…looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.
~Titus 2:13
When a storm of current events begins to blow, it is easy to lose sight of the Bible’s roadmap of the end times, as well as God’s promises to us as believers. Currently, Iran is pressing for nuclear capability, ISIS is growing in new areas, Hamas is re-arming in the Gaza Strip, Russia is quietly working to take over Ukrainian territory, Syrian civil war is spilling over into Israel at times, and Hezbollah is stocking up on chemical weapons being smuggled out of Syria. In addition, March will be a busy month on the foreign policy stage (Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress, Israeli elections, and the deadline for an Iranian nuclear framework.)
So, let’s get back to the basics of Looking for the Blessed Hope! As Jesus spent final days with His disciples, He encouraged them with these words:
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am,
there you may be also.”
~John 14:1-3
That promise stretches through the generations from the time of the disciples to believers today. Because of that, we can look beyond the disturbing events of our day to the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise to come again and usher us into the dwelling places prepared for us!
But some will ask, “How do I know that is true?” That’s a fair question, and one that deserves an answer. The truth is that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and we can trust it absolutely. There are many evidences of that, but one that is perhaps the most powerful is the fact that there are approximately 1000 prophecies in Scripture, and half of them have been fulfilled exactly as predicted. The other half are prophetic events yet to happen. Not one has proven to be false. Here are some examples of those that have already been fulfilled:
Prophecies about Jesus’s Birth:
- Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Prophecy: Micah 5:2, Fulfilled: Matthew 2:1)
- Jesus would be born of a virgin (Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14, Fulfillment: Luke 1:26-31)
- Jesus would come from the line of Abraham (Prophecy: Genesis 22:18, Fulfillment: Matthew 1:1)
Prophecies about Jesus’s Ministry:
- Jesus, the Messiah, would be declared the Son of God (Prophecy: Psalm 2:7, Fulfillment: Matthew 3:16-17)
- Jesus would speak in parables (Prophecy: Psalm 78:2-4, Fulfillment: Matthew 13:10-15)
- Jesus would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Prophecy: Psalm 110:4, Fulfillment: Hebrew 5:5-6)
Prophecies about Jesus’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection:
- Jesus would be crucified with criminals (Prophecy: Isaiah 53:12, Fulfillment: Matthew 27:38)
- Jesus would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Prophecy: Isaiah 53:9, Fulfillment: Matthew 27:57-60)
- Jesus would resurrect from the dead (Prophecy: Psalm 49:15, Fulfillment: Matthew 28:2-7)
The Bible is the only source in all of history with a 100% accuracy rate in fulfillment of prophecies. To put it into perspective, how is it possible to accurately predict when, where, and to whom a person will be born hundreds of years before it happens? How is it possible to accurately predict exactly when and how a person will die…and that they will be resurrected? In fact, the odds of accurately predicting the when, where, how, and who of only 10 events is 1 in 10 billion. Yet 500 Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled exactly!
If the Bible got the first 500 exactly right, I believe the remaining end times prophecies will be fulfilled exactly as well! Thus, if Jesus tells us He has gone to prepare a place for us and will come again to take us back to dwell with Him, we can believe Him! He will, indeed, come as He says…and that could happen at any time. So, friends, be steadfast in looking for the Blessed Hope!
Looking for the Blessed Hope 