FBC Worship Service December 2, 2001

Date: December 2, 2001 Series: Advent Speaker: Steve Hixon	Supplemental Material The Man from Heaven Insight Paper

The Man from Heaven
Prophecies of the Messiah

	Dial-Up	Broadband
Listen to Steve's message (40 min)
Listen to entire service (83 min)
Message with PowerPoint slides

"And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven." (1Cor. 15:49)

Jewish believers around the time of the birth of Jesus were characterized by their careful attention to the Old Testament Scriptures. In the first two chapters of the gospel of Luke we see four people who had been patiently waiting and fervently praying for God’s Messiah to show up: Mary, Zechariah, Simeon and Anna. Their songs and statements reveal an intimate a familiarity with prophecy.

“He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives, and in the very house of David his servant, just as he promised long ago through the preaching of his holy prophets...” (Luke 1:69-70)

The apostles throughout the New Testament appealed to two areas of Christ’s life to establish His Messiahship. One was the resurrection and the other fulfilled messianic prophecy. The Old testament, written over a 1500 year period contains over 300 references to the coming Messiah. All of these were fulfilled in Jesus…

“But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing...” (Acts 3:18)

Jesus himself made numerous statements that He was aware that His actions and word were fulfilling centuries-old prophecies:

“Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.” (Luke 24:27)

advent is a Christian celebration stretching over the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, the birth of Jesus. People often use an advent wreath composed of four or five candles which are lit to symbolize each Sunday, with the fifth candle being lit on Christmas eve or Christmas day itself. Families can use this time to prepare themselves spiritually by reading Scripture and focusing their thoughts on the coming to earth of God’s Messiah.