remember that the heart of Christmas is him and him alone. [00:31:38] (25 seconds)  #HeartOfChristmas