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Know God or No God

Do You Believe in God?   Does God Exist?     Is God Real?

Exploring the probability of the existence of God.

The existence of God has been a topic of discussion since time began.

Can God’s existence be proved, with 100% certainty?

Not to most people.  Although some people know for certain, that God exists.  Those people who God chose to speak to and through. Those that personally witnessed the miracles God did.  And those that God chose to reveal Himself to.

But for the majority of people, receiving their testimony through second hand accounts, it’s easy to doubt.   There are so many liars, fakers, charlatans, and quacks running around today, who do you believe? Who can you really trust?  If you didn’t witness it yourself, it has to be suspect.

Can you prove God exists?

Can you prove that the sun is 93 million miles away? Even though no one has ever measured it, by conventional means.

Sure scientists can cite a lot of mathematical mumbo jumbo, along with phases of Venus and parallax calculations with Mars. But these are the same folks that just a few years ago were convinced Pluto was a planet. Now they say it isn’t.

Can you prove that a kangaroo can jump 30 feet? To anyone other than the few people that saw it happen, you can’t.

Can you prove that Caesar had dinner with Cleopatra? Other than from the written testimony of witnesses, in historical documents, you can’t.

There are millions of things we accept as fact, that can’t be directly proven to us. Why should the existence of God be different?

There really is no way to know who to trust.  This is one of those times when you have to rely on your own judgment. Read this article. Look at the evidence.  Consider the information with an open mind.  And then decide.

The data at the Pew Research Center from 2007 through 2012 shows that on average 2% of American adults say they are atheists when asked about their religious identity. In that same time period, 3% of American adults said they are agnostic, or uncertain as to their belief in God

That leaves 95% of adult Americans saying they believe that God exists.

For a while, last year, I believed the Giants were going to win the Super Bowl.

But they didn’t. I was wrong. Still, I could handle the loss.

What if I believed there was no God? Suppose I’m wrong about that? If I’m wrong, how well could I handle that loss? What’s the upside and the downside?

Well, if I believe there is no God, the upside is, I get to live my life on earth, any way I want to. I make the rules. I can do what I want, when I want, without any guilt.

But even that, is not completely true. There are still consequences. The government; the law; an employer; relatives; friends; other people; all put limits and restrictions on our behavior.

The irony is, that most of those restrictions, are the same as God’s. What are God’s restrictions? Jesus Christ summed it up this way: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Others have summarized God’s restrictions like this: Treat People the Way You Want to be Treated. Do you want people to steal from you, hurt you, lie to you, cheat you, insult you? Of course not, no one does. God wants the same things you do, peace and harmony, on the earth.

OK, so what’s the downside, if I’m wrong and God does exist? Maybe not much. Most atheists believe, “when you’re dead, you’re dead”. If God does exist, and you’re an atheist, that’s pretty much the way it will be for you, with some minor changes. Here’s what the Scriptures tell us God says about it. Life on earth is basically a test. It’s your opportunity to accept or reject God and His instructions. After death, people that have rejected God, will be destroyed, and people that have cooperated with Him while on earth, will spend eternity with Him. That’s the deal.

I know it sounds farfetched, supernatural, maybe even like a fairytale. But there’s a lot of grounds, to back it up. Let me ask this. Do you think that 200 years ago, someone riding a horse to get from New York to California, which took a couple of months, would honestly believe that by today, hundreds of people, comfortably seated in a climate controlled metal tube, could fly through the air at 600 miles an hour, 35,000 feet above the ground, where there isn’t even enough air to breath, while traveling half way around the world, eating a hot dinner, drinking wine, and speaking to someone on the other side of the globe through some kind of wireless devise? I can guarantee that the existence of God is far more plausible, than that scenario was to people just 200 years ago. And yet as we all know, air travel like that, happens every day and is so routine, nobody thinks twice about it. The existence of God is far less farfetched, than much of our modern day technology would be, to people just a few years ago, especially when you have the right information.

Maybe that’s why 95% of Americans, believe it. The problem is, sorting through all the evidence that reveals God’s existence, is not easy. You want evidence that the sun exists? Look up. You want evidence that someone is guilty of murder? It can take weeks of testimony, hundreds of pages of information, to get “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and you’ll still never be 100% certain. It’s complicated, and so is gathering up and digesting all the information needed to reach the conclusion that God is very real, and in control.

