The One Who Came

This Savior isn't just the One Foretold, but also the One Who Came.  

God sent a prophet, a messenger, beforehand to announce His coming.  This man's name was John the Baptist.  John was a trustworthy individual.  His Father was a priest and well respected.  John testified that He was the messenger, saying, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."  And he in turn pointed to a man named Jesus, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

The four Gospels in the New Testament are four accounts of who Jesus is, what He did, and what He said.  Three were written by people who had been there, Matthew, Mark, and John.  The third was a careful compilation of firsthand witnesses, Luke.  All four show that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about this coming savior, or Messiah.  But that Jesus did this in an unexpected way.

The nation of Israel at the time was heavily oppressed by the Roman Government.  So naturally they read the prophecies of the Messiah ruling the nations, delivering His people, and being Israel's King, and they got excited.  They wanted their nation to be free again.  But that wasn't why Jesus came.  At least not the first time.  As John the Baptist said, it was to deal with sin.  Jesus revealed Himself to be the Messiah, the One Foretold.  He did what the Messiah was expected to do.  Said what the Messiah was expected to say.  Was born of a virgin.  His earthly parents were both decedents of King David.  They had moved to Egypt when He was only a child.  Came back and lived in Nazareth, and later moved to Galilee.

And He saved His people from their sin.  He died on a cross, as the spotless lamb of God, dying in our place so that we might be forgiven of our sin.  He repeatedly taught that He and He alone was the way that God the Father provided for us to be delivered from sin and death.  He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  Then He rose from the grave, proving that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father.  He is our Lord and Savior.  He is God the Son.  

In coming to Him God's word tells us that we are given a new nature, a new heart.  We are forgiven and washed clean of our sin, but also changed so that instead of constantly being rebellious towards God, we now desire to be obedient and please Him.  Jesus gives His righteousness to us, and also gives us His humility and obedience so that we too might be humble and obedient.