Prophecies About the Birth of Messiah

Last time we looked at the very first prophecy on the Bible, the protoevangelium. Today we are going to look at the prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah. If you look at the prophecies statistically, the odds of one event being fulfilled is 1 in 5, the odds of two events being fulfilled is 1 in 10, as more and more prophecies are fulfilled by the same person, the odds, of course, will go up. You would have a better chance of winning the lottery than for one person to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies, yet that is what Jesus did. This can't be a coincidence because the odds are so astronomically large. Only through God can these prophecies have been fulfilled in one person. 

The Messiah must be born of a specific bloodline. The verses narrow the bloodline until there is no doubt.  First Messiah was promised through the seed of Abraham. 
¹⁸ and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:18
The Messiah was promised through the seed of Abraham's son Isaac.
 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[b] will be reckoned.  Genesis 21:12
The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans^[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
Messiah would come from the family of Jesse.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1
Messiah would be born of the House of David.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David^[a] a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
⁶ In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior. Jeremiah 23:5-6

This is the genealogy of Jesus:

This is the genealogy^[a] of Jesus the Messiah^[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

² Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah^[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹² After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.  Matthew 1:1-17

This is five separate prophecies written in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 

The next prophecy is that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,

out of you will come for me

    one who will be ruler over Israel,

whose origins are from of old,

    from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Luke:

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehemthe town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:4-7

Not only is Jesus born of a rare and specific bloodline, but he is born in Bethlehem.

Messiah must be born of a virgin. We can look back at the protoevangelium where it is written that Messiah would be of a woman's seed. 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[c] a sign: The virgin^[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and^[e]will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:18-21


²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God.³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38


Another prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. He is of a rare bloodline, he is born in Bethlehem and he is born of a virgin. 

The next two prophecies concern those that came to worship the baby Jesus. First the wise men, or the Kings of the east. 

May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
    bring tribute to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba
    present him gifts. Psalm 72:10

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a]from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:1-12

The other people that were prophesied to come worship Jesus were the Shepherds. 

May the desert tribes bow before him
    and his enemies lick the dust. Psalm 72:9

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:8-20

There were many babies born in Bethlehem, why would the Kings from the east and Shepherds come to see this one? The only reason is that this baby was special, he had been foretold in the Old Testament and was the fulfillment of the prophecies. 
Now we see that Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies. The odds of this happening by chance is not possible. This was God fulfilling the prophecies. Jesus is the only person that fulfilled these prophecies even before he was born. He could not have done this on purpose since it was all out of his control, he was a baby. Jesus IS the fulfillment of prophecy and the Jewish Messiah. Many Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, they should only look at the Bible and they would see that Jesus is the Messiah and they missed it. After the church is raptured, it will be time for the Jews to acknowledge their Messiah. The 144,000 Jewish witnesses will arise and will reach many Jews with the message that Jesus is their Messiah. Millions and millions will finally believe!

The Protoevangelium

Since this blog is about prophecy in the Bible I wanted to do a series about the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah and the New Testament fulfillment of those prophecies. There are more than three hundred different prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The Old Testement is a record of the promises of God concerning the Messiah and the New Testement is  a record of their fulfillment in Jesus. The chance of all the Old Testement prophecies being fulfilled in one man is 84 followed by 131 zeroes. There is no way that Jesus would be able to fulfill these prophecies by chance, this was God's plan and it was carried out to His letter. 

Today I would like to start with the very first verse in the Bible that concerns the Messianic prophecy.This is called the protoevangelium, or  first gospel.

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 3:15

In the Bible, when the seed, or offspring are being discussed, it is always the man's seed. This verse is the one exception to that rule. There is only one man, Jesus, that is born of a woman without a man's seed. 

 ¹⁶ Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,”^[i] who is Christ. Galatians 3:16

In Genesis, God is predicting that Satan will be able to inflict temporary pain and suffering, but ultimately, Jesus will triumph. "He shall bruise your head" is a mortal wound, Satan will be defeated when Jesus dies for our sins. This is the ultimate triumph over Satan, we are saved because of the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross.

