PROPHECY & FULFILLMENT - Day 6 - March 1, 2016

Day 6 - Isaiah 53:1,3 & John 1:10-11 -, March 1, 2016

THE PROPHECY:

“Who has believed (trusted in, relied upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed? He was despised and rejected and forsaken by man, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised , and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.” Isaiah 53:1,3

THE FULFILLMENT:

“He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him]. He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own - His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.” John 1:10-11

I wonder if when those words were given to Isaiah if he shook his head wondering how could the people possible reject the One who came to save them? Does this question cross your mind as well? For all that Jesus did and suffered on our behalf so that we could be cleansed from sin and restored to rightness with the Father, how can people still today reject Him? We know that Jesus is not a figment of our imagination. He is written of in history books. His can be found in the writings of Josephus a Jewish historian who was born shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection and lived to about 100 A.D. He had to have heard of first hand accounts from those who walked with Jesus. Just think about it, today you will hear people talking about the exploits of Julius Caesar, of his life and even his death. In 7th grade many, many years ago I took Latin and had to memorize the speech given by Marc Anthony in “Julius Caesar”. I can still remember much of it today, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do live after them, the good is oft interred with their bones. …” The point being here is that there is no doubt in peoples mind that Caesar existed. I wonder how many would be surprised to hear that he was born 100 years B.efore C.hrist! Those of great minds will share the philosophy of Socrates and Plato never once doubting that they existed and that the words passed down through the centuries are true and yet these men were born over 400 years before Christ! Doesn’t this just boggle the mind? Why do people take the word of those things written hundreds of years before Christ to be true and then reject the very words that were prophesied eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus and then fulfilled by His life. Prophesy - fulfillment, yet Jesus is still reject today. How this must grieve the Father.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised about this. God’s Word says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-28: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God is stronger than men. For we see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty’ that no flesh should glory in His presence.” So why do many choose to reject our Lord Jesus Christ, because of pride and deception, wanting to think more highly of themselves and not submit to the fact that they need a Savior or because they have been deceived to think that Jesus is not the only Begotten Son of God. In any case, it grieves the Father for He would that all men would be saved and that is where we come in. We, too, must not think more highly of ourselves then we ought just because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and now walk in the grace of God. Each day we need Jesus as our Savior and need His redemptive blood to cleanse us from our sins for each day we sin in some way, some way we walk short of the glory of God. Like Jesus our hearts should cry out for the lost, desiring that they would turn from their sinful ways and receive Him, the greatest gift God ever gave, Jesus Christ. As we reach out to others we, too, face the possibility of rejection. Many have already tasted this from their family and friends, but it should not stop us from sharing the Good News as led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Like our precious Savior, we are to take up our cross daily and bear the burdens of others, interceding on their behalf, following in our Lord's footsteps. Amen! To God be the glory!