Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Advent Words: F is for Fulfill


F is for Fulfill

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)." 
Matthew 1:22-23

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘ when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout form David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness." Jeremiah 33:14-16

Throughout the Old Testament there are more than 100 prophecies pointing to a Savior who will come and rescue God's people, who will make right what is wrong in the world, who will bring peace, justice and freedom, and who will be a king who will rule in righteousness. 
Throughout the pages of the New Testament, and especially the Gospels, we continually read words such as promised and fulfilled, pointing to how Jesus Christ is the One, the promised Messiah spoken of by the prophets. 
The above passages are just two examples of the verses of prophecy and fulfillment that weave their way throughout the pages of the Bible. At the center of both prophecy and promises fulfilled is the sense of hope. The words of the prophets promising a coming Messiah, or "Anointed One", gave the people hope to cling to in order to get through the dark times the nation of Israel faced throughout her history.  Of the specific prophecy in Jeremiah 33:14-16, Old Testament Professor, Kathryn Schifferdecker says,
"In this passage, Jeremiah speaks of the restoration not simply of daily life (as momentous as that is), but also of one of the chief signs of God's favor, the restoration of the Davidic line. A righteous Branch will sprout from the line of David. A similar image is found in Isaiah 11:1--"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." The image is one of hope and unexpected joy: new life springing up from what looks like a dead stump."
We, too, have hope. While the Israelites looked ahead drawing hope from the promises to come, we look back drawing hope from the promises fulfilled. When we face dark times of our own, we can have hope because we know that God fulfills what He promises.
We draw hope from seeing how God has fulfilled His promises.


Share your creative response to the Advent Words challenge in our private Facebook group  Join here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wordschallengegroup/

If you belong to the Everyday Journal group that I co-lead with Valerie Sjodin and Bernice Hopper, Advent Words will be our theme for December.

Share on Instagram and other social media with the hashtag #adventwords2018.


Check out my Pinterest board for this challenge and see some of the wonderful and diverse creativity of Advent Words 2018 participants.  
https://www.pinterest.com/marynbtol/advent-words-2018-challenge/












No comments:

Post a Comment