Why are you a follower of Jesus?
Have you ever questioned your faith in Jesus? The literal fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture prophecies is the most irrefutable evidence for His divine Mission. Let’s look at the technique scientists use to test their conclusions, and then apply the same method to Jesus’ divine status.
Laws of Statistics; Scientists’ Evidence for Validating Their Findings
Numerous books have been written by scientists to demonstrate that the universe’s design testifies to a Creator. The Fingerprints of God, which I mentioned previously, is one of them. Have you ever heard that one of the most convincing pieces of evidence for God’s existence in the cosmos is His future predictions?
To prove or refute a prediction, scientists apply the rules of probability in almost all scientific studies. These laws are used to determine if the results of their studies are attributable to chance or are beyond chance. If they rule out chance, they can infer that what they predicted was correct. If they wish to test a medicine, for example, they choose two groups of patients: one gets the drug, and the other gets a placebo. The drug’s effectiveness is then determined by comparing the groups.
If we apply the statistical laws to the visible world to discover the truth, why not also apply the same laws to the world of ideas? For instance, we can ask several groups of people to make ten predictions about the future. By statistical laws, we can discover the chance each group has for making predictions by sheer chance. Lottery games follow the same laws of chance.
Consider a predictor who made hundreds of specific symbolical spiritual predictions hundreds of years ago, all of which came true without fail. Can such predictions be attributed to chance? Only God has complete knowledge of the future.
Just as scientists use chance rules to evaluate the visible cosmos, we can use the same principles to test God’s predictions. Would you question these norms as a skeptical scientist in search of the truth? Would you accept scientific principles solely if they apply to the visible dimensions of the universe, but reject them if they apply to the invisible dimension of the cosmos—the world of ideas?
How Do We Know Who Our Redeemer Is?
What are the most reliable standards or tests by which we can recognize a Redeemer? Two verses clearly resolve this issue.
The First Verse
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without
revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.-Amos 3:7
Is it true that Jesus met the previous standard? Is it true that He reminded the Jews of this test? The second verse verifies the standard’s validity as well as people’s refusal to follow it.
The Second Verse
These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
yet you refuse to come to me to have life.-John 5:30-40
Science Speaks: Statistical Laws Applied to First Advent Prophecies
Dr. Stoner and Dr. Newman, two distinguished scientists, have prepared a book called Science Speaks to demonstrate that the literal fulfillment of Hebrew Scriptures concerning our Lord’s Advent is the strongest evidence of His divine mission and station. They have demonstrated that it is virtually impossible for someone to fulfill Hebrew prophesies by chance alone, using statistical rules. Christian leaders and academics frequently cite their findings. Their conclusion is that the odds of someone fulfilling Hebrew prophecies by chance is [1 in 10^17]. Without divine insight, what possibility does anyone have of fulfilling those prophecies? The following passage from their book says it all:
Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him to that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? -Science Speaks, pp. 106-107.
Just writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.