Sermon Notes - Pointing to Jesus - Littleby Baptist Church - December 12, 2021

1.     We have spent a good part of 2021 looking at prophecy in the Book of Revelation that points to our Lord’s second coming.

2.     This morning thought we could look at some prophecy that pointed to when He came as that little child in Bethlehem.

3.     Starts all the way back at the Garden of Eden

a.      The Devil in the form of a serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit.

b.     Adam and Eve eat the fruit.

c.      God asks why, Eve states that the serpent deceived her.

d.     Genesis 3:15

                                                    i.     The serpent, Satan, will cripple mankind as it strikes its heel.

1.     Satan will attack and cause men and women to turn from God.

2.     Eve’s offspring, Jesus will have the final say.

a.      He will deliver the fatal blow and Satan will be no more.

e.      An event recorded while Adam and Eve were still in the Garden, point to Jesus and His victory.

4.     Father Abram or Abraham

a.      Genesis 12:1-3

b.     The promise, ‘all the people on earth…’ is pointing to Jesus.

c.      Galatians 3:16 – The Seed, the promise is Jesus.

d.     God has blessed everyone through the Seed of Abraham, through our Lord Jesus.

5.     A Branch of David

a.      Jeremiah 23:5-6

b.     Jeremiah is prophesying that a descendant of David will be a Righteous Branch, a Righteous king.

c.      Who will be called ‘The Lord is our Righteousness’ or Jehovah Sid-KA-Nu

d.     There is only one who fits here and that is our Jesus, the Righteous One.

e.      Jeremiah’s words pointed to Jesus.

6.     Genealogy of Jesus – Matthew 1

a.      Vs. 2 – Abraham, the verses we looked at in Genesis.

b.     Vs. 2 – God’s promises to Abraham are confirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26.

c.      Vs. 2 – And again for Jacob in Genesis 28.

d.     Vs. 3 – points to Judah.

e.      Vs. 5 – Jesse, Isaiah 11 tells us about a shoot growing from the stump of Jesse.  Jesus is the shoot that grows out of the stump and bears fruit.

f.      Vs. 6 – David, the Branch from Jeremiah 23.

g.     There are more than a few Old Testament promises that point to the genealogy of or Lord Jesus.

7.     The one who comes before – John the Baptist.

a.      Mark 1:1-4, quoting the prophesy found in Isaiah 40:3 (700 years)

b.     Matthew 11:7-10 – In Jesus’ own words John fulfilled the promise from Malachi 3:1 (500 years).

c.      John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way, the one who came before Jesus, was sent to point us to Jesus.

8.     Virgin will conceive.

a.      Isaiah 7:14

b.     Luke 1:26-33

c.      The prophecy was given to Isaiah 700 years before Gabriel appeared to Mary.

d.     A prophecy of a miracle that points to our Savior Jesus.

9.     Bethlehem.

a.      Micah 5:2

b.     Ephrathah is either an older name for Bethlehem or the name for the area surrounding Bethlehem.

d.     Matthew 2:1-6

e.      Micah prophesied that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem over 700 years before it happened.

f.      The birthplace of a great king David and to Jesus the King of kings points to the human birth of the Savior of all humankind.

g.     A ruler is coming from antiquity, a ruler who has existed from the very beginning.

h.     There is only one person that Micah could be pointing to, Jesus who as we are told in John 1:1 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ Jesus existed in the beginning.

i.       Micah’s words point to Jesus.

10.  Egypt.

a.      Hosea 11:1 (800 years)

                                                    i.     A historical reference to the Jewish people and their miraculous rescue form Egypt by God. But it also points to Jesus and is referenced in Matthew.

b.     Matthew 2:13-15, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were sent to Egypt by God and was eventually called back to Israel to fulfill a prophecy that points to Jesus.

11.  A gruesome chapter.

a.      Matthew 2:16-18, a horrible event in Bethlehem.

b.     Quoting Jeremiah 31:15 from 600 years earlier.

                                                    i.     Both a historical event about their children being carried away in exile, but also parallels the time shortly after Jesus’ birth.

c.      Matthew quoting the prophet Jeremiah, showed that these events point to Jesus.

12.  Both coming out of Egypt and the slaughter of innocents were linked to Jesus by Matthew, but they came from God. Which tells us that Hosea and Jeremiah were pointing to Jesus even if they were also tied to other events in history.  

13.  Nazareth.

a.      Matthew 2:19-23 Joseph returns to Israel and settles in Nazareth with his family.

b.     There is no direct prophecy that says that Jesus was going to be a Nazarene, but Matthew wrote that their moving their fulfilled prophesies, so there is a God inspired reason for it.

c.      Isaiah 53:3 – ‘He was despised and rejected by men.’

d.     John 1:46 – Nathanael says ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’

e.      Nathanael was only saying what people thought at that time. Nazareth was the home of the Roman garrison for the northern part of Galilee. Those that lived there were thought to be ‘compromisers’, people who willing worked with Rome.

f.      The term Nazarene was one of disdain.

g.     Even Nazareth, a place many Hebrew people despised, pointed to Jesus.

14.  Isaiah 9:6-7 (700 years)

a.      A child will be born, a son will be given.

b.     Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

c.      A reign that will NEVER end.

d.     Justice and righteousness, what is deserved is received but thankfully Grace pardons the sins of all who repent and choose to follow Jesus.

e.      All of this points to a child being born, the coming of Jesus.

15.  Zechariah’s Prophecy

a.      After John’s birth and naming, his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.

b.     Luke 1:67-79

                                                    i.     69-75 prophesy about Jesus.

                                                  ii.     Horn = strength, the Messiah will have the strength to save.

                                                iii.     Oath to Father Abraham – Through Jesus God is fulfilling His promise.

                                                iv.     76-79 prophesy about John the Baptist going before the Lord to prepare the way.

16.  There are many prophesies that point to the birth of our Savior, many that point to what He did for us on that cross, and even more that point to His second coming.

17.  All of it was done out of Love.

18.  God knew we would fall short.

19.  He knew we would need to be saved.

20.  He carefully laid out a plan and you might say, He laid clues out for us to see.

21.  Clues that pointed to Jesus and led to the event found in Luke 2:4-7.

22.  What can you do out of love to leave clues that point others to Jesus?