Proof

             Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”      (Isaiah 44:7-8)

               

Now and again, atheists or agnostics ask for proof of God’s existence. There were times when I tried to present evidence, but it didn’t matter what I provided. They had already made up their mind to reject it. Their goal was entertainment. They wanted to get me to “jump through hoops” to try to come up with something when they had already made up their minds to say, “Nope, try again” every time.  

                I’ve changed my tactics a bit. Now, when called on to prove that God exists, I ask, “What would constitute evidence of a non-physical life form?” A few reply that I should just provide said evidence for their judgment. To that, I say, “If you are unable to explain what constitutes evidence of a non-physical life form, you have no means by which to evaluate the evidence presented.” Or something to that effect.

                Their problem, whether they know it or not, is that most of what they are likely to suggest as an answer doesn’t actually act as evidence. Manifestations may impress, but only until they decide they were momentarily insane or the victim of some hoax. In other words, until they decide there is some natural or “rational” explanation.

                Today’s passage give a great answer to the question. In it, God issues a challenge to all comers. He invites them to tell Him and their audience what will happen in the future, and then they all sit back and wait for that prediction to come to pass. This is when we get to listen to the crickets chirp. But God began telling people what would happen in Genesis 2. When (not if) Adam and Eve  at of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. There’s a small issue with the meaning of “die,” because they didn’t physically drop dead the moment they ate, but their relationship with God was broken. They were dead from His perspective. In Genesis 3, He tells the serpent that one of Eve’s descendants would crush his head. As you continue to read through Genesis, there are more prophecies and promises. There are (according to one source) 1817 prophecies in the Bible, accounting to 27% of the verses in the Bible. About 300 prophecies deal with the Messiah, and many of those have been fulfilled.

                Our problem is that while we may know a little about the content of those prophecies, we don’t know when they were made or fulfilled, so when someone says that the passage involved was written after the event took place, we don’t have an argument. That’s on us. However, the point is simple. Prophecy and its fulfillment is the evidence God puts forth to prove His existence.