Christ Fulfills the Prophecies

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this module is to teach Seventh graders about the four Gospels in depth. Students will learn about the Evangelists, how and why the Gospels were written, as well as the importance of the Gospels as the Good News of salvation. Students will also learn about how the Gospels fulfilled the prophecies in the Old Testament and how the message of the Gospels can be applied to our lives. This week's lesson will focus on the prophecies fulfilled through Christ.

INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

Watch the following video as a class to review the content from the last two weeks and to introduce the topic of prophecies fulfilled in the Gospels.

How to Read the Bible: The Gospel

Explain the following to the students: Since the time of Adam and Eve, God had made plans to send His Son to be the "Messiah" or "Anointed One" in order to save us and break the bonds of death. Over the course of history, God had told the fathers and prophets more and more details about those plans. We read about those details in the Old Testament.

Then, it finally became time to fulfill those plans and make them a reality by Christ becoming incarnate and coming down to Earth. We find many details and events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and how all those events led to his suffering, death and resurrection, all recorded in the Gospels. As we read about the life of Christ in the Gospels, it is important to remember that those details were not random, but were actually planned specifically by God.

A full understanding of the New Testament is impossible without seeing it as a fulfillment of the Old Testament. The story of Salvation began with God's promises, which were told to and recorded by the prophets, and is completed with Jesus fulfilling each of those promises, which was recorded by the evangelists in the Gospels.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:1-4
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel," which is translated, "God is with us." Matthew 1:22-23

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes

The books of the Old Testament contain many passages and prophecies about the Messiah. The Gospels show us how Jesus Christ fulfilled each of those prophecies. Some Bible scholars suggest there are more than 300 prophetic Scriptures completed in the life of Jesus.

A few examples are described below:

Hundreds of years before Christ was born, God told the prophet Isaiah that a great ruler would someday come. God even told Isaiah that the ruler would first be a child and that His mother would be a virgin.
- Matthew 1:18 speaks of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the virgin birth that was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14.
Later on God spoke to another prophet, Micah. God told Micah the name of the city where the Savior would be born.
- Bethlehem, as the birthplace of the Messiah, is foretold in Micah 5:2. The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Matthew 2:1
There are at least 29 prophecies from the Old Testament, which speak of the betrayal, trial, death and burial of Jesus, that were spoken at various times by many different prophets (Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc.) across five centuries from 1000-500 BC
- Each of those prophecies were all fulfilled in one 24-hour period of time in Jesus' life

At this time, the servant can display the chart in the link below: (the chart can also be found in the appendix below).

PROPHECIES ABOUT CHRIST'S LIFE PROPHECIES ABOUT CHRIST'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION

Break up the students into two groups with Bibles. Going down the list as time allows, have one group search for each of the Old Testament passages, and another group to find the corresponding Gospel passage that fulfills the prophecy. Have the students as a class discuss what detail/event of the life of Christ is being described.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 10 Minutes

Ask the students the following questions:

Why do you think God provided prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament?
What can we say about how God fulfilled His promises in the Old Testament?
- He kept all of them exactly as He said
Do God's promises stop at the Old Testament? (No, they don't) What are some promises that Jesus made to us in the Gospels/New Testament?
- That we would be resurrected with Him; that He would send us His Spirit, Second Coming, etc.
How does His fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament prepare us to trust His promises in the New Testament?
In what ways do these promises help you trust God more in your own life?
In what ways can you show God you trust him?

APPLICATION (Action) - 3 Minutes

God made a very special promise to us, which He was very faithful to fulfill through Jesus Christ. Seeing and understanding how God keeps His promises can help us trust Him with things we don't understand in our lives.

CONCLUSION - 5 Minutes

As we learned in the past weeks, the Gospels contain the Good News of our Salvation and the fulfillment of God's promises to us. God promised us that certain things would happen and they did -- exactly the way He promised. God always keeps His word. We can always depend on God. The Gospels tell us about how Jesus fulfilled the promises that were made in the Old Testament, as well as a new promise: that He would send a Helper and Comforter to us, which He was also faithful to fulfill through the Holy Spirit.

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Option 1: Have the students complete the attached worksheet

Option 2: Print the attached flashcards (double-sided) and have the students play "Memory" by matching the Old Testament prophecy with the passage from the Gospels that fulfills it.

Option 3: Split the class into teams and create a game where they need to match the Old Testament prophecy with the Gospel that fulfills it.

RESOURCES

44 Prophecies Jesus Christ Fulfilled

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

Ask the students to draw or journal about the different ways God has kept promises to them or other people they know. Have them combine those drawings or writings into a collage and hang it in a prominent place in their room, and remember to thank God for keeping His promises when they see it.

Encourage kids to include this prayer as part of their daily prayer routine: Dear God, thank you that we can trust you to always keep your promises. Thank you for sending Jesus to keep the greatest promise of all. Help us to always keep our trust in You. Amen.