SERIES: Jesus: Hope Foretold
MESSAGE: A Birth Foretold
SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 7:14

MESSAGE SUMMARY
The birth of Jesus Christ provided the world with hope. That exceptional nativity would lead to His perfect life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and His eventual return to rule the world. As we begin this short series leading up to Christmas titled Hope Foretold, we first consider the prediction of His birth. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God was providing the world with three gifts: He gave us a sign, a Son, and a Savior. Let’s see why that matters.

STUDY GUIDE
Connect Group Recap: December 6, 2015
Teacher: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: A Birth Foretold
Text: Isaiah 7:14

Path

The birth of Jesus Christ provided the world with hope. That exceptional nativity would lead to His perfect life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and His eventual return to rule the world. As we begin this short series leading up to Christmas titled Jesus: Hope Foretold, we first consider the prediction of His birth. Here's the path Pastor Skip took through the text:

Points

God Gave Us a Sign
God Gave Us a Son
God Gave Us a Savior
Practice

Connect Up: Does the fact that Jesus is "God with us" help you worship God with deeper passion? What does it tell you about God that He would humble Himself to make Himself known to humanity?

Connect In: How does Jesus' incarnation—the fact that He humbly became a man—help you minister to others in the body of Christ? What does Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection tell you about Jesus' love for the church?

Connect Out: Knowing that God became man in Jesus Christ, how does this strengthen your outreach through evangelism? How would you explain to an unbeliever the two natures of Christ's person? Here's a hint: Christ is not 50 percent man and 50 percent God, but 100 percent man and 100 percent God. This can be expressed mathematically: 1x1=1.

DETAILED NOTES

  1. Introduction
    1. Jesus holds the record for the most unusual birth
      1. It provided the world with hope
      2. Because of what He would do
    2. When Jesus was born, hope came into the world
      1. He was born at just the right time spiritually (see Galatians 4:4)
        1. Rome occupied Israel and Israel longed for their Messiah
        2. People of other religions were burnt out on their religions and turned to Judaism
      2.  He was born at the right time culturally
        1. The world was unified under the Greek language
        2. Everyone spoke this language and could communicate easily
      3. He was born at the right time politically
        1. Rome had taken over the world
        2. Though oppressive, it unified the world
        3. Caesar Augustus imposed the Pax Romana
          1. Roman peace
          2. Nearly 200 years of economic and cultural growth
          3. Military stability
          4. Almost no military conflicts
        4. Road system
    3. Isaiah the prophet
      1. Quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament prophet
      2. Predicted the birth of Christ 700 years before it happened
  2. God Gave Us a Sign: "The Lord Himself will give you a sign"
    1. The Old Testament is filled with prophecies that point to something coming down the road
      1. Matthew 1:22-23 refers to Isaiah's prophecy of Jesus' birth
      2. Isaiah 7
        1. This chapter is about Isaiah the prophet visiting Ahaz, the king of Judea
        2. Ahaz was worried because three nations were bearing down on him politically and militarily
          1. Kingdom of Israel under King Pekah
          2. Kingdom of Syria
          3. Kingdom of Assyria
        3. Isaiah told the king to ask God for a sign
        4. The king said no because he was not going to test the Lord
          1. Sounds pious
          2. Translates to he was not going to trust the Lord
        5. Isaiah told him God would give him a sign anyway
          1. A virgin birth
          2. Immanuel
    2. God wanted to make sure that people knew exactly who He sent to the world
      1. By giving them signs in advance
      2. The prophet Micah predicted Jesus would be born in Bethlehem 720 years before it happened (see Micah 5:2)
      3. Hosea predicted He would arise out of Egypt (see Hosea 11:1)
    3. This is important because other religions' books lack fulfilled prophecy
  3. God Gave Us a Son: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son"
    1. The fact that a virgin conceived is miraculous in and of itself
      1. Besides Jesus, no person has ever been born without a father
      2. Human birth requires a human source
    2. This is why Joseph had a hard time
      1. He had to get a special visit from an angel (see Matthew 1:20-25)
      2. Virgin conception had never happened before and will never happen again
    3. Some creatures are conceived asexually
      1. Parthenogenesis
      2. This does not explain human virgin birth
      3. Parthenogenesis can only reproduce genetically identical species
        1. The offspring will always be genetically identical to the mother
        2. Female
        3. If Mary had conceived parthenogenetically, she would have had a daughter, not a son
    4. The first prediction of this is in Genesis 3:15
  4. God Gave Us a Savior: "and shall call His name Immanuel"
    1. Immanuel
      1. "God with us" (Matthew 1:23)
      2. A title, not a formal name
      3. Designates what His position would be
      4. Isaiah 9:6
    2. He was human because He came through the womb of Mary
    3. He is divine because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
  5. Closing
    1. If there is no virgin birth, there is no hope
      1. That would mean Jesus was born just like everyone else
      2. Then He would not be God
      3. Then His claims are lies, because He said He was God
      4. Then salvation is a hoax
    2. Jesus is the God-man
      1. As man, He is the perfect representation of us
      2. As God, He is the perfect sacrifice for us
    3. He is the virgin-born child who saved us

Figures referenced: Caesar Augustus, Larry King, Gregory Pincus

Cross references: Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7; 9:6; Hosea 11:1; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:20-25; Galatians 4:4


Topic: Prophecy

Keywords: virgin birth, virgin, Mary, Rome, Pax Romana, prophecy, sign, parthenogenesis, Immanuel, human, divine, salvation, Jesus Christ, Christmas


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