Salvation: Was Christ’s work to provide it prophesied?

There’s another article on this website that is quite related to this question.  I hope you’ll eventually read it, if you haven’t already.  Here’s the name and link to it—

Gospel: How did the prophets know our gospel?

The prophets of old certainly wrote about and thus prophesied the work of Christ on the cross, but there’s no indication at all that they understood the things they were led of the Holy Spirit to write.  For instance, Isaiah’s prophecy is a good example of this.  There are many things in this chapter of his writing that speak of it.  See if you can spot them!

Isaiah 53:1-12

¹ Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

As it is said, hindsight is 20/20. Because of how we now know through the writings of the apostle Paul exactly what was being accomplished at the cross of Christ, who can read that passage and not see the statements about the suffering Christ endured to provide us with a way of salvation? Throughout that chapter you should be able to see that many prophecies were perfectly fulfilled around the time of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  The same can be said about at least one of the Psalms.  In the first verse of Psalm 22 we have the prophecy of one of the most important statements Christ made when He was on the cross—

Psalm 22:1

¹ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? [Emphasis added]

We see these words of our Lord recorded in both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. It was then that Christ was bearing the sins of all of us to provide all mankind with the way of salvation.  

2 Corinthians 5:21

²¹ For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

The most well-known verse in the Bible speaks of this event, even though I had Bible professors in seminary who denied the plain truth stated in this verse and others like it.

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [Emphasis added]

Then look at the next verse in this same passage.

John 3:17

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [Emphasis added]

Throughout His ministry He was teaching this. Even John the Baptist spoke of this when he first saw Jesus.

John 1:29

²⁹ The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of THE WORLD. [Emphasis added]

Could that be made any clearer? Then we have Peter telling us this about it—

1 Peter 2:24

²⁴ Who [Jesus Christ] his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [Emphasis added]

It is the apostle Paul who gives us all the details about this.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

“The scriptures” he speaks of consist of the words of the prophets.  Therefore, this event was prophesied even though the people at that time didn’t understand what was being said. Despite these prophesies in Scripture, when Christ was crucified, even the apostles had no idea about what was being accomplished through it all. That’s why they were in such a state of panic about it.

⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [Emphasis added]

Nobody was expecting Him to be resurrected. Even the women who were outside the tomb early that morning were simply hoping to have a chance to anoint His lifeless body. His eventual appearance in His resurrection body was a wonderful surprise to all who loved Him. That’s why we call it the gospel which is a term meaning good news.  The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the BEST news that’s ever been heralded. It is Paul who gives us the details about what was accomplished as well as what our response to it all should be.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

If you’ve already believed this, are you aware that you’re not only saved but YOU’RE in the ministry.  That means we need to be serving up this message to everyone we can.

¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath COMMITTED UNTO US the word of reconciliation.

This that’s been “committed unto us” is this message that is a part of our commission.

²⁰ Now then WE are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Yes, this says we’re all His personal representatives as ones who’ve now been reconciled to Him by faith in Him and what He accomplished.  Have you personally accepted what He did for you? Then the apostle Paul states the heart of our message—

²¹ For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

This is how people are said to be justified by faith. They’re given the righteousness of Christ and pronounced justified or saved the moment they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. You’ll find numerous articles on this website that have been provided for clarity on all this. Here are the links to several of them—

Justification: How does the Bible define it?

Gospel: Which one is ours today?

Heaven: How do you qualify?

You’ll find many other articles on this website that relate to this, but I believe you’ll find these three to be most helpful.

Fulfilled prophecy is something that can help anyone build their confidence about the reliability of the Bible.  There you’ll find that not only was Christ’s crucifixion prophesied but many other things that occurred in that time frame.  In fact, it is said that over 300 were fulfilled about that time.  Here’s just a dozen of them—

• The promise of a Redeemer was fulfilled: Genesis 3:15
• He would be a descendant of King David: Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31
• He would be rejected by His own people: Psalm 69:8; John 7:3-5 
• His triumphal entry into the city: Zechariah 9:9-10
• His betrayal by a friend: Psalm 41:9  
• He was despised and rejected: Psalm 22:6  
• He was sold out for 30 pieces of silver: Zechariah 11:12-13 
• His suffering and death: Psalm 22  
• His bones were not broken: Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:20 
• His hands and feet were pierced: Psalm 22:16  
• His garments were divided: Psalm 22:18 
• He would be raised from the dead: Psalm 16:10

These alone should convince anyone of the truthfulness of the Bible about the identity of this Man, Jesus of Nazareth, and much more. Because so many prophesies have been fulfilled, why should anyone not believe the ones about His return? They, too, will also be completely and perfectly fulfilled? Here’s a list of a dozen of those—

• The temple of Jerusalem will be rebuilt: Matthew 24:15
• The gospel of the kingdom will be preached worldwide: Matthew 24:14
• All nations will unite to destroy Jerusalem: Zechariah 12:2-3
• God will destroy all the nations that oppose Jerusalem: Zechariah 12:9
• Christ will return in the same way He left: Acts 1:11
• He will return to judge the world: Daniel 7:13-14; 12:1-2
• Every eye will see Him in His return: Revelation 1:7
• His feet will stand on the Mt. of Olives, and it splits: Zechariah 14:1-4
• He returns to preside over a kingdom: Luke 1:31-33
• Satan is bound and imprisoned: Revelation 20:3
• An earthly kingdom will last a thousand years: Revelation 20:6
• Satan is released to preside over a short revolt: Revelation 20:3

All these prophecies will be perfectly fulfilled during and after the prophesied coming seven-year period called The Tribulation. For more information about these things, please see my other articles that relate to this.  Here are the links to several of them—

Jesus Christ: Is His return soon?

Second Coming: Must the world first be evangelized?

Antichrist: Is he alive today?

Dispensations: What is this about?

Conclusion—

In case you haven’t noticed, please realize that there are many prophesies in the Bible.  Many of those have been fulfilled and there are many others that are yet to be fulfilled.  If you’ll honestly study the Bible, you’ll find it to be the one book of all books that is 100% reliable.  Because words in languages can change even in one generation, Bible translations are not always reliable.  But the original text of Scripture in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek is perfect! This means the Bible is the most reliable book you’ll ever read.  This, of course, includes all the prophecies that are given there.  Many have already been fulfilled perfectly and there are many others that eventually will be.  Can any of this be said of newspapers, magazines, and other books? So, why not devote some time to reading and even studying this one completely reliable book? Many lives have been completely and wonderfully transformed by believing what they learned there.  Perhaps such could happen to you and people you share this article with.