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them,^[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.  Hebrews 2:14-18

The Mark of the Beast

The Mark of the Beast, or 666 is well known in popular culture, it is seen in books and movies and even music. If you go into any bookstore or Christian store you will find lots of books on the Mark of the Beast and what it means. I think the earliest movie that I remember seeing is the Omen though you can find lots of movies that deal with the subject in biblical prophecy, both documentaries and fictional. 
Many people treat the Mark of the Beast like it is a horror story, something they see in movies and read about in books, but ultimately not real. People think that no one can force them to get a mark on their hand or forehead, not in this free country. Well most people will not have to worry about getting this Mark. The Rapture will have occured first and the church will have been taken out of the world along with the Holy Spirit. The Antichrist will then rise up and take control of the world, the Bible does not specify how long it is between the time the Antichrist takes power and then signs a peace treaty with Israel, which included rebuilding the Temple. This treaty will be the beginning of the Tribulation period. 
²⁷ He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’^[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’^[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple^[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. Daniel 9:27
In the middle of this peace treaty, the Antichrist will enter the Temple and declare himself God. 
³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness^[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴ He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
At some point, the Antichrist is killed with a wound to his head. In a poor imitation of Jesus rising from the grave, the Antichrist will rise from the dead and his deadly wound will be healed. 
³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. Revelation 13:3
After the Antichrist rises from the dead, he is indwelt with Satan. The Antichrist is not God, he is actually dead, only through Satan indwelling him can he rise from the dead. 
The Antichrist has a helper, the False Prophet. When the Antichrist rises from the dead, the False Prophet erects a statue of the Beast and enforces a system where all people have to have a mark on their right hand or forehead. A system of worship in enforced where all people must bow down and worship this statue and all those that refuse to take the Mark will be killed. 

¹¹ Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ¹⁴ Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. ¹⁶ It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.^[e] That number is 666.         Revelation 13:11-18

Now you may be thinking, couldn't people fake the Mark? The answer is no, sure they could fake it from a distance, but the Mark will actually be a microchip inserted in their hand or forehead that will be scanned. This is scary, but scarier still is the fact that the technology exists today. Most pets are now "chipped" in case they get lost. The chip is an RFID microchip that is about the size of a grain of rice. 

en.wikipedia.org

im9.eu

Are you thinking that no one is using the technology right now? There are certain private and government agencies that require their employees to be chipped as a method of entering the secure facility. Article
Many institutions are now starting to use RFID technology, for example prisons are starting to use RFID to track their inmates. They do not have to have a chip implanted, just an ankle bracelet at this time. Article
Schools are also starting to make their students wear a name badge with an RFID chip. Article
In the preliminary versions of the Obamacare healthcare bills there was a measure that would require all those on public healthcare to be required to have a chip implanted with their medical history. None of these versions made it to the final bill. Article


As you can see, the technology is very real. I would not worry about getting a chip or accidentally taking the Mark of the Beast. When this system is implemented there will be no doubt as to what you are doing. You would never be able to take the Mark accidentally.

The Harbingers

Harbinger: anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign (dictionary.com)

“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”

Isaiah 9:10

Looking back on biblical history we can see the effect disobedience had to the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 28 God tells Israel that if they obey the commands that He has given to them, God will bless them. 

⁹ The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.                Deuteronomy 28:9-11

If the Israelites turned away from God and disobeyed His commands they would be cursed. 

⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— ⁵⁹ the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. ⁶² You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. ⁶³ Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.                      Deuteronomy 28:58-63

God had infinite patience with Israel and gave them many chances to turn back from their disobedience and follow Him. Israel ignored the prophets that warned them again and again to return to God. Finally God sent harbingers Israel as a final warning, but in their arrogance, Israel ignored the warnings. 

America is following in the footsteps of Israel. America is the only other nation that was founded on biblical principles, as a Christian nation, and as long as we continued on that path, God blessed America. We were blessed more than any nation on earth, America was the leader of the free world. For most of our history we considered ourselves a Christian nation, and our leaders stood for those principles. As time has gone on we have started removing God from every aspect of our lives; from school, government, public institutions and public places. Anything Christian is mocked and abhorred. Is it any wonder that the blessings that America once had are leaving us. We have received the same harbingers of warning that Israel received, and we have chosen to ignore them and have arrogantly claimed that we will triumph under our own power. 

God sent nine harbingers to Israel and America. In the next section, I will relate the harbingers that Israel received to the ones that we received. There is no way that this can be coincidence, the events line up in an eerie similarity. Only God's hand on these events could make them so similar. 

“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”

Isaiah 9:10

THE HARBINGERS

The first harbinger is the breach. God had protected Israel throughout her history. Many times He had saved her from incredible odds, but now He removes the hedge of protection from Israel and she is attacked by the Assyrians in 732 B.C.  

The United States has been the military superpower of the world. We are far superior to any other nation in the world. God has removed our hedge of protection and our breach came on September 11, 2001. For the first time, we were attacked catastrophically within our borders. 

The second harbinger is the terrorist. Assyria were the terrorists of their day, they had the art of terror at its highest level. They were one of the most feared nations because they would kill their enemies in horrific ways. The Assyrians are actually the ancestors of Al Queda, the terrorists that breached our walls. The Assyrians spoke a language called Akkadian, the language is extinct but it developed over time into Arabic, the language spoken by Al Queda. So the two terrorists groups spoke a similar language while performing the same acts of terrorism. 

