Christians often refer to the season before Christmas as Advent, a waiting season in which we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ. 

But while we wait 365 days with the knowledge that Christmas is coming, humanity waited much longer hanging on to only a promise. During the time between God’s promise to Adam and Eve and the birth of Jesus Christ, thousands of years passed while humanity anticipated a Messiah. 

If you are in a period of waiting for news or for hope, you may relate to the feelings of desperation that God’s people experienced. But in Isaiah 55:11, God tells us, 

“It is the same with my word. 
    I send it out, and it always produces fruit. 
It will accomplish all I want it to, 
    and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” 

From the very moment Adam and Eve sinned, God made a way for a redemption, a plan in which he would dwell with us again as a child, live and heal among us, and redeem the whole of creation in a painful death. 

So even in the waiting, we remember the prophecy, promise, and Christmas fulfillment of a God who is faithful to bring about every word he speaks. 

 

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The Messiah Promised 

 

Genesis 3:15 

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, 
    and between your offspring and her offspring. 
He will strike your head, 
    and you will strike his heel.” 

Genesis 49:10 

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.” 

2 Samuel 7:12-13 

“For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever.” 

Micah 5:2* 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. 

*Study Note: Life Application Study Bible: note for Micah 5:2 

Jerusalem’s leaders were obsessed with wealth and position, but Micah prophesied that mighty Jerusalem, with all its wealth and power, would be besieged and destroyed. Its king could not save it. In contrast, Bethlehem, a tiny town that was politically insignificant, would be the birthplace of the only king who could save his people. This deliverer, the Messiah, would be born as a baby in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7) but would eventually reign as the eternal king (Revelation 19-22). 

Isaiah 7:14 

“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” 

Isaiah 9:1-2 

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 

Isaiah 9:6-7 

For a child is born to us, 
a son is given to us. 
The government will rest on his shoulders. 
And he will be called: 
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

His government and its peace 
will never end. 
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David 
for all eternity. 
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies 
will make this happen! 

Isaiah 11:1 

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 

 

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The Christmas Fulfillment 

 

Luke 1:35 

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” 

Luke 1:68-70*

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.” 

*Study Note: Life Application Study Bible: note for Luke 1:68-70 

Zechariah praised God with his first words after months of silence. In a song that is often called the Benedictus, after the first word in the Latin translation of this passage, Zechariah prophesied the coming of a Savior who would redeem his people and predicted that his son, John, would prepare the Messiah’s way. All the Old Testament prophecies were coming true— no wonder Zechariah praised God! The Messiah would come in Zechariah’s lifetime, and his son had been chosen to pave the way.

Luke 2:6-7 

While they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. 

Luke 2:9-12 

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 

Matthew 2:9-11 

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

John 3:16 

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

Galatians 4:4-5 

When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 

Philippians 2:8-11 

He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

 

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