CHRISTMAS: God's Rescue Plan Realisedনমুনা
Are you ready to be amazed? Listen to this:
As the Old Testament prophet Daniel was praying one day, the angel Gabriel visited him and told him that the time between the issuing of the Persian decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and the coming of the Messiah, would be 483 years.
It is probable that the decree referred to by Daniel was that of Artaxerxes in 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-6) as that’s the one that specifically speaks about rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. If this is so, then this predicts that the Messiah (the “Anointed One”) will come as ruler in 38 AD.
However, the passage goes on to say that he won’t so much come as ruler at that time, but that he will be ‘put to death’ (Daniel 9:26) at that time i.e. in 38 AD.
By any stretch of the imagination, this is an extraordinarily accurate prophecy of Jesus’ death.
So, God has carefully laid his plans… to come for you.
Prayer
Dear Father,
Your love for me and for all your creation is relentless and wonderful.
All I can do in response, is to bend my knee, and to thank you with all my heart.
Scripture
About this Plan
The false gods invented by humankind to give definition to a god they knew must exist, were, unsurprisingly, very much like humankind. They had to be cajoled and bribed by acts of devotion to take notice of us. But the one true God has taken the initiative and seeks us out––to rescue us back to himself. And that is the Christmas story.
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