The third harbinger is the fallen bricks. After the Assyrians attacked Israel there was a lot of damage to buildings and walls. Many piles of fallen bricks were all around Israel. The fallen bricks are a foreshadowing of the nation's future collapse. I don't need to remind you of the destruction caused by the falling towers. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

The fourth harbinger is the tower. After the Assyrians attacked Israel, they vowed to rebuild even better and stronger than before. They did not repent and turn back to God, instead they proclaimed their defiance to God. They proclaimed that they would rebuild with hewn stone, a much stronger alternative than the mud and straw bricks that they had used previously. Hewn stone could also be built higher.

After September 11th it seemed that every leader was making proclamations of rebuilding. There was a lot of talk about building a freedom tower in the place of the twin towers, as a symbol of our defiance. We were talking about being defiant to our enemies, but we were really being defiant to God.

The fifth harbinger is the Gazit stone, or the hewn stone. This kind of stone is usually quarried out of mountain rock. After it was carved out of the mountain, it would be smoothed and shaped into a building block. The stone must then be transported to the site of the fallen bricks to be a part of the prophecy. Israel had stone hewn out of the mountains and brought back to begin their rebuilding. Now you are probably thinking that we don't build with granite, but with steel; but we did have a cornerstone of granite cut out of the Adirondack mountains and we called it the Freedom stone. 

http://archive.longislandpress.com/2010/09/10/freedom-stone-ceremony-honors-non-uniform-911-responders/

The sixth harbinger is the Sycamore. When the Assyrians attacked Israel many of the sycamore trees were cut down and destroyed. The sycamore in that time was the ficus sycamorus, also known as the fig mulberry tree, a common tree all over Israel's lowlands. The uprooted sycamore trees are a foreshadowing of the uprooting of a kingdom. Now you are wondering what this tree could have to do with America, there are not a lot of trees in downtown Manhattan. As the north tower collapsed, it sent debris flying through the air. At the far northern corner of ground zero the debris struck down a sycamore tree. 

http://neddybee.blogspot.com/2011/09/miracle-of-sycamore-at-ground-zero.html

The seventh harbinger is the Erez tree, or cedar. The sycamore was a common tree, not considered very strong. In their proclamation, Israel planned to replace the common sycamore trees with very strong cedar trees. Erez is usually translated as cedar, but it is really more of a conifer tree, a pinacea tree. Pinacea trees include cedars, spruce, pine and fir trees. The sycamore that had fallen at ground zero is removed and put on display as a symbol of the calamity. Now a new tree would need to replace the fallen sycamore. Instead of replacing it with another sycamore it is replaced with a pinacea tree, picea albies. 

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/articles/lighting-ground-zeros-tree-of-hope

The eighth harbinger is the utterance. The utterance is the proclamation of the vow in the capital city. The nation's leaders had to make the proclamation and speak the act of defiance. In Israel, the leaders made the proclamation of Isaiah 9:10 in Samaria, the capital city. Did this utterance take place in America? Yes it did. In 2004, John Edwards speech in front of the Congressional black caucus was built entirely on the vow of Isaiah 9:10. 

Here is a link to the speech. John Edwards Speech.

The ninth harbinger is the prophecy. This harbinger is also verbal, but it is not about what is, but what is to come; a prophecy. The proclamation by Israel in Isaiah 9:10 is both a vow and a prophecy. On September 12, 2001, the day after the attacks Tom Daschle, the senate majority leader gave a speech. In the speech he quotes Isaiah 9:10, in doing so, he joined together America and 9/11 with the prophecy in Isaiah. In effect, he prophesied judgment on America. Tom Daschle's speech.

As you see how the events in America have mirrored those of Israel, you can see that America has been warned and we have stood in defiance of God's warnings. We are seeing the results of that defiance now with our failing economy and the disasters that have come upon this country since that date. 

If you want to find out more go and check out the book The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn.

John 3:16

One of the best known verses in the Bible is John 3:16. We see it everywhere, people holding signs with John 3:16 on them in pictures, Tim Tebow has it written on his eyeblack, it is on bags and shirts and bumper stickers; it is the ultimate symbol for being a Christian. 

http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2012/03/john-316.html

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1870689,00.html

I wonder if anyone really thinks about what it means anymore. Let's take a look at the verse:

For God so Loved the World 

That He Gave His Only Son,

That Whoever Believes in Him Shall Not Perish

But Have Everlasting Life

Let's start with the background. God created a perfect world and then created man to have authority over it.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26

Man was only given one rule, that he may not eat from one tree. This was a test of obedience and love, but man failed.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17

With this act of disobedience man gave the authority he had over the earth and all things in it to Satan. When people say, "why did God let this happen?" The answer is simple, we gave authority to Satan. We had free will and we chose to hand the dominion of the earth to Satan. God does not cause disasters or evil things to happen, but He does not interfere with our free will. God wants us to love and worship Him by choice, not because we are forced to which is why He does not interfere with the choices we make; good or bad. 

