GOD'S PLAN
The Life of Christ
400 Years of Silence
God came to our world and humbled Himself as a man to 1) be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and 2) show us how we should live our lives. Before that, for the 400 years prior to Christ’s first coming, God had not spoken to the people through prophets. The last prophet of the Old Testament period was Malachi, who prophesied just before 400 BC.
Why is this important? The answer to that is that God always works in patterns and will tell what He is going to do before He does it. In fact, if we had the exact date of the last prophetic statement from Malachi, it would probably be EXACTLY 400 years to the day before Jesus was born. However, we don’t know the date of Malachi’s last prophecy, so let us assume it was about 400 years.
Now recall the period the Israelites spent in bondage in Egypt prior to Moses freeing the people in the Exodus. That too was 400 years. Refer to the lesson on The Law and see how Moses was a type of Christ. The Exodus parallels what Jesus did in freeing us from sin. Jesus’ actions are always greater than the prophetic examples shown throughout the Old Testament.
The 400 years of silence represent the people being in bondage, as subjects to worldly nations and not under God’s instruction. Jesus came to free the people not only from worldly bondage to other nations, but from sin itself.
To be technically correct, these 400 years weren’t exactly silent. If you read the Book of Daniel, there are a number of prophecies that detail exactly what will happen over those 400 plus years, starting with the fall of the Babylonian empire that was in power when Daniel wrote his book. Many scholars postdate Daniel to a much later time because of the extreme accuracy with which the prophecies are written. However, our Lord Jesus Christ referred to the “prophet Daniel” when referencing one of his prophecies. If Jesus trusts that Daniel was indeed a prophet, then we can all rest assured he was a prophet.
Fulfillment of 1st Coming Prophecies
God says what He means and means what He says. When God makes a prophecy, it will come true, if it has not already. Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies regarding the first coming of God incarnate. He fulfilled everyone of them exactly as prophesied. There are a number of books that go into great detail on all of these and how they were fulfilled. The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy is highly recommended for more information on this.
God had been working for about 4000 years to prepare the people for His arrival. He told them many times what to expect and even when to expect it. For a very interesting sidetrack, take a look at the book by Sir Robert Anderson called “The Coming Prince” (public domain document). In it, he explains exactly how the prophecy from Daniel chapter 9 lays out the exact day Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, announcing the Himself as the Messiah.
The Virgin Birth
In Isaiah 7:14 (KJV), it reads, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Then in Matthew 1:18 (KJV), the prophecy is fulfilled, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”
Why did Jesus need to be born of a virgin? It clearly says in Isaiah 7:14 “as a sign”, for one thing. There is more to it than that. Jesus was also prophesied to be from the House of David, as it says in Jeremiah 23:5 (KJV), “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” This raises an issue if you study the lineage of David closely. To see where the issue arises we need to look to Jeremiah 22:24-30. Here we see the story where God cuts off the bloodline of King Jeconiah (also called Coniah, or Jehoiachin), with Jeconiah being in the royal line of David, as described in Matthew chapter 1! On the surface, it seems God has put Himself in a real pickle. However, if you read carefully, you will see that the line reflected in Matthew 1 is that of the legal father of Jesus, but not the biological father of Jesus, Joseph, son of Jesse.
Now read Luke 3:23-38 and you will find the lineage of Jesus starting from Adam and ending with MARY, the biological mother of Jesus and descendant of David. Luke takes a left turn after David and traces the line of Jesus through David’s son Nathan, not Solomon, as Matthew had done. Solomon’s line produces Joseph and Nathan’s line produced Mary. Joseph was the legal father of Jesus and Mary was the biological father of Jesus. Jesus was born of the house of David and had the legal right to claim so without being born of the line of Jeconiah, the one with the blood curse. God knew this would happen before the universe existed and told us beforehand.
Jesus Lived a Sinless Life
Jesus is the only person who ever lived and did not commit a sin. It is interesting that at His trial before the crucifixion, Pontius Pilate said He was innocent and washed his hands of Jesus’ blood (Matthew chapter 27). Pilate could find no wrong in Him.
God makes it clear from the very beginning that payment for sin is death. In Genesis 3:3 (KJV) it says, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” To keep living, you must sacrifice that which is INNOCENT by shedding its blood. Throughout the Old Testament, this was done with the sacrifice of animals without blemish (Leviticus chapter 4). The “blemish” here represents sin. If an animal had a mark on its coat, it was not worthy to be the sacrifice. Any person who has a sin, is also not worthy to be the sacrifice. God was telling us the only way to be with God is to be without sin or by accepting the sacrifice of the sinless savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus was indeed God incarnate, and some claim that give Him the ability to be perfect that we do not have. We can tell from the scripture that Jesus was subject to temptation just as we are (Matthew 4:1-11). He had a normal human body like we do. He had to eat and sleep and have time to Himself to pray and think. He had to grow up as a little boy into a grown man. He went through what we do, but He was and is God in the physical form. It is safe to assume that He did have that advantage, but that does not take away from what He did. It makes it perfect. God humbled Himself to become like us to be our one and only sacrifice. No one else could do it. God did what only God could do.
Jesus Showed Us the Way
Jesus’ ministry was the example we should live by. Not only was He sinless, He was a humble servant, focused on the love of God and the love of others and not Himself. We are talking about the creator of the universe, and He never once laid claim to anything in the world outside of the souls of His followers. That is what He wanted. He washed the feet of his disciples (John 13:5-17), He healed the sick (John 4:46), He raised the dead (John 11:38-44) and preached salvation to the gentiles (John 4:7-29) and he drove out demons (Mark 5:1-20).
The ministry we are to have was taught by Jesus in Luke 9:1-2 (KJV), “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” This is exactly what Jesus did in His ministry while here on earth.
In John 14:6 (KJV), Jesus shows us the way, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Jesus Was Example of How to Love
Jesus was the perfect example of love. There is no greater act of love than to lay down your life for someone else. John 15:13 (KJV) says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Our Creator, our King, our Lord gave up His perfect life so that we may live. In doing so, He also became our Savior.
Image what our world would be like if we all loved each other like Jesus loves us. Image that world without death. That is Heaven and is waiting for you, if you choose God and accept Jesus.
Jesus Was Our Sacrificial Lamb
In Philippians 2:8 (KJV), we see, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” The only begotten Son of God substituted Himself for all humanity to save them from the righteous judgment of a holy Creator.
Jesus found Himself “in fashion as a man,” which therefore made it possible for Him to humble Himself and to become obedient to the death that had been ordained for Him prior to the very foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20).
Perhaps it is too much to suggest that Jesus “woke up” when He “found” Himself in Mary’s womb, but it is certain that He “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:52) as He grew in “stature.” Basically, because He “became” human, He experienced the normal increase in awareness and experience that all of us do.
The difference was, obviously, that He “humbled” Himself, even though He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Christ’s sinless behavior could have easily “exalted” Him as His wisdom and miracles became known throughout Israel. Indeed, many tried to make Him king.
Isaiah prophetically records the mindset of the Lord many years before He actually entered Jerusalem: “I set my face like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7). Later, Jesus told His disciples, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:50).
Finally, the obedience of our Lord Jesus, understood fully and deeply at Gethsemane, was fully accomplished, “even the death of the cross.” May our hearts never forget or tire of these great truths.
