Isaiah 9:6 prophesies, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us;... / And His name will be called... / Mighty God, / Eternal Father.” This prophecy adequately and clearly reveals Christ’s divinity. Isaiah was written about seven hundred years before Christ’s incarnation, but it clearly prophesied that a child would be born to us and a Son would be given to us and that His name would be called Mighty God and Eternal Father. In this verse Mighty God is paired with child, and Eternal Father is paired with Son.
Luke 2:11-12 and John 3:16 speak of the fulfillment of this prophecy. Luke 2:11-12 says, “Today a Savior has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Christ was incarnated and born as a baby, but the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem was the Mighty God. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” This verse is based on Isaiah 9:6. The Christ who was born as a baby is the Son given to us by God. Moreover, Christ the Son is the Eternal Father. As the child and the Mighty God are one person, so the Son and the Eternal Father are also one person. The baby born in the manger in Bethlehem was the gift given by God to us, and this gift is His Son, who is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace. When we receive this Christ, we receive God and enjoy all His riches.
The Old Testament contains prophecies not only concerning the divinity of Christ but also concerning the humanity of Christ. The Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ’s humanity mainly speak of His humanity in relation to four persons: the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, and the branch of Jesse.
The first prophecy in the Old Testament, which is also the first prophecy in the entire Bible, speaks of Christ as the seed of the woman in His humanity. Jehovah God spoke to the serpent in Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity / Between you and the woman / And between your seed and her seed; / He will bruise you on the head, / But you will bruise him on the heel.” This promise regarding the seed of the woman is the first prophecy in the Bible. In Isaiah 7:14 the prophet Isaiah prophesied, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and will bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.” The birth of Jesus Christ of the virgin Mary fulfilled the prophecy of Christ being the seed of the woman in His humanity (Matt. 1:22-23). Paul also testified solemnly that Christ was “born of a woman” (Gal. 4:4). As the seed of the woman in His humanity, Christ is Emmanuel—God with us, and He has bruised the head of the ancient serpent, Satan.
Christ in His humanity was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin; hence, man called His name Emmanuel—God with us (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). The el in Emmanuel means “God” in the original language. This means that He is God; He is the incarnated God living among us (John 1:14). Furthermore, He is not only God but also God with us. Christ in His humanity as the very Emmanuel not only was with the disciples when He was on earth (14:9) but also is with us, since His ascension, whenever we are gathered into His name. Moreover, He will be with us all the days until the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20).
Genesis 3:15 prophesies that Christ as the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the old serpent, Satan, and the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. The fulfillment of the first half of this prophecy is referred to in Hebrews 2:14 and in 1 John 3:8, which reveal that through death Christ destroyed the devil, who has the might of death. This prophecy will be further fulfilled when the ancient serpent is cast down out of heaven by the man-child (Rev. 12:9). The last half of the prophecy—the serpent bruising the heel of the seed of the woman—was fulfilled when Christ’s feet were nailed to the cross. By having the Lord Jesus’ feet nailed to the cross, Satan bruised His heel (Psa. 22:16).
Satan tempted the man, whom God created for Himself, to sin and rebel against God. He also imparted himself in his sinful nature into man to dwell in man’s flesh (Rom. 7:17) and be man’s nature, constituting man a sinner, dead in his spirit (Gen. 3:1-6), making himself one with man (Matt. 16:23; John 6:70; 8:44; 1 John 3:8a). In addition, man is held in slavery all his life by Satan through the fear of death (Heb. 2:15). As the seed of the woman, Christ in His humanity partook of blood and flesh, having the likeness of the flesh of sin and being involved with fallen man’s flesh indwelt by Satan (v. 14; John 1:14; Rom. 8:3). Thus, through the death on the cross, Christ judged Satan, the enemy of God (John 12:31; 16:11), destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:8b), and destroyed the devil, who dwells in fallen man (Heb. 2:14), so as to free man. Eventually, the overcoming believers will execute God’s judgment on the ancient serpent, Satan, and cast him down to the earth (Rev. 12:9-12). Before the millennium begins, Christ will send an angel to bind Satan and cast him into the abyss where he will be shut up for one thousand years (20:1-3). At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released from the abyss. He will then deceive the nations into following him to surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city. This will be the last struggle of fallen man to rebel against God. Then fire will come down out of heaven and devour them (vv. 7-9). The devil, who deceived them, will be cast into the lake of fire, where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever (v. 10). This is the last step of the executing of Christ’s judgment on Satan, and it is also the final purging of the poison of rebellion against God that was injected into man by Satan.