Christmas ‘Proofs-You-See’/Prophecy
Study Guide, December 7, 2025
Pastor Clay Olsen
There’s lots to love about Christmas. At Christmas even cold and snow are thought of with a little more affection, although most Southerners like to appreciate that from afar…we think that warm green Christmases are just fine, too! But one of the things about Christmas that Christians love is that it’s all about Christ! And because Christmas is all about Christ, it’s one of the clearest ways we can point others to Christ since the Bible is full of proofs that declare that Christmas is all about Christ, in terms of the Incarnation, that is. In fact, most people are not aware that there are 465 verses in the Old Testament that refer to the Messiah or His times. And most people are not aware that Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry! And since most people don’t know about these prophecies, we can then help people learn that Christmas is mostly a holiday about fulfilled prophecies! And prophecies are basically – Proofs…you see!
We often say that Christians should carry around a pocketful of prophecies so that they can be ready to pull them out and share with people…not only to help people realize how amazing these prophecies are, but to help them understand that they are proofs that God has given to the world to show that He is God and that His Scriptures prove that He is God, and that Jesus is the Christ, the only Savior of the world!
Now, to go through all 300 Messianic prophecies would take us every day until Christmas, so we’ll just pick out a pocketful for now. Of course, we know that Christmas was planned before time began. Say what? Luke tells us in Acts 2:23,24 – “…this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” Christ’s coming to become Jesus Christ was planned from eternity past. Which would be a good question: So, when was Christmas planned? Christmas was planned from eternity past…not the holiday, but the ‘Hypostatic Union!’ The…what? The Hypostatic Union is a phrase that describes the union of Christ, who is fully God, with Jesus, who is fully man…perfect God and perfect Man. Which would be a fun way to wish people a Merry Christmas….like – “Merry Hypostatic Union Day!” That would get some interesting responses!
But then, as to when Christmas was introduced in the Scriptures…Christmas was the earliest prophecy in the Scriptures of the coming Messiah. And, again, we’re using ‘Christmas’ here in terms of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. But note how amazing our God is…for immediately after the Fall of mankind into sin, God then announces that a Deliver would come out of mankind who would defeat sin and Satan. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” Gen. 3:15 NIV And don’t you love how the victory over Satan is described? “He will crush your head!”
But here we have the first pronouncement of the Gospel message that the Deliverer would be human. And since He also has the power to defeat the Devil, He must also be Divine…for only God can defeat the Devil. So, for at least 2,000 years before Jesus was born, this ‘Protoevangelium’…which is the Latin word for ‘First Gospel’…this prophetic announcement put the world on alert that the Messiah was coming. It’s been said, that from Genesis 3:15 and then on, every birth in the Old Testament came with the whisper: “Could this be the One?” Everyone who knew the Scriptures knew that the Messiah was coming…they just didn’t know when or where…for ‘when and where’ were further prophecies yet to come.
Still, God put all people on alert…to watch for the coming of the Messiah, who would be both God and Man, which would also prove the promise and prove that the Messiah is the Savior of the world. So carry the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 in your pocket, especially this Christmas season.
Then, around 700 years before the birth of Jesus, God gave another prophecy that really narrowed the identity of this child to be born. In fact, it not only narrowed the identity of the child, but it also narrowed the identity of the mother, because not only would the child be unique, but there would also be something unique about the mother. Oh yeah… Isa. 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Now, some have tried to eliminate the miraculous nature of this birth by saying that Isaiah could have just been referring to a young woman. But God doesn’t let scoffers get away with such a claim. In fact, Joseph received a direct message from an Angel about that.
Now, the Scriptures do not name this Angel…although, since the Angel Gabriel gave the announcement to Mary about being with child with the Messiah, it’s appropriate to think that Gabriel was chosen to also announce that to Joseph. But here is the Angel’s explanation to Joseph: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” Matt. 1:18-25 NASB Don’t you love how God doesn’t let scoffers get away with their scoffing by correcting them with His powerful truths?! By the way, this is also a great example of how the best interpreter of the Scriptures is Scripture itself!
So this unique Person would be born through a unique woman, whose offspring was conceived through the Holy Spirit. And another ‘by the way’ here is this: So, when does ‘human life’ begin? The Scriptures declare that life begins at conception, as in… “…the Child who has been conceived…” Plus, or ‘by the way…by the way’…and so, what is also the identity of a human life that begins at conception? “…the Child who has been conceived in her…” Mark it down: Human life not only begins at conception, but every conceived human being is also a human child…a human child who has been given life by the Creator, Who is also the only source of life. And, as such, every human child has a Divine right to life. Which means that no one has the right to put a human child to death who has been given the Divine right to life by the Creator of life!
