Anticipation

The prophets of the Old Testament anticipated a day when Messiah would come. They often wrote about it in verses like these:

Isa 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Isa 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

The prophets knew Messiah would come, and they longed for the day. In fact one man, 2,000 years ago, was promised that he would not die until he saw the Messiah with his own eyes, and he did! The great story of hope for the world is that God's love has been poured out in the form of a baby. God himself took on human flesh to provide salvation for us. Jesus, that baby, is the Messiah of the world.

There are so many voices in the world saying, "this is the way, follow us." And in the midst of it all Jesus himself said,

Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Joh 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

I am so grateful that God sought me out, and freely gave me life through his son, Jesus. It's by faith in him alone that we find salvation and eternal life. There is no better gift for this time of the year than to receive the salvation God has provided by faith in Jesus as savior.

The prophets looked forward to that day. I am so blessed to be able to celebrate the day when their prophesies came true.