Dear church,

Here are seven defining prophecies about Jesus Christ:

1. Born of a woman: Foretelling the defeat of Satan (Genesis 3:15).
2. Descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).
3. From the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).
4. Descendant of David (Jeremiah 23:5).
5. Announced by John the Baptist (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1).
6. Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
7. Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14).

Look at these prophecies:

1.   Born of a woman: all people are born of a woman.
2.   Descended from Abraham: list narrows down.
3.   Tribe of Judah: narrows further.
4.   Descendent of David: narrower yet.
5.   Announced by John the Baptist: that is very narrow.
6.  Born in Bethlehem: very, very specific.
7.  Born of a virgin: A category of one.

A mathematician and Christian writer named Peter Stoner asked the question, “What are the chances that just seven of those prophecies happened by chance?” After doing the calculations, he concluded the chances were 1 in 10 to the 17^th power. If you wrote that out, it would look like this:

1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.  Yet Christ fulfilled not seven but over 300 prophecies!  Yes, he is the promised savior, yes, he has the power to change our lives. Now is he your savior?  I can’t answer that question for you.  You have to answer that for yourself.

Merry Christmas!  Be Encouraged,

Mathews George