The year 2020 was rough to say the least, and 2021 doesn’t seem to be starting that much better. I don’t say this to be a downer because we all have felt this, some to a greater extent than others. If there is one thing that this pandemic has taught me, it is that nothing in this life is guaranteed except CHRIST. Back in March I had planned to attend a convention in Seattle. At this convention I was going to get a chance to meet the main cast of my favorite movie trilogy, Back to the Future. This was going to take place on March 15, but the pandemic hit that week. I had the tickets, I was beyond excited for this once-in-a-lifetime experience that I never thought I would get to have, and just like that, it was cancelled.
Things continued to get worse and nothing happened as planned, yet, through this experience I learned a great lesson; nothing in life is guaranteed except CHRIST. During the early months of the pandemic I began looking more into studying the Bible’s validity. With so much talk of end time events I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at a few prophecies that have been fulfilled in history so as to show why we can trust the Bible and talk about the most important yet to be fulfilled promise.
One of my personal favorite fulfilled Bible prophecies is a prophecy given by the prophet Zechariah. In Zechariah Chapter 11, the prophet wrote, “And I said to them, if you like, give me wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to. So they counted out my wages thirty pieces of silver.” Those of you who know their Bible well, know that is the exact amount of money that CHRIST’s disciple Judas Iscariot sold HIM out for as recorded by Matthew in his Gospel “and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray JESUS to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.” The first line of questioning by most skeptics would be to say that Zechariah wasn’t written before the events of the crucifixion. But it is agreed upon by most historians that the chapter of Zechariah was written in around 480 B.C. This puts it 513 years before the death of CHRIST! That’s not even in the ballpark, that grabs my attention for sure and is far too specific to be a lucky guess.
Let us not forget the most important prophecy to ever be fulfilled, the words of CHRIST; “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise It up.” This is recorded in the Gospel accounts and is one of the many times JESUS claimed HE would rise from the dead. More directly HE also claimed to be GOD, in John’s Gospel, chapter 10, verse 30, CHRIST said; “I and The FATHER are ONE.” Simply put, like one of my favorite Christian apologists, Frank Turek puts it, "I just have a personal policy, if somebody rises from the dead, I just trust whatever the guy says." To many, the resurrection seems like something someone made up, but every single historical and logical fact shows that yes indeed JESUS CHRIST died on that cross, and 500 separate people saw HIM afterwards.
We all have had a lot of disappointments, I shared one of many that I have experienced these past 11 months, but there is one thing that will never disappoint, one thing we can always look forward to. “JESUS told him, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the FATHER except through ME.” Let us cling to this, even when the world is falling apart, let us remember that we can always know that “if we confess our sins, HE is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” and give us the free gift of salvation purchased for us on that cross two millennia ago.
“I’m not a Christian today because I was raised that way or because it satisfies some need or to accomplish some goal. I’m simply a Christian because it’s evidentially true.”
-Cold Case Homicide Detective J. Warner Wallace
“I believe Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
-C. S. Lewis
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