A Sure Thing

“And so we have the prophetic (sure) word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”


2 Peter 1:19
 
 
Like most people I like a sure thing. I am not into gambling as I hate to lose, especially money. I do like reading stories where someone accomplishes something against all odds as it were. My favorite ones have to do with the Lord Jesus Christ who by His life and death and resurrection has defied all the odds. Many years ago a couple of guys, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book, “Science Speaks”. Their book was based on the science of probability and confirmed by the American Scientific Affiliation. It calculated the odds of any one man in all of human history fulfilling just eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Jesus Christ. The conclusion they reached was that the probability that Jesus Christ of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight prophecies would be 1 in 1017. That's 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. That’s a lot of zero’s!

To give visual learners like myself a better understanding, Stoner writes that 1 in 1017 in silver dollars would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep. I’ve driven through Texas, and its a very big state. Stoner went on to say that the probability of one man fulfilling just eight prophecies then would be like covering the state of Texas two feet deep in sliver dollars then marking one of the silver dollar with an X and tossing it into the pile of coins then blindfolding a man and asking him to find the marked silver dollar on his very first attempt. Stoner said the chance of that blindfolded man finding the coin would be, you guessed it, 1 in 1017. One in ten to the seventeenth power!

And to think, Jesus Christ didn’t fulfill just 8 prophecies, He fulfilled more than 300 prophecies concerning the promised Messiah. I’d say the odds are pretty safe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The point we do well to keep in mind today is that only God can predict the future with 100% accuracy. You can rely on His word. If Jesus said it, He meant it and in His perfect timing it will come to pass. Knowing everything God says comes to pass makes you love stats. Let me encourage you today to be one who stands out from the crowd, the one in ten who read the Bible on a daily basis. Read the Bible and trust God’s Word as everything God says is true and everything God promises will come to pass. You can take that to the bank today!


“They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.”

Psalm 22:5


I LOVE YOU!