He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, “We are His offspring.” Acts 17:27-28.

Cast your burdens on the Lord. Psalm 55:22.

(Jesus) said, “It is finished!” Then He bowed His head and released His spirit. John 19:30.

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15.

Can we see today what Jesus said then, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus the Son, the Messiah, came and He IS the kingdom of God. And after He had been crucified and resurrected to be with His Father, our Father, and everything changed, the question asked of Paul and Silas by Paul’s jailor was, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:30-31. The answer is the same today and for all eternity.

And in looking at each of the 351 Old Testament prophecies about Jesus and their fulfillment in the New Testament, we come to number 4. Genesis 9:26-27. The God of Shem will be the Son of Shem. He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.” And the fulfillment: Luke 3:36: In the genealogy, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech.

Why look at the prophecies of the Old Testament? Because Jesus, the Son, came that we should know our Savior, Creator God. He came to show us Life which is the love of the Father. He was prophesied that we should know Him when He came to live among us. How could any human have imagined then or fully grasped today that Creator God became flesh so that He could live among His children dearly loved to show them in real time the unsurpassing love of their true God? And the amazing thing is that the people most hurt and wounded by this life lived in the slavery of sin then, were the ones who gladly went to Him for healing and hope, responding gratefully to His love. That was then. Jesus gave His incarnate life of flesh for us that we could be with Him for all eternity when our own physical lives here are ended. And He sent His Spirit to be with us today because it is always today until that wondrous time when Jesus the Son, Creator God returns to bring the kingdom of God with Him. Who among us is not hurt and wounded in this life we live now? We have an answer for all hurt and wounding. The time is fulfilled! And the kingdom of God is at hand! Repent and believe in the gospel! Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household! Everything changes when we look to the true God who loves us and gave His life lived in the flesh for us. The flesh dies. The Spirit lives.