Greetings, dear listeners. Welcome to today’s series. In today’s talk 8, we are looking at the 4 Gospels, and looking at the theme of prophecy and fulfilment.  In Talks 5 to 7, we layout how God acted both by Law and by Grace in the Old Testament (OT), whether in the Law of Moses, or through OT history, or through OT wisdom books, or in both major and minor prophecy books. In Talk 8, today, we move into the New Testament (NT), beginning with the Gospels that record for us the Person, Words and Works of Jesus Christ our Lord, because the Gospels tell us who Jesus is.

It records for us the teaching that is His words, and records for us what He did for us — that is His works. So, the four Gospels record for us the words, works of Jesus Christ our Lord. And, it reveals to us that He is God and Saviour, the Messiah sent from the Father. Many OT prophecies are fulfilled by Jesus; we will just identify a few key ones from Isaiah. Isaiah contains many prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus’ life and teaching when He arrived. But I want to stress that while we are using Isaiah as a highlight to the OT prophecies, the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus are in many books and many parts of OT beyond what we can cover in this Talk. But, Isaiah carries some major ones that make us easier to follow.

Isaiah 7:14 tells us that a virgin will conceive, so it speaks of virgin birth of Christ. And we see this in the Gospels as a single reference as noted in Matthew 1:23. Isaiah also tells us that Jesus will live a life with sorrow and suffering, and rejected by many, in Isaiah 50:4-9. But most of all, in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, there is a prophecy that He will come to die for our sins. This is a very important prophecy, and we will see why as we develop our series. Simply, it is how Jesus enables God to forgive our sins by dying for our sins.

Jesus said, in Matthew 5:17-20, that He came to fulfil the Law, not to set it aside, not to make obsolete, but to fulfil it.  Every dot and comma of the Law will be fulfilled.  The Law will endure beyond the passing of this heaven and this earth.  This very statement of Jesus contradicts any position that suggests that when Christ came, the Law is useless and can be ignored. That is not what Jesus said. He said that He came to fulfil the Law, not to set it aside. This suggests that the Law continues to be important in some significant way, and we will see how in the later talks. For now, we know this is what Jesus said. He said that He came to fulfil the Law, not to set it aside.

He said to the Jews, in John 5:39-41, that they search the Scriptures because they believe in it they have eternal life, but Jesus pointed out that the Scriptures testify of Jesus as the Messiah of God. Yet, they refuse to accept Him for who He is. It is Important to note that in the NT, all references to “Scripture” or “Scriptures” refer to the OT.  The NT was not written or completed until about 300 years after Jesus ascended into heaven.  So, there was no NT for the Jews to read then. All the scriptures Jesus referring to is in the Gospels and NT, and in His lifetime on earth refers to the OT. So, what Jesus was saying was the OT pointed to Him as the One who gives them Eternal Life.  Yet they refuse to recognise or receive Him for who He is, even though their own Scripture which is the OT says so.

All the Four Gospels record Jesus' Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, when He was recognised and greeted as the Son of David who sits on the throne of Israel. All 4 Gospels recorded this event and its meaning; we can look at Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19.  Jesus fulfilled God's covenant and promise to David (that was made in the OT in 2 Samuel 7) that a Son of his shall reign forever. More accurately, God promised to David that the reign of his sons will rule forever. But of course, there is only one son of David who has everlasting life that is Jesus Christ. So, He is the son of David who eternally sits on the throne of Israel, in that way God has fulfilled His promise in the OT, that His Messiah will come through the line of David and will reign forever.

These claims and acts of Jesus, as revealed and taught in the Gospels, tell us that Jesus, as the One who brings to us God's Supreme Grace of Eternal Life, is the Continuation and the Fulfilment of the OT Law and Prophets. So, you can see the relationship between law and grace in prophecy and fulfilment of Gospels. Therefore, in God's Action, His Law and His Grace do not clash but BOTH find their fullest expression in the Person and Life of Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the Ultimate Fulfilment of the Law of God, something that no one else could do. No one else could fulfil. But Jesus completely and totally satisfies the Law of God. He alone has lived a life that is in full obedience to the Law. As He said in Matthew 5:17-20, He came to fulfill the law. At the same time, He is the Supreme Expression of the Grace of God, because it is only in Him that all of God's promises and blessings for all humankind are fulfilled. There is no other way and through no one else. Is there a way for all God’s promises and blessings to be enacted or to be received? The only way to receive God’s blessings and grace is through Jesus Christ. Therefore, He is supreme expression of God’s grace.

You can say that in light of our theme, OT prophecy finds NT fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Unique, Highest and Greatest Union of God's Law and God's Grace. He satisfies the Law in full, but in doing so, He brings us the impact of the grace of God into our lives. It is only by receiving Him into our lives that we are able to meet the demands of the Lord, not by ourselves, but by what Jesus has done for us. And, it is also only in receiving Christ, that we are able to receive the full blessings and promises of God not just from now, but even more for eternity. So, this is the unique position of Jesus in Law and grace, prophecy and fulfilment. As we continue in our talks, we will lay out step by step, a progressively fuller and clearer picture of how Law and Grace Work Equally Together in God and His Action.

Let us pray, “Father we pray and praise you and thank you for what You have done for us in Christ. May we take this to heart and always honor and worship You Lord Jesus as the only one true savior for us all. Help us to respond to You and Your words, that we may be blessed in Father in the fullest. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”