We live in a world that is confused big time. We certainly know from the Bible that this confusion is the result of our sin nature given to us by Adam in the beginning. But wait; did you grasp what I just said? I said “we certainly know from the Bible.” Who is the “we” that certainly knows from the Bible? All “believers” know from the Bible “but” how many people in the world are Bible believers?
There is the big time confusion. Ever since sin began, people have been searching for the “truth” of who created us and why are we here, etc. Instinctively, God has revealed Himself to every human being who has ever existed through nature, the universe, all life on the planet, etc. And seeing a God in all of this but not knowing God, due to Him being invisible, people from the beginning began worshiping anything they felt was much “larger” than themselves, such as the sun, the moon and later the Greek gods of Zeus and all of his offspring, etc. Hundreds if not thousands of idols of all types.
Today, things have escalated to where we have perhaps thousands of different “religions,” and here is the MAIN question every person of ANY religion should be asking themselves: Why do I believe what I believe? What is the SOURCE of my belief? Is it because there is some sort of written document that explains my religion to me, or is it because the knowledge I have has been passed down from generation to generation, and this is what I have learned and believed ever since I was born?
And then comes the much more important question. How do I know the SOURCE of my belief is the TRUTH? I mean, after all, since there are perhaps thousands of religions believing many different things, can they ALL be correct; and if not, how many are correct? Is it 825 or 437 or only 50, or how about 10? Is there any way that, out of perhaps thousands of religions, there could only be ONE that is correct? And if that is a possibility, what would make it correct and make it be the truth?
Hmmm, what do we know about “all” sources of religion? They “all” come from mankind, and every person on the planet has their own opinion as to what is true and correct and what is not. So it appears we have a “he said, she said” sort of problem; you believe your way and I’ll believe my way, and hopefully everything will be fine in the end.
But here is what most people are NOT considering. Is there “any” religion whose SOURCE is NOT from mankind but is from the Creator of all things – God? Any source from mankind is natural. If the Source is God, then that Source is Supernatural and would be ONE of a kind, meaning – out of possibly thousands of natural sources, there is only ONE Supernatural Source; and “that” Source would have to be the Absolute Truth.
Okay, that makes sense, but here is the next super important question. How can you know that ANY source is Supernatural and from God vs. mankind? We live in a natural world, and it is easy to see things that are natural and the product of mankind; but anything Supernatural would have to be far ABOVE the natural and be something that everyone could agree mankind just cannot do, thus making it Supernatural.
Hmmm, what would be examples of that? Let’s start with a biggie. How about predicting the future and writing it down with 100 percent accuracy. Is that natural or Supernatural? That is a rhetorical question, of course. Not even the best of all “natural” predictors such as Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Jeanne Dixon and many more have anywhere near been close to predicting with 100 percent accuracy.
However, the Bible is the ONLY so-called “religion” that is called the word of God. Can you believe that – a religion that calls itself the word of God? Wow, how BOLD is that? So, can it back that up? Are there any examples in the Bible of the word of God predicting any future events with 100 percent accuracy? Only thousands of times. In fact, one fourth to one third of the “entire” Bible is prophetic and devoted to telling us future events in advance. Why? Why would God do this? For two main reasons:
First, to “verify” that the Bible that is called the word of God is INDEED the word of God. 100 percent fulfilled prophecy is something that ONLY God can do; and when He does it thousands of times, it truly leaves “no doubt” that the word of God is truly the Supernatural word of God vs. the natural word of mankind.
In Isaiah 46:9, God says: “I am God and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.”
And the Bible tells us EVERYTHING – how everything began, how everything will end, and everything we need to know in between in terms of how to know and have a personal relationship with God, with each other, and how to live our lives on our short visit to planet Earth.
The second main reason God gives us so many prophecies is He “wants” us to know these future events. It is said there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament alone pertaining to the first coming of Jesus Christ and over 500 prophecies pertaining to His Second Coming; all of these were written 700 years before Jesus was even born. There are hundreds if not thousands of other prophecies pertaining to people, nations, events, cities being destroyed, kings being raised up, the tribulation period, how we end up living on a new earth, etc.
There is no way in a short article to even begin to get into all of the prophecies in the Bible. Just Google “prophecies about Jesus,” or “fulfilled prophecies in the Bible,” or “end-time prophecies” if you want to KNOW what is “going to happen” in the future to us at this time. There have already been so many prophecies fulfilled that we can verify that we know one thing for sure—they all came true; thus, any “future” prophecies the Bible tells us about will also come true.
Fulfilled prophecies are “objective” ways to verify that the Bible is the word of God. A more “subjective” way to verify that it is true is through “changed lives.” Do you really think that God could write you a “letter,” if you will, that speaks to you “individually” and that His word would NOT change your life if you desire Him to do so?
Probably the greatest example in the Bible itself is Saul, the persecutor of Christians. He became Paul, the greatest apostle, in terms of spreading the gospel and writing of the New Testament. I’m sure we all personally know or know of many people whose lives have been changed because of the Bible and their belief in Christ. When we are born again, God the Holy Spirit comes to indwell “in us,” and we now have God’s nature in us to fight against our own sin nature. God’s nature will always change our lives when we desire it.
The bottom line is this: EXAMINE the SOURCE of your belief because it has ETERNAL consequences.
Since the Bible – and Christianity – is the ONLY Supernatural source of God’s truth compared to thousands of natural sources and religions from mankind, then it is IMPERATIVE to know what it has to say in order to be able to spend eternity with God vs. eternity separated from Him.
Everyone KNOWS life on earth is super, super short compared to eternity; thus, eternity itself is what life is TRULY ABOUT.
God knew because of sin that He would have to be invisible to us “at this time” of our journey on earth. He also knew that we needed to KNOW the truth about Himself and everything else He wanted us to know; thus, what did He do? He WROTE IT DOWN for goodness sake!
2 Timothy says “all scripture is INSPIRED by God.” Inspired means “breathed.” God spoke through the approximately 40 different authors of the Bible over 1,600 years to give us a word-of-God book that appears in all respects to be written by the same person. Even that in itself is a miracle. But that one author is God Himself expressing His words through the various writers of the Bible.
It is an AMAZING thing to know that Creator God of all things had His words written down for the entire world to read. But in actuality His words are not meant for the entire world. They are meant for EACH INDIVIDUAL in the entire world. God’s relationship with the whole world is a one-on-one relationship with each person. God never sees a crowd. He only sees one person at a time. Some might say “to the world I am nobody but to SOMEBODY I am the world,” and THAT is the truest statement of all when it comes to how God sees us.
Eternity is a long time, and where you spend it is the ONLY thing that truly matters to every human being. Do your due diligence. Verify for yourself that the Bible is indeed the ONLY Supernatural word-of-God source there is. Then ask Him for His help in understanding it and knowing the truth. After all, it’s why He created you in the first place – to know Him now and for all eternity. Nothing would please Him more.
May God bless you in your quest to know the truth.
David Cogburn