"Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant
mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...." 1 Peter 1:3
1. He would be born of a virgin:
“...the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son...." (Isaiah 7:14)
Fulfilled!
"Now
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city
of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man whose name was
Joseph. ... [T]he angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus... and of His kingdom there will
be no end.'
"Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can
this be, since I 'do not know a man?'
"And the angel answered and said to her,
'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be
born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:26-35)
2. He would be born in
Bethlehem:
"But you,
Bethlehem
Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me
the One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah
5:2)
Fulfilled! "Joseph
also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea,
to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with
Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.... And she brought forth her firstborn
Son..."
(Luke
2:4-7)
3. His death would redeem us from sin
and judgment: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities... and the Lord has
laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His
mouth...." (Isaiah 53:5-7)
Fulfilled!
"For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His
steps:
'Who committed no sin...
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He
suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who
judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body
on the tree..." (1 Peter 2:20-25)
4. He was rejected by those He came to
save: He is despised and rejected by men.... and we did not esteem Him." (Isaiah 53:3).
Fulfilled! "That
was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the
world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and
the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His
own did not receive Him. (John 1:9)
5. Identified with
our sins, Jesus was separated from our Holy
God: "My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1).
Fulfilled! "And about
the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?'" (Matthew 27:46)
6. He would
face mockery from ruling authorities:
"All those who see Me
ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
'He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
let Him deliver Him...” (Psalm 22:7-8).
Fulfilled! "...the chief priests also, mocking
with the scribes and elders,
said, 'He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the
King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him....’” (Matthew
27:41-43)
7. Nails would pierce his hands and feet:
"They pierced My hands and My
feet." (Psalm 22:16)
Fulfilled!
When the resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples, he said,
"Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Behold My hands and My feet.... Handle Me and see, for
a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.'"
(Luke 24:38-39)
"[Eight days later, Jesus appeared
to all the disciples] He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger
here, and look at My hands... Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'
And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'
Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have
believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.” (John 20:25, 27-29
8. They "cast lots" for his clothes:
"They divide My
garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." (Psalm 22:18)
Fulfilled! "And when they
crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots
for them to determine what every man should take." Mark
9. God's
decree and promise after the fall:
(speaking to the
serpent) "And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis
3:14)
Fulfilled!
"And you He made alive, who were dead
in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we
all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath....
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of
His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.... For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not
of works, lest anyone should boast... (Ephesians 2:1-9)
Proof of the resurrection
"Very
early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to
the tomb.... And they said among themselves, 'Who will roll
away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?' 'But when
they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for
it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man
clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they
were alarmed. But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You
seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen!
He is not here." (Mark 16:2-6)
"After that, He
appeared in another form to two of them as they
walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to
the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He
appeared to the eleven...." (Mark 16:12-14)
It's not surprising that many doubt or deny His resurrection. On that glorious
event rests the ultimate victory of the gospel! Through the cross, Jesus
redeemed us (bore the legal punishment for our sin and freed us from
the judgment of the law). Having cleansed us from our sin, He could -- by His resurrection -- raise "us up together" with
Himself, so that we could share in His heavenly victory even as we serve Him here on
earth." (Ephesians 2:1-10)?
1. The massive stone
had been rolled away!
This is no small miracle. Weighing over a ton, it could hardly be moved
without a lever. Meanwhile, the tomb was both sealed and guarded by a team
of Roman soldiers who would face torture and death if they fell asleep or
failed to carry out their mission. These guard would eventually be bribed to
spread false explanations.
"Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great
earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white
as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like
dead men." (Matthew
28:1-4)
"...some of the guard came into the city and reported to the
chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had
assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a
large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, 'Tell them, ‘His
disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’
And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him
and make you secure.' So they took the money and did as they
were instructed...." (Matthew
28:11-15)
2. The tomb was empty
-- except for the burial wrappings:
If the disciples stole the body, why they bother
to uncover it before hiding it. No, the tomb was empty because Jesus had, indeed, risen!
3.
More than 500 witnesses could confirm His post-resurrection appearances:
As the apostle Paul wrote:
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He
was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After
that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of
whom remain until now..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
6. The disciples and others who followed Christ would
face
persecution and death for proclaiming the resurrection:
Before the crucifixion, the disciples were too frightened to
even defend their Lord. Their fear didn't diminish after the crucifixion.
But after the resurrection, everything changed!
His faithful disciples
boldly proclaimed the gospel, the resurrection and the
victorious name of Jesus in spite of the threats against them. They
faced imprisonment, torture, stoning and death. What changed them?
Only an absolute certainty that Jesus, their Lord and King had
indeed risen!
"...just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life." (Romans 6:4)
Only One
Way
Jesus is
the Way - the only way - to life with God today and forever. Yet,
millions of seekers are choosing spiritual paths that lead to bondage,
disillusionment and despair. Most seek blindly, for they can neither read nor
follow God's signposts. They don't see the chasm that separates His Way
from all other ways; nor will they seek help from the only One who can bridge
that gap.
Our
sovereign Lord wrote the blueprint for life, salvation and
victory! His Word will stand no matter how many people reject
it. They make it abundantly
clear that there are no alternative pathways -- no other trails
up the mountain -- that can bring us near to God and open the
Door into His wonderful eternal Kingdom. Only Jesus Christ, our
Lord, can show us the Way:
"I
am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will
go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come
except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that
they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
(John 10:9-10)
'I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" (John
14:6)
If you are truly part of His family,
then you know the peace and hope we have in Christ. And nothing is
more reassuring than promises such as this:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Yet in all these things we
are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)
If you seek to know our God and be
part of His family, please see
this page: What it means to be a Christian
The following testimonies
illustrate how God changes lives and provides all the wisdom and
strength we need to joyfully serve Him. We hope they will encourage
you:
Guilty as Charged
| Living in God's forgiveness
| My
Shepherd
|