The Emergent Kingdom - The Coming of Immanuel, Part I

John the Baptist had been appointed by God to fulfill the role of Isaianic forerunner and promised Elijah. That role was one of preparation - to prepare Israel for the coming of the Lord. The prophets had insisted that Yahweh Himself would inaugurate His promised kingdom by His own coming. The coming of the Lord (theophany) meant the kingdom was at hand.

This sermon considers Yahweh's personal theophany in terms of its connection in the prophets with the Immanuel prophecy and the promise of a Davidic seed. The first of two parts, it shows how the Old Testament prophetic revelation connected four streams of messianic promise (theophany, Immanuel, the Servant of the Lord, and the seed of David) and the way they converged in Jesus Christ as attested by the gospel writers.