May 21, 2023 | Doug Sauder
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“Then Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with Moses, and then he talked about what all the prophets had said about him.”—Luke 24:27 (ICB)
What is a prophecy? It’s something that is announced and explained before it happens. It reveals beforehand the mind, plans, and purposes of God. While some identify prophecy with fortune telling or predictions, it’s way more than that! You see, all Bible prophecy is truth that had not yet happened; truth that has been announced ahead of time.
Did you know the Bible contains 44 prophecies about the birth, life, work, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus? And of those, a great many concern His birth. Let’s check out some of them.
Now, here’s the amazing part: These prophecies begin about 8,000 years ago in the days of Adam and Eve and cover 6,000 years leading up to Jesus’ birth 2,000 years ago! Literally, from the beginning God announced the gospel!
I hope you understand the power of what we’re seeing here! All of history, every story, every moment, every commandment, and every prophecy leads to the moment when God would send His only Son in order to bring light, truth, love, and life back into our hearts.
As we approach Christmas, it’s important to remember that the Christmas story doesn’t begin in Matthew 1 when the angel appears to Mary to tell her that she would have a Son who would be the Savior. Instead, it’s actually a story that was thousands of years in the making, all because of God’s great love for us!
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.”—Luke 1:35 (NASB)
Why is it an important detail that Jesus was born of a virgin?
Here are two big reasons:
Danny Saavedra is a licensed minister who has served on staff at Calvary since 2012, managing the Calvary Devotional and digital discipleship resources. He has a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling and Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry from Liberty Theological Seminary. His wife Stephanie, son Jude, and daughter Zoe share a love of Star Wars, good food, having friends over for dinner, and studying the Word together as a family.