<p>13:47 <i>For so has the Lord commanded us: I have set you for a light of the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost part of the earth</i>- Isaiah's prophecies of Christ being a light to the Gentiles in the Kingdom were fulfilled in Paul (Is. 49:6 = Acts 13:47; and is Is. 49:4 also a prophecy of Paul's thoughts? &quot;I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought... yet surely my judgment is with the Lord&quot;). Paul noticed the prophecy that Christ was to be the light of the whole world and saw in this a commandment to him to go and preach Christ world-wide. &nbsp;He read &ldquo;&hellip;for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider&rdquo; (Is. 52:15) as a prophecy which required him to fulfil it, by taking Christ to those who had not heard (Rom. 15:21). All that is prophesied of Christ is an imperative to us as His body to action. Paul was to bring others to the light just as John had (Lk. 1:77,79 =&nbsp; Acts 13:47; 26:18,23). Paul takes a prophecy concerning how Christ personally would be the light of the whole world (Is. 49:6), and applies it to himself in explanation of why he was devoted to being a light to the whole world <i>himself </i>(Acts 13:47- although 26:23 applies it to Jesus personally). Paul even says that this prophecy of Christ as the light of the world was a <i>commandment</i> to him; all that is true of the Lord Jesus likewise becomes binding upon us, because we are <i>in</i> Him. Note that Paul says that God has commanded <i>us</i> to witness; it wasn&rsquo;t that Paul was a special case, and God especially applied Isaiah&rsquo;s words concerning Christ as light of the Gentiles to Paul. They apply to <i>us</i>, to all who are in Christ. Because everything said about Christ is a commandment to all of us who are in Him. What would Jesus do, who would He be, if He lived in your street, did your job, was married to your partner, mixed with the guys <i>you</i> mix with? The answer to that is our mission. In this sense He has in this world no arms or legs or face than us.</p><p>Believers worked for the fulfilment of their prophecies. Thus Mary was blessed for believing, because therefore and thereby there would be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her (Lk. 1:45 RV). Without her faith, would those things have been fulfilled? She had to do her bit. And this is why she was called blessed. The Lord basically told the disciples to go into the world and preach in order that the prophesies of repentance being preached among all nations would come true (Lk. 24:48). Paul&rsquo;s preaching to the whole world was likewise driven by a desire to fulfil the prophecy that Christ would be a light to the Gentiles.</p>