Is the Bible Really the Word of God??
How do you know that the Bible is really the word of God and not just a bunch of guys writing stories? Have you ever wondered about that. Have you ever asked yourself if the Bible is really the infallible word of God? Do you know someone that insists the Bible is just a collection of stories written by man, not God? How do you answer such a charge? Do you just walk away unable to refute such claims? Well today we are going to look at the Bible in a way you may never have thought of before so we can answer the question, “Is the Bible Really the Word of God??”
Turn if you will to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and you will see, “All Scripture is God-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man if God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Note God-breathed or God-inspired meaning every word was at the direction of God. This does not mean that the authors did not have their own styles of writing. They certainly did. This is plain to see as we read throughout the Scriptures. Should we look at the authors as stenographers simply taking dictation from God? No. Any active Christian can probably tell you that when God moves you to do something, you may not know exactly what to do or how to do it. Yet the job gets done and done right when we listen properly to God and follow his lead. Is this how Scripture was written for more than a millennium? Personally I would tend to think so but this is MY opinion and I stress that as MY opinion. The truth is we really don’t know exactly how God accomplished the writing of Scripture. We just see the end result.
Would everyone consider this to be sufficient proof that the Bible comes from God? I doubt it. You see while a believer is satisfied with this explanation because of his or her relationship with God, the non-believer needs more. They are going to look at the last paragraph as rather self-serving. Kind of like me writing a term paper and telling the teacher that everything in it is true, without supporting research. And when the teacher wants to know why they should believe this I point out that it says so at the beginning of the paper so it must be true. No, the teacher wouldn’t accept this and a non-believer is not going to accept that either. He or she will need more than that to think about. With this in mind, I ask you to consider the following.
Fully one third of the Bible is prophecy. That is revelations about future events. Notice that I say revelations, not predictions. Predictions suggest a certain amount of statistical uncertainty about the events forecast. However, revelations is a defining term. It is a revealing of future events that will, WILL come to pass. There is no doubt on this point. Every event that has been foretold in Scripture whose time has come to pass has come true. There are no exceptions. There is no other book in the world that can make such a claim. No psychic, mystic, medium or self proclaimed prophet can make a claim of 100% accuracy! Only those that speak for God as He reveals His mysteries to us, can claim 100% infallibility.
Let’s look a little closer at just a few of the predictions that have been made in Scripture. There are 42 references to Bethlehem in the old testament. Yet only Micah 5:2 reveals, “…out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” I encourage you to read all of Micah 5 as it is speaking about the promised ruler from Bethlehem we know as Jesus Christ. Consider how may cities, towns and villages existed in Judah at this time. Consider also how long before Jesus’ birth this passage was written, over 700 years before! Do you truly think that someone could just ‘guess’ at this, picking the right town at the same time?!
Consider Jesus crucifixion. John 19: 33-34, “But when they came to Jesus and found he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” This fulfilled prophecy from Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12 and Psalm 34:20 that told no bones shall be broken. In Zechariah 12:10, prophecy was fulfilled in the piercing of Jesus’ side.
Friends, these are not random guesses being made. There has to be something more here, revealing what was to happen and those revelations began more than 1000 years before the unfolding of these events! These are not men guessing at the future. Someone is there giving us this information without fault. And that someone is God speaking to his children! And there are plenty more examples for us to study. Remember as I said earlier, fully one third of the Bible is prophecy!
Still not quite convinced?? I have more. The disciples Jesus chose were with him for 3 ½ years. They heard and saw everything he did. We are talking about eyewitness accounts as to what went on during Jesus’ ministry. And when Jesus had been taken up to Heaven they preached the Gospel, the truth about Christ and what they had personally witnessed. People with every reason to lie about Jesus to avoid persecution at the hands of the Romans and Jewish leaders of that time chose the hard road and continued to speak the truth! And they did so unto DEATH for many of them. Having said that I would ask you to think about the following. Can you think of one person that would willing die for something they knew to be a lie? I can’t. Nobody is willing to die for what they know is a lie! Let me repeat that - NOBODY is willing to die for what they know is a lie! Think about it. These people saw and believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and acted accordingly and they willing died for their beliefs - for the truth!
As you examine and consider this information take this into account. The Bible is a living document. It was not written for one age. It is not relevant for only the first century church. It is relevant today! Let me go further. It is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. Scripture is equally as applicable today as it was 1000, 2000 or 3000 years ago. The Word of God lives in the form of Jesus Christ and within the pages of your Bible. He is timeless. He is accurate. He is alive. He is truth.
Now if you are still on the fence about this thinking, “it makes a lot of sense, but…”, there is someone that can and will show you the truth. Even if you’re not even sure God is real there is still someone to help. That someone is God Himself! Whether you believe or not is irrelevant. He is real and He is waiting for you. All you need do is ask Him to prove the truth. I have no doubt He is waiting for you with open arms. Ask Him to open your heart and mind to the truth and to grant you the gift of understanding. Embrace the truth and begin a new life filled with hope and healing and the love of Jesus. God wants to prove Himself to you. He wants to heal and hold you. He is waiting for you, all you need do is ask!
In His Name…
© copyright 2004 Church of Hope, Inc.
