4 minute read
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2 NIV)
Jesus stands the test of time.
Micah, a minor prophet who lived about 800 years before Jesus’s birth, prophesied about Him. The pages of Scripture contain over 300 prophecies about Jesus that He fulfilled. In today’s verse, Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-6 NIV), ruled Israel (Luke 1:33 NIV) and, He is everlasting (Luke 8:58 NIV).
Mathematics and Astronomy Professor Peter W. Stoner uses this analogy to explain the likelihood of Jesus fulfilling just eight of the prophecies about Him:
“That would be equivalent to covering the whole state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep and then expecting a blindfolded man to walk across the state and on the very first try find the ONE coin you marked”
Jesus exists.
Not only did Jesus exist, He does exist. The deeper you dive into life with Jesus, the more you will realize this truth. According to Professor Stoner:
“Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”
If people don’t believe in Jesus, it’s because they’ve made a conscious decision not to believe in Him. In a recent conversation with an atheist on the topic of God’s existence, He said these words to me:
“When I was younger, I prayed, and weird stuff happened, I know God exists, but God doesn’t exist.”
In other words, he’s made a logical decision that God doesn’t exist; therefore, he doesn’t. A famous quote heard in sermons around the world is:
“People miss heaven by 18 inches.”
The room between their heads and their hearts are what cause people to miss out on eternity. Faith isn’t logical. Atheists have faith; believing God doesn’t exist is a belief, not a fact. Jesus walked the earth; people know that happened. What they don’t think is He died and rose again. One person described Jesus to me this way:
“I believe Jesus lived; I just don’t believe everything about Jesus.”
As Jesus becomes more real in our lives, He becomes more real to those around us. When they watch Christ-followers deal with life through the lens of Jesus, people begin to understand who He is. We lead others to Jesus with our actions. Opening ourselves up to conversations with people who don’t share our beliefs is the first step in helping them understand who Jesus is. If we aren’t willing to talk about Him, how will others ever know Him?
Jesus stands the test of time. Proclaim His good works so others may know Him.
Question of the Day:
What good works has Jesus done for you lately?
Further Reading: Micah 5:1-7:20 NIV, Revelation 7:1-17 NIV, Psalm 135:1-21 NIV, Proverbs 30:5-6 NIV
