The Address of the Messiah
Written in Bible prophecy long before Jesus was born.
My all-time favorite drama is Our Town, written in 1937 by Thornton Wilder and performed for the first time in 1938, the year of my birth.
I witnessed Our Town my first time in 1953 when I was in junior high school. It impacted me so profoundly that I wept on and off for three days afterwards. It is a story about family life in a small New Hampshire town, Grover’s Corners, at the turn of the 20th Century. It is a deceptively simple, down-to-earth story that emphasizes the beauty and sacredness of life.
There is a scene in the play where a sister shares an insight with her brother:1
Rebecca: I never told you about a letter Jane Crofut got from her minister when she was sick. He wrote Jane a letter, and on the envelope the address was like this: It said: Jane Crofut; The Crofut Farm; Grover’s Corners; Sutton County; New Hampshire; United States of America.
George: What’s funny about that?
Rebecca: But listen, it’s not finished: The United States of America; Continent of North America; Western Hemisphere; the Earth; the Solar System; the Universe; the Mind of God — that’s what it said on the envelope.
When I was recently reminded of this remarkable passage, I decided to use it as a format to write my own unique address:
David R. Reagan
The Milky Way
Planet Earth
Western Hemisphere
North American Continent
United States of America
State of Texas
County of Collin
Town of Princeton
Zip Code 75407
County Road 463
Number 2067
In similar manner, each of us has a unique address, and so did the Messiah. His address was spelled out in advance in Bible prophecy:
- From the Shemite branch of humanity (Genesis 9:26 and Luke 3:36)
- Through Abraham (Genesis 12:3 and Matthew 1:1)
- Through Abraham’s son, Isaac (Genesis 17:21 and Luke 3:34)
- Through Isaac’s son, Jacob (Genesis 28:14 and Luke 3:34)
- Through the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8 and Luke 3:33-34)
- Through the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1 and Luke 3:32)
- Through the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5 and Luke 3:31-32)
- Through a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 2:11)
- In the town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:1)
- Would reside in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23)
Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth, fulfilled every one of these prophecies, and in doing so, there should be no doubt that He was the Messiah promised by God through the Hebrew prophets.2
The Scriptures give the Messiah a unique address, an address that points to only one person in history — Jesus of Nazareth.
You know your current distinctive natural address here on earth. But do you know your eternal address? Can you say with absolute confidence that you have a mansion reserved for you in the magnificent New Jerusalem where the Redeemed will live eternally with God? (Revelation 21:1-7). Or, is your current eternal address a place of unimaginable horror called Hell?
The glorious thing is that you can decide your eternal address. You can do so because God in His unfathomable grace and mercy sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins, and when you place your faith in Him as your Lord and Savior, you are born again and sealed for eternal life in the New Jerusalem (John 3:16 and Ephesians 4:30).
Place your faith in Jesus today and guarantee your eternal address.
Notes
1) Three Plays by Thornton Wilder (New York: Harper Brothers, 1957), p. 45.
2) Jesus fulfilled 109 specific prophecies. A listing of all of these can be found in Dr. Reagan’s book, The Christ in Prophecy Study Guide. This guide also provides a detailed listing of all the Second Coming prophecies contained in both the Old and New Testaments. Printed in a large, letter size format for easy reference and note taking. 150 pages. To order, visit our Store.
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