How remarkable that the Christmas story is also a profound ‘Pro-life’ message by God! Christmas proclaims to the world that human life begins at conception and that which has been conceived is a human child. Thus, Christmas is a rebuke to this ungodly world that puts to death so many children to whom God has given life. But everyone should know that not only did Jesus come just as God promised…they are to know that Jesus is also coming back! And He has promised that justice will be done on behalf of every person… “Vengeance is Mine, thus saith the Lord. I will repay!” And yes, there is forgiveness for those who repent, but there is also judgment upon those who do not repent.
So this prophecy of Isaiah now added another layer to that question about Old Testament babies of – “Could this be the One?” to now asking of the Old Testament women – “Could she be the one?” Could this woman be the One who would give birth to the One who would be the Messiah?” Or, as Mary put it: “And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.” Luke 1:46-50 NASB
And did you notice how Mary helped each one of us to have a better understanding of our own identity? “He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave.” That is one of our identities as well, for we are each humble bondslaves of our Lord God. And what is a bondslave? To be a bondslave of God is to realize that we were purchased by God. And what would God use to purchase you and me? 1 Pet.1:17-19 – “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” And in 1Cor. 6:19,20 we see this: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Mary knew that her own life was both a gift from God and that her God was also the very Owner of her life…especially for being her Savior. And that understanding not only gave Mary a humble attitude toward the Lord, but it also gave her a servant attitude about herself. Mary was a happy servant of her Lord and Savior, for she knew what it was going to cost her Messiah to redeem her soul and spirit. And when we dwell on what it cost our Savior to redeem our soul and spirit, and that because of God’s love, He willingly did so, we, too, can then say to God… “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave…For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.”
So whatever else you carry around with you this Christmas, carry Mary’s identity of being a ‘humble bondslave’ of the Lord. And along with this humble identity also carry Mary’s happy attitude about it all. Remember her testimony? “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave.” Mary learned how to rejoice in God her Savior, and we can too. In fact, since we carry the Spirit of Christ in our souls, we should be the happiest people on Earth…not because of our circumstances, but because of our souls…it is well with our souls because of Who indwells our souls…the Spirit of Christ, our God…our Savior! Mary carried Jesus in her womb and Christ in her soul. We individually carry Christ in our soul and together we carry Jesus as His body…the Church. We are Christ’s body in this world. So like with Mary, we too, can rejoice because of the One we carry.
Let’s look into one more prophecy today, or one more ‘proof-you-see’, and we’ll continue more next time. But now notice what Isaiah predicts about the identity of the coming Messiah. And Isaiah was given the amazing gift of prophesying things about both the First Coming of the Messiah right along with things about the Second Coming. And nowhere is this more evident than in Isaiah chapter 9. But before we get to the wonderful revelation about the Wonderful Counselor and so on, notice what Isaiah says before that in Isaiah 9:1,2 – “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” The very lands that came under the dark rule of the Assyrians would be the very land that would witness the bright light of the Messiah’s life and salvation. This light would be for both the Jews and Gentiles.
But in reality, this celebration of the First Coming of Christ, that we call ‘Christmas’ is like that every year in every land. For by nature, without the light of Christ, every land is a dark land whose people live in darkness…spiritual darkness…actually what the Scriptures refer to as a ‘kingdom of darkness.’ Col. 1:11-14 – “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”NLT
That’s quite a stark title for life on our planet Earth, isn’t it? ‘The kingdom of darkness’ Every Christmas we celebrate the fact that we have seen a great light…and that light is Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world! And every Christmas is the opportunity for those who live in darkness, live in this spiritually dark world…it’s the opportunity for them to be rescued out of this kingdom of darkness and to be spiritually transferred into the Kingdom of Light…the Kingdom of Christ. This One whom Isaiah then goes on to describe as – “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isa. 9:6
You probably noticed that we stopped before Isaiah continued the prophecy in verse 7. But that’s where we’ll pick it up next time, as that part prophesies of Jesus’ Second Coming. But back to the identity of just ‘Who’ our Messiah is…He is our Wonderful Counselor. Jesus told the Disciples that even after He ascended to Heaven that He would still be with them in the presence of God the Holy Spirit, who is our Wonderful Counselor. God the Holy Spirit not only grows His consoling fruit in our spirit, but He also leads and guides us in His counseling ministry into all truth…which is the Word of God.
And Jesus is our Mighty God, sovereign ruler of the Universe. Our part is to make Him be the ruler of our heart and mind and body and soul. He is our Eternal Father, as He and the Father are One. He is our Maker and Creator, and as the Apostle John says, “…for all things have been created through Him and for Him.” And He is our Prince of Peace. And one day Jesus Christ will impose His peace over this world of strife and war and destruction and darkness. But right now, we can experience His peace as we let the peace of Christ rule in our heart and life.
Oh, to be sure, Christmas is all about Christ. And as Christians, not only our holidays, but our very lives are also to be all about Christ, for He is our Wonderful Counselor, our Mighty God, our Eternal Father, and our Prince of Peace!