Jesus: The Fulfillment of Prophecy and New Covenant

We all have expectations and part of what happens is we cannot see the fulfillment of those expectations until we get a further broader scope of time and view of those expectations because sometimes we expect things to happen right now, right? But you don't always get that. But here's what happens when we finally see an expectation that is met: we create a deeper trust. Met expectations create deeper trust; they lead to increased trust. [00:03:21]

Jesus fulfilled over 900 prophecies of the Jewish Messiah. Some say 932, some say 933. We're not really sure where you draw that line, but over 900 prophecies. And I forget what the exact numbers are, but I've seen a mathematician try to say what the probability is of one person fulfilling that, and it's trillions and trillions of chances, right? More people than have ever existed. So it's not an accident. [00:06:36]

Jesus knew what he was doing. He was fully God; he was fully man, but he knew what his purpose was and what he was doing. So even he said he fulfilled prophecy. But I just want to go through some of these prophecies. I want to talk to you about what the original prophecy was and then how Jesus fulfilled it. [00:07:51]

Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of bruising the serpent's head in Genesis 3:15. God says, "And I will cause hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." That prophecy is talking about Jesus. Jesus seemingly was defeated, but he was not. He conquered death in the grave. [00:08:21]

Prophecy fulfilled. That's one of the most ancient prophecies of the coming Messiah. Did you know that? All the way back to Genesis chapter 3, just shortly after the first sin, after, you know, we screwed up, right? Humanity screwed up. God was still working his plan. And guess what? That wasn't fulfilled in Adam and Eve's lifetime, was it? No, thousands of years later, it was fulfilled through Jesus. [00:09:02]

Jesus fulfilled the role of what was prophesied. And actually, I didn't even know this until I started researching this and got invested in this. When in the book of Deuteronomy, when God is talking to Moses and when Moses is relaying information to the Jewish people, he actually prophesies about someone that we now know to be Jesus. Did you know that? [00:17:19]

Moses continued, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him." Verse 17 continues, "Then the Lord said to me, 'What the Israelites have said is right. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I commanded him.'" [00:18:05]

Jesus taught on a mountain and took the law that was given to the Jewish people and says, "But I say to you, there's something more." So the setting and the fulfillment of the law are some of the ways that we see this parallel between Jesus and Moses. Another way is we see Jesus meeting the physical needs of the people around him. [00:22:23]

Jesus is the bread of life. He's the living water. He fulfills our spiritual hunger. He is the only one that can. So we see this great parallel and how Jesus fulfilled those. Jesus didn't stop there. He healed people, right? We see that all the time in scripture. And this, he even talks about Moses when he does this in John chapter 3. [00:26:06]

Jesus goes on at the very end of his ministry after his resurrection. He tells the disciples in Matthew 20:19, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." And Moses did all of that physically for the people, but Jesus frees us from spiritual bondage and spiritual slavery and spiritual oppression. [00:29:59]

We can see all the things Jesus did are for us, right? He sets us free from bondage. He brings hope to us. He can heal. He does all of those things, right? So that should give us hope. But I can see some things here from the scripture that can apply directly to our lives today. And I want us to know that we can move from unmet expectations to just understanding. [00:31:26]

We can respond with deep-rooted faith because the God of yesterday is the God of today, and that God is the same God of tomorrow. And guess what's something you and I don't have any control of or know what's going to happen tomorrow? We don't. We don't know what's going on, but we know the one who does. [00:32:43]

We have to wait for time and vision to see what's going on. But guess what? God created time in the entire universe. So to him, he sees the whole picture. He created it all. There's no waiting. He knows, and we can trust that God, the God who knows the beginning, the end, and everything in between of our lives and the lives of everyone around us. [00:33:48]

The God who sent his son Jesus to be born as a baby, to live, to die, and to be resurrected is the same God of today. And I want to point out something to you, and maybe you've already figured this out so far. Some of you are older than me; some of you aren't. But maybe you're further along in your faith than me. [00:35:06]

Did you know that all the biblical heroes were just people like you and me? That's very humbling to me because I think growing up in Sunday school, you know, learning all those stories, we put those biblical characters on a pedestal. And in some ways, rightfully so, right? We see the scope of their life; we see what they did. [00:35:58]

When it all boils down, they were just regular men and women responding to the God of the universe. Don't forget that he can work in you and me the exact same way as he did those people because guess what? They were just people. So don't be discouraged when you read stories of these biblical triumphs. Be encouraged because they were regular people. [00:36:49]

When we feel like maybe God isn't meeting our expectations, instead of pulling away and saying, "Well, you didn't do what I thought you would do, God," dig in and cling to the promises we see in scripture. Dig in and say, "God, if you're the God of then, you're the God of now, and I trust you." [00:37:31]

We have a limited scope; we have limited time. But eventually, it will expand so we can have deep-rooted faith because we see Jesus continuing to meet expectations. Another response that we can have is that we can continue to be in constant communication with God, with Jesus, with Christ. The God of the universe wants to know how you're doing. [00:38:42]

The God of the universe wants to know how you are doing. And I know this. I know I've worked with kids for a long time, and when it comes to prayer and to talking to God, they really show us up. They really do. If you haven't been around a kid recently, they have no shame in asking for what they want, even if it is the dumbest thing in the world. [00:39:29]

Don't overcomplicate prayer, but also don't forget to listen. Give thanks, tell them how you feel, ask audaciously like children do, but then also quiet yourself and receive what he has to say. He's a good father. He has good advice. He also has discipline sometimes, and he'll be like, "You knucklehead, knock it off." [00:40:48]