How do you know that the Bible is really the word of God and not just a bunch of guys writing stories? Have you ever wondered about that. Have you ever asked yourself if the Bible is really the infallible word of God? Do you know someone that insists the Bible is just a collection of stories written by man, not God? How do you answer such a charge? Do you just walk away unable to refute such claims? Well today we are going to look at the Bible in a way you may never have thought of before so we can answer the question, “Is the Bible Really the Word of God??”
Turn if you will to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and you will see, “All Scripture is God-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man if God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Note God-breathed or God-inspired meaning every word was at the direction of God. This does not mean that the authors did not have their own styles of writing. They certainly did. This is plain to see as we read throughout the Scriptures. Should we look at the authors as stenographers simply taking dictation from God? No. Any active Christian can probably tell you that when God moves you to do something, you may not know exactly what to do or how to do it. Yet the job gets done and done right when we listen properly to God and follow his lead. Is this how Scripture was written for more than a millennium? Personally I would tend to think so but this is MY opinion and I stress that as MY opinion. The truth is we really don’t know exactly how God accomplished the writing of Scripture. We just see the end result.
Would everyone consider this to be sufficient proof that the Bible comes from God? I doubt it. You see while a believer is satisfied with this explanation because of his or her relationship with God, the non-believer needs more. They are going to look at the last paragraph as rather self-serving. Kind of like me writing a term paper and telling the teacher that everything in it is true, without supporting research. And when the teacher wants to know why they should believe this I point out that it says so at the beginning of the paper so it must be true. No, the teacher wouldn’t accept this and a non-believer is not going to accept that either. He or she will need more than that to think about. With this in mind, I ask you to consider the following.
Fully one third of the Bible is prophecy. That is revelations about future events. Notice that I say revelations, not predictions. Predictions suggest a certain amount of statistical uncertainty about the events forecast. However, revelations is a defining term. It is a revealing of future events that will, WILL come to pass. There is no doubt on this point. Every event that has been foretold in Scripture whose time has come to pass has come true. There are no exceptions. There is no other book in the world that can make such a claim. No psychic, mystic, medium or self proclaimed prophet can make a claim of 100% accuracy! Only those that speak for God as He reveals His mysteries to us, can claim 100% infallibility.
Let’s look a little closer at just a few of the predictions that have been made in Scripture. There are 42 references to Bethlehem in the old testament. Yet only Micah 5:2 reveals, “…out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” I encourage you to read all of Micah 5 as it is speaking about the promised ruler from Bethlehem we know as Jesus Christ. Consider how may cities, towns and villages existed in Judah at this time. Consider also how long before Jesus’ birth this passage was written, over 700 years before! Do you truly think that someone could just ‘guess’ at this, picking the right town at the same time?!
Consider Jesus crucifixion. John 19: 33-34, “But when they came to Jesus and found he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” This fulfilled prophecy from Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12 and Psalm 34:20 that told no bones shall be broken. In Zechariah 12:10, prophecy was fulfilled in the piercing of Jesus’ side.
Friends, these are not random guesses being made. There has to be something more here, revealing what was to happen and those revelations began more than 1000 years before the unfolding of these events! These are not men guessing at the future. Someone is there giving us this information without fault. And that someone is God speaking to his children! And there are plenty more examples for us to study. Remember as I said earlier, fully one third of the Bible is prophecy!
Still not quite convinced?? I have more. The disciples Jesus chose were with him for 3 ½ years. They heard and saw everything he did. We are talking about eyewitness accounts as to what went on during Jesus’ ministry. And when Jesus had been taken up to Heaven they preached the Gospel, the truth about Christ and what they had personally witnessed. People with every reason to lie about Jesus to avoid persecution at the hands of the Romans and Jewish leaders of that time chose the hard road and continued to speak the truth! And they did so unto DEATH for many of them. Having said that I would ask you to think about the following. Can you think of one person that would willing die for something they knew to be a lie? I can’t. Nobody is willing to die for what they know is a lie! Let me repeat that - NOBODY is willing to die for what they know is a lie! Think about it. These people saw and believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and acted accordingly and they willing died for their beliefs - for the truth!
As you examine and consider this information take this into account. The Bible is a living document. It was not written for one age. It is not relevant for only the first century church. It is relevant today! Let me go further. It is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. Scripture is equally as applicable today as it was 1000, 2000 or 3000 years ago. The Word of God lives in the form of Jesus Christ and within the pages of your Bible. He is timeless. He is accurate. He is alive. He is truth.
Now if you are still on the fence about this thinking, “it makes a lot of sense, but…”, there is someone that can and will show you the truth. Even if you’re not even sure God is real there is still someone to help. That someone is God Himself! Whether you believe or not is irrelevant. He is real and He is waiting for you. All you need do is ask Him to prove the truth. I have no doubt He is waiting for you with open arms. Ask Him to open your heart and mind to the truth and to grant you the gift of understanding. Embrace the truth and begin a new life filled with hope and healing and the love of Jesus. God wants to prove Himself to you. He wants to heal and hold you. He is waiting for you, all you need do is ask!
In His Name…
© copyright 2004 Church of Hope, Inc.