The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 2. Jesus and the Hero
GOD WILL SEND SOMEONE TO FIX THIS
God not only created everything through the Word, but God also sustains and controls everything through the Word. So as the ages passed, the Word watched over creation and people.
God also talked to people through the Word. In different ways, God caused people to know about himself. He chose some people to receive the words that he spoke to them and to receive the visions that he showed them. Then they told others what they heard and what they saw from God. These people were called prophets. God even gave them power to work miracles.
God could talk to anyone he wanted, but he decided to talk to the prophets much more often. But it would not remain like this forever. Later, after Jesus Christ had come, anyone who follows God through Jesus Christ could become like the prophets. But it would be many centuries before this happened. Meanwhile, the prophets kept talking about the day when the Word would come to earth as a man.
Now the stage is set for the most amazing, the most interesting, and the most important story ever told. This is the story of God, of the Word, and of people like you and me. This is the story of creation, of sin, and of rescue and redemption. This is the story of love and faith. This is the story of what happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what will happen in the future.
Remember that God told Adam and Eve that a hero would come and take back everything that they lost? God commanded the prophets to keep talking about this hero that would come. And God gave more and more information about him. People continued to hear about this promise for many years – thousands of years.
God kept telling them that a Savior was coming. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, all of us fell into trouble and could not save ourselves. The hero that God predicted would be the one to save us. This is why he would be the ultimate Savior, someone who saves and rescues people from the worst trouble and bring them back to God again. This Savior would not be like one of the prophets, but he would be greater than all of the prophets. He was going to be God’s own Son, the Word.
God knows all things. He is the ruler of all things, and he knows what he is going to do. So God knows the future. And he talked about the future with his prophets. One prophet was named Isaiah, and he lived hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Isaiah said, “A child will be born to us, a Son will be given, and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” God was telling everyone that His Son would come as a little baby and would grow up to be the Savior of the world.
Isaiah was not the only one. Another prophet named Micah said that this special baby would be born in a small town called Bethlehem. Many other prophets talked about the Word, or the Son of God, becoming a man to save God’s people. And each prophet added more details in his predictions.
God always keeps his promises, and he always fulfills his predictions. Even though it took a long time for the Savior to come, the people knew that they could trust God. God never forgets what he said. When you read that God said something in the Bible, you can believe that it is true or that it will happen.
God knew everything that would happen even before he made Adam and Eve, and God knew everything that he was going to do to save people like you and me. So from the very beginning, God had a plan to send Jesus to earth.
Jesus, who had been with God as the Word since before time began, was going to come and rescue the people. He would show them how much God loved them and how they could live by trusting him. The world was about to witness the greatest promise ever made come true.