Then God chose Abraham to be the Father of a new people, a people dedicated to God. Abraham made a covenant with God. God would bless Abraham and he would be the father of many nations. As we see in the Bible, God keeps His promise to Abraham and his descendants become the Israelites. One of Abraham's descendants is Moses. Now to Moses God gives the ten commandments and lays out the system of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. Blood must be shed for sin to be forgiven. This is a precursor to Jesus sacrifice in the New Testament.

Up until the time of Jesus the Jewish people lived under the law. The law required sacrifice of animals at different times for forgiveness of sin. You can read about all the different sacrifice requirements in the book of Leviticus. If you are wondering why the Jews don't continue the system of animal sacrifice today it is because according to the Torah sacrifices were only allowed to be made in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Once the Antichrist comes to power, he will rebuild the Temple and the sacrifices will resume for a time. This will continue until the Antichrist comes into the Temple and declares himself God. 

Now we get to the verse. God loved all of us, not just the Jewish people. Very few gentiles would become Jews and follow the system of law. God needed a sacrifice that would be for all people and would do away with the system of law. God became a man and was born as the poorest of the poor. Jesus endured all that we as human beings endure during our lives. He was hungry, thirsty, cold, tired, alone; everything that you imagine a human would experience. During His lifetime, He focused on telling as many people as He could reach about God and His love for all people. He knew that He was sent to earth for one purpose, to die.  When He was crucified He took all the sins of everyone on himself as a one time sacrifice. He died so we could live! There is only one thing that we need to do, believe in Him and accept the gift that He died to give us, eternal life. 

There is more to this verse, everyone always stops at the one verse 3:16. I want to talk about more than that part of the verse. Here is the continuation:

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:17-18

Now we see the reason that God sent Jesus into the world. Not to condemn the world, but to save it. Jesus is our only hope. We cannot get into heaven based on the good deeds that we do. If we are judged according to how "good" we are then we would be doomed. No one on their own can be good enough to get to heaven. All we need to do is accept the gift that Jesus is giving to us through grace. 

Whoever believes in Jesus and accepts this gift of life, their sins are washed away. The slate is wiped clean. The opposite side of this gift is the rejection of it...anyone that does not believe in Jesus is rejecting the gift of salvation that He died to give you. It does not matter how good you are, you have committed the unpardonable sin by rejecting Jesus. 

I pray that you reach out and take that FREE gift that Jesus wants to give you. It costs you nothing and it will change your life. God loves you so much that He sent His son to die so that you do not have to...why would you not take the gift He is offering to you.... 

The Final Judgment

The final judgment will come at the end of the millennium period. During the millennium Satan be bound and thrown in a pit. 
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.  Revelation 20:1-3

The believers that survived the Tribulation period will enter the millennial kingdom. They will be mortal and will marry and have children during this period. Those that believe in Christ will live through the entire millennium period, but their children will have to make a conscious choice to follow Christ or to refuse Him. 
“Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach^[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.  Isaiah 65:20
There will be no sickness during the millennium, the people that die during this period will be those that turned their backs on Christ and refused to follow Him. This proves that man does not need Satan to tempt him to be disobedient, men are capable of choosing evil on their own. 
At the end of the millennium period Satan will be set loose, he wastes no time in going out to gather together armies for a final stand against God. Satan and his armies surround God's people in preparation for a battle, but there is no battle. God sends down fire to destroy these armies and throws Satan into the Lake of Fire for good.
⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:7-10

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Now the final judgment takes place, the Great White Throne Judgment. This is a judgment of the wicked dead, all those that died in unbelief will be raised for this judgment. Since these people did not receive forgiveness by grace, they will be judged according to their deeds. Many will protest that they believed in God, but they will be shown the book of life and they will see that their names are not there. Then they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. 
¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15

Many people say that God is not fair. Why would He throw people into Hell? I thought He was a loving God.... the answer is simple. Yes, He loves everyone; in fact He loved you so much that He sent His son to die so that you would not have to. There is only one catch...you need to accept the gift that He has give you. God does not want anyone to go to Hell, but He gave us free will. We get to make the choice about where we spend eternity. What choice have you made? Where will you spend eternity?