Humanity’s Only Hope

By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

Comfort for the Troubled Heart

What’s bothering you today? Financial uncertainty? Family issues? Sickness? Death? Wars and rumors of wars? Political anarchy? I offer you the only sure answer to whatever troubles you.

The annals of human history are littered with the magnificence of great empires, which share a common theme—they rise, dominate, and then they fall.

The very document that records these epochs, with their shared DNA, also tells of one kingdom that will rise, not only to be more magnificent and glorious than all that have preceded it, but unlike its predecessors, will never fall. It will, as the record reveals, last forever.

That document is the Holy Bible. To some, it is simply a collection of ancient fables. To others, it is no more than a piece of good literary exposition. Yet, to many, it is the work of the Creator God, who created all humanity and allowed empires to rise and fall. What’s undeniable, however, is the Bible’s uncannily accurate predictions of the existence and fate of world empires hundreds of years before they appeared on the world stage. That very record assures us of the rise and perpetuity of the World’s Final Superpower.

The Bible is a special book. It is unlike any that has ever been written and is about the drama of human experience. Its unique ability to accurately foretell the future is unparalleled. Only a God who knows the future can reveal exactly what will happen before it comes to pass. The Bible is His special gift to humanity. In these times of conflict, confusion, and uncertainty, you can find peace and comfort within its pages. Through it, you can have confidence for the future.

The apostle Peter writes: We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).

The ancient seer Isaiah declared: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them (Isaiah 42:9).

Jesus Himself would proclaim: “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I Am He (John 13:19).

Jesus Christ, the Creator of the world, can be trusted when He assures us that He will come again to rescue humanity from this world of sin, perplexity, and woe. We can have faith in His word when He promises to make all things new. To date, everything that He had promised and was prophesied about Him by the prophets of old has come to pass exactly as was foretold: When and where He would be born, the precise period of time He would do His ministry on earth, how, when, and where He would die, and the time of His resurrection from the grave have all been fulfilled with uncanny accuracy.

One of His modern-day disciples commented: “Some skeptics have suggested that these prophecies were accidentally or coincidently fulfilled by Jesus. According to the Science of Probability the chance of any one human being-up until the present-fulfilling a selection of just 8 of these prophecies (including the one on the crucifixion) is 1 in 1017 ; and here we are considering only 8 prophecies. What if we were to consider 48 prophecies? The chance then becomes virtually zero (1 X 10157). That’s like finding a particular grain of sand out of all the sand on earth and beneath the sea. What about all 61 prophecies? (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell).

Here’s a sampling of those prophecies and their fulfillment.

Place of His Birth: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Fulfillment: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:4–7).

Manner of His Birth: More than six hundred years before his incarnation, the prophet Isaiah foretold of His miraculous conception and birth. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Fulfillment: “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 … 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 (Luke 1:30, 31, 34, 35).

How He Would Enter Jerusalem: The prophet Zechariah, attempting to encourage his countrymen in the reconstruction of the temple after the seventy-year captivity in Babylon, foretells of how the Messiah would come into Jerusalem. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass…” (Zechariah 9:9).

Fulfillment: “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them” (Matthew 21:4–6).

The price of His betrayal: Again, Zechariah prophesies of the price for which Jesus would be betrayed and what would be done with the money paid for His (Jesus) betrayal. “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver … And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord” (Zechariah 11:12–13).

Fulfillment: “When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matthew 27:1-3).

Gambling For His Garments: The Psalmist David declared in prophetic vision, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” (Psalm 22:18).

Fulfillment: Exactly as prophesied, Matthew records, “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots…” (Matthew 27:35).

Offering Him vinegar in His moment of agony: David again prophesied, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21).

Fulfillment: John confirms, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:28–30).

Who is He, Really?

There has been no other personality in human history whose life has been so exactly predicted and come to pass as it has with Jesus. That phenomenon not only applies to the singular life experience of Jesus Christ but also bears irrefutable testimony to the supernatural nature of the Bible, in which Jesus is its central character.

Jesus’ claims as to who He is transcend the realm of human understanding. No other person who has ever tread the earth can make the following assertions:

“I am the Bread of life” (John 6:48).

“I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12).

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

“Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58).

Additionally, all the other names and titles by which Yahweh was addressed in the Old Testament, Jesus claimed for Himself or was referred to by the writers of the New Testament. This unequaled phenomenon proves beyond the shadow of any doubt that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is the Jesus of the Christian Church. Yes, indeed, He is the Only Savior of the world—humanity’s Only Hope. The apostle Paul, with all of his Hebrew learning coupled with his profound Christian experience, was forced to declare:

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).

The apostle John faithfully announces: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1–4, 14). This reality is beyond human comprehension.

In Rome, in the year 93, Josephus published his lengthy history of the Jews. While discussing the period in which the Jews of Judea were governed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, Josephus included the following account: “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accepted the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him.  And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared” (Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63).

The prophets of old testified to the truth about Jehovah. Jesus in turn refers His followers and detractors to those writings: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me … For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:39, 46). Do bear in mind that at the time of Jesus’ sojourn on planet earth, no New Testament had been written. He was therefore referring to the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch. Here’s a sampling of what you would find when you search:

Old Testament – Title – New Testament
Genesis 21:33, EVERLASTING,” Rev. 10:6
Genesis 1:1, “GOD,” Hebrews 11:8
Deut. 32:4, “ROCK,” 1 Corinthians 10:4
Exodus 3:4, “I AM,” John 8:58
Isaiah 43:11, “SAVIOR,” Matthew 1:21
Isaiah 40:28, “CREATOR,” John 1:1–3, 14
Job 19:25–27, “REDEEMER,” Luke 1:68
Isaiah 48:12, “FIRST AND LAST,” Rev. 1:8, 11
Genesis 17:1, “ALMIGHTY,” Rev. 4:8
Genesis 2:7, “LIFE GIVER,” John 5:21

The apostle Peter, when brought before the Jewish leaders who admonished him not to speak in the name of Jesus, responded: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). They knew not that He was their ONLY HOPE.

Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to the same level as Mohamed, Krishna, the Dali Lama, Confucius, the Pope, or any other religious teacher. If eternal life is what you seek, any so-called religious teacher who fails to uplift Jesus Christ for who He truly is cannot be trusted. Only God has eternal life. He is the only one who can give it. The apostle John rightly states: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

About: Follow Pastor Aubrey Duncan at his Unfolding Prophecy Page