Religion! Popular or unpopular, people are governed by it. It simply means faith, belief, creed or conviction relative to the creator of heaven and earth. Relative to the creator of heaven and earth there can be and there is, true and false religion.

Did you know that if there is no prophecy in a religion, then that religion is not a religion of the creator? When yours truly studied economics and business at the university of Manitoba predicting and forecasting economic phenomena was one of the major areas of study. He developed autoregressive integrated moving average and econometric models to predict prices of goods. He also attended forecasting conferences. The first conference he attended as a blossoming young and sharp economist was in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA way back in 1996 the same year his doctorate degree was conferred upon him.

By definition prophecy is foretelling or predicting the future. About the religion of Christ, Isaiah says:
"Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts I am the first, and I am the last and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God I know not any," (Isaiah 44:6-8, King James Version).

The sovereign of the religion of Christ makes it very clear for himself and his creation by direct declaration, questioning and answering. By direct declaration, he declares "I am the first, and I am the last and beside me there is no God."

By questioning he asks "And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people?" "Have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it?" "Is there a God beside me?"

By answering he says "Fear ye not, neither be afraid." "Ye are even my witnesses." "Yea, there is no God beside me I know not any."

Through the prophet Isaiah the one true God has revealed himself and declared how he proves that he is the one true God. This God foretold the experience of all his people and whatever he foretold he made it come to pass. That is how he distinguishes himself and sets himself from other gods, man-made gods.

The first prophecy was given in Genesis 3:15, where he said:

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

In this prophecy God put hatred between Satan and the Church, between the followers of Satan and the followers of God as revealed by Christ Jesus. This hatred would culminate at mount Calvary with the crucifixion of Christ. Satan working through religious leaders, Pilate and the Roman soldiers bruised Christ's heel, but Christ bruised Satan's head. This prophecy was fulfilled exactly as it was foretold. Hence, Christ accomplished his mission to save the human race at the cross, and by so doing sentenced Satan to eternal destruction to be administered at Christ’s second coming.
The experience of the seed of Abraham was foretold long before it happened. Genesis 15:13-14 King James Version:

“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
The fulfilment of this prophecy occurred in a dramatic fashion and is recorded in Exodus 12:40-41 King James Version:

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."
God foretold what would happen and it came to pass just as foretold. This is how God proves himself to be true. What about the birth of Christ? Believe you me, the place of the birth of Christ was well foretold. Listen to Micah 5:2:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

And the time when Christ would be born was also foretold. Listen! Daniel 9:24-27 King James Version:

“24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Not only was the time of Christ's birth foretold, but also the time that he would begin his ministry, how long his ministry would go, how he would be killed and how he would die for the sins of all humans. This was all done so that when people seek a saviour and the Messiah they would know who he is - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Jesus Christ is such an important figure in the history of the earth that time is reckoned relative to him. The time before he was born is referred to as Before Christ or BC. The time after he was born is referred to as Anno Domini in Latin or simply AD.

The apostle Peter recognized the significance of prophecy in religion. In 2 Peter 1:19 King James Version he wrote:

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

According to the apostle Peter prophecy is like a light that shines in a dark place. Peter’s experience suggests that if a religion has no prophecy, it may not have light. The religion of Christ is full of prophecy, fulfilled prophecy and that which is yet to be fulfilled. Because of prophecy one can confidently declare that the religion of Christ is true. Is it any wonder that the great apostle Paul declared in Acts 4:12 King James Version:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Without prejudice we can confidently say that the only name whereby we may be saved is Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

One hope that the religion of Christ offers is derived from the prophetic words of Christ himself found in Matthew 25:31-32 King James Version:

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: . . .”

Christ is coming again! Hello Zambia and Zambians Hello Africa and Africans Hello world and global citizens, all I am asking for today is, pray that your nation is going to be there. The purpose of prophecy in Christ’s religion is to show that God, the father of Jesus Christ, is true and he is the one true God and beside him there is no other god. TwCN.