The One Foretold

God is there and He has not been silent.  Since very near the beginning of time, God has been telling mankind that He will send us a deliverer.  What pray tell do we need deliverance from?  God made that clear in His first pronouncement of the Promised One.  In Genesis 3:15 God cursed the serpent Satan had inhabited and said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  Obviously this one foretold to us would bring an end to Satan's dominion even though He would suffer in the process.

You see, Satan was the chief angel.  Charged with guarding the very throne of God.  But this wasn't enough for Him.  He wanted to BE God.  So he rebelled, and in his rebellion was cast out of heaven and down to earth.  Here he met Adam and Eve, the first two people created by God, and he persuaded them.  When presented with the choice of obeying God or rebelling against God and going their own way, they chose to walk down the same path that Satan trod and rebel against the God who made them.  All of us, their descendents, have inherited that same rebelliousness.  We are all bound from birth, by our very nature, to follow in Satan's footsteps.  Footsteps that lead inescapably to the same spot God created as a place of punishment for him, the eternal lake of fire.

We cannot escape our fate because we cannot undo our nature.  Even if God limited what He considered perfect obedience to only ten commandments we'd still prove ourselves incapable of following them.  It's not that God's standard is too high, it's that we don't want to follow it no matter what it is.  Rebelliousness is at the core of our hearts.  And so we need a savior.  We need somebody with the power to break Satan's hold on us.  We need somebody to save us from ourselves and our fate.  God has foretold the coming of the one who would save His people from their sin.  And He has made sure that we would recognize Him when He came.  The following are but a few of the prophecies of this Savior, descriptions of the One Foretold.

Place of Birth: "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Micah 5:2

How He would save us: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. " Isaiah 53:4-6

What He will do and say: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn." Isaiah 61:1-2

He would be a descendent of Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:3

...of Abraham's son Isaac:  "But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named."  Genesis 21:12

...of Isaac's son Jacob: "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed."  Genesis 28:14

...of Jacob's son Judah: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."  Genesis 49:10

...of Judah's descendent King David: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."  Isaiah 9:6-7

A messenger will come before Him:  "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts." Malachi 3:1

He will be born of a virgin:  "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  Isaiah 7:14

He would live in Egypt:  "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."  Hosea 11:1

He would live in Galilee:  "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined."  Isaiah 9:1-2

He would come into Jerusalem on a donkey:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."  Zechariah 9:9

He would be rejected by the Jewish leadership:  "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."  Psalms 118:22

These are but a few of the prophecies pointing out who He'd be and what He'd do.  

He is the One Foretold.