Prophetic Fulfillment
by Ivan Ho 25 Dec 2023
Conditional prophecies are conditional upon man’s obedience but prophetic words that proclaim the sovereign will of God are unconditional. Prophetic words and dreams are sent by God to declare the sovereign will and purposes of God on earth. As such, they are fulfilled by God Himself, not by men. When such words are spoken from heaven, no man on earth and no demons in hell can stop their fulfillment. What has been revealed and foretold will happen exactly as God has spoken.
While people around the world are celebrating Christmas every year, many may not realise that the real meaning of Christmas is to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. What happened was, Jesus the Son of God, though being divine, took on the form of a human person and dwelt amongst man on earth about 2000 years ago until His ascension to heaven following His death and resurrection.
Right in the beginning, God has purposed the first coming of our Saviour, and multiple prophetic words have been fulfilled surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. These prophecies have been given more than 500 years before His birth. Imagine more than 500 years before you were actually born, words have been spoken and written about your birth! That’s what happened to Jesus whose birth had been prophesied by various prophets of God at different times and recorded in the Old Testament scriptures.
Isaiah the prophet declared:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 KJV
Isaiah prophesied the birth of a child who would carry titles that describe his divine nature: Almighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. What’s more, Jesus is destined to become the King who brings justice, judgement and government to an everlasting kingdom!
Characteristics of prophetic words that lead to fulfillment
31 Dec 2023
There are some important characteristics of prophetic words from God that are destined to come to fulfillment.
1. Prophetic words originate from God
When one receives a word, he should ask: “Is it from God, from man or is it from a demonic source?” In other words, who is the source and author of those words? If we know what the source is, we also know what the outcome of the words will be. If words are not from God in the first place, they will not lead to divine fulfillment. Just because someone says: “Thus says the Lord…” does not necessarily mean that the words must originate from God.
There is absolutely no doubt that prophecies surrounding the coming of our Lord Jesus is from God. God has decided that Jesus would come on earth way before prophecies had been delivered, in truth it was always in God’s mind before the foundation of the world.
In the same way, Jeremiah was ordained a prophet way before he was even born. It was in God’s intention before He speaks His mind on the matter. God said to Jeremiah: “Before you were born, I ordained you a prophet to the nations”. Jeremiah did not one fine day decide that he wanted to become a prophet but rather, it has always been God’s plan for his life.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
2. Prophetic words are communicated from heaven to individuals on earth
God does not fulfill what was purposed in his mind without first communicating his thoughts to men and women on earth.
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
There was a Chinese emperor in the Ching dynasty who left his palace, dressed as a common man and visited the southern provinces and no one there knew about his coming or his true identity.
Jesus, however, did not out of the blue decide that he wanted to come as a man to visit earth and no one knew about it. The birth of Jesus that changed the entire history of mankind was prophesied to various individuals multiple times, some prophetic words were given more than 500 years before it actually happened.
The year before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin called Mary to deliver to her the message from heaven. Mary was chosen to be the carrier in her womb the seed from the Holy Spirit to give birth to Jesus.
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Mary received the word from heaven and literally became the carrier of the seed of Jesus to deliver his miraculous birth. When the word of God is communicated in heaven, someone on earth would receive the seed to bring forth its fulfillment on earth.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.