Even though most people believe that God is real, a non-believer might say, “why should I waste my time considering what other people believe? Why are their beliefs any more valid than my belief? Nobody can prove it anyway”.

But isn’t that how we learn, how we grow? By being open minded. By listening to others who may have knowledge or experience about something, that we don’t. Consider this. Many believers have reached their conclusions after some profound personal experience with God. Other believer’s conclusions stem from years of studying the Scriptures and learning the incredible history between God and Man.

How much time, effort, and study, do you think the average non-believer spent, to reach the conclusion that there is no God? I submit to you, not much. In this article we’ll spend about 40 type written pages, explaining the reasons why most people believe that God is real. How many pages could be filled, explaining why God isn’t real?

It’s likely, most non-believers couldn’t fill but 2 or 3. Their non-belief stems more from questions than from answers. Usually it amounts to something like this, “How could a God allow all the evil in the world, and the bad things that happen to people?” Or “Why hasn’t God done this or that?” Or “I’ve never seen Him, heard Him, or felt Him, so why should I believe?”. Well that, or any logic like that, is hardly conclusive. You could actually use some of that logic to dismiss the existence of George Washington.

The sad part is, the answers to all of these questions can be found in the Scriptures, the Bible. But you have to read it. All of it.  Not just a chapter here and there.  Yet if asked to read the Bible, people frequently respond with “Don’t have the time”.

Somehow though, people manage to find the time for plenty of other things.

The average person today, spends a year or 2 in pre-school, 8 years in grade school, 4 years in high school, and maybe 4 or more years in college. That’s almost 20 years, learning things that we believe to be important. On top of that, we spend endless hours learning to use our automobiles, computers, smart phones, new apps, Twitter, Facebook, and dozens of other things deemed essential in today’s world.

Yet there isn’t time to read one book? Are all those other things really more important than survival.   Because God offers us a way to survive the grave. And it’s found in the Bible.

Another common reason for not believing in God, is a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself. The primary proof that God is real, and the facts behind it, are found in the Scriptures, the Bible. Recorded on those pages, is the first hand testimony of thousands of eye witnesses, describing their real life encounters with God.

Many of these people didn’t know one another. They lived in different places at different times. They had no way of collaborating to make sure their stories wouldn’t fall apart. They spoke and wrote from the heart, so that we could Know God. Many of their stories were not at all flattering to themselves, and precious few of them benefited in any way from their testimonies. Many were tortured and killed for their faith, by rulers that saw their own power threatened by a force higher than themselves.

Some people have said the Bible is filled with fairytales. Not many writers would sacrifice their lives to write a fairytale. Some have said the Bible was written to control the people, so they would behave. But most of the Bible was written by the people. By everyday people, not by the rulers of their day.

And yes, the Bible does carry God’s message as to how to behave. To conduct one’s self honorably and honestly, with kindness toward others. Is that bad? Most people don’t think so. Our whole judicial system is based on it. If most people behaved contrary to God’s instruction, the world would be chaos. When some people do behave counter to God’s plan, the result is nothing but pain, heartache, and suffering for others.

There is no life after death, without knowing God, only destruction. Reading the Bible is the single most important thing one can do, to know and understand God.

Still, there are other reasons why people fail to accept God. Some people blame God for the failures of individual Christians and Jews. Much unbelief is the result of a bad experience with an imperfect believer or Church. There is certainly no shortage of either. Hypocrisy, evil, and wickedness have plagued God’s people, since Adam. There are millions of good parents that have given birth to children that have gone astray. But that doesn’t mean the parent doesn’t exist. Nor should the failures of God’s children, cause one to deny God’s existence. Don’t allow someone else’s failure to ruin your opportunity for an eternal life with God in His paradise.

Some people simply don’t want to know whether God is real. Some people really don’t care. But then there are the truly hard core atheists, who are in some ways similar to hard core political pundits. Some are so married to their non-belief, that no amount of convincing evidence to the contrary, will break through that shell. It’s almost like “Why let the facts get in the way of my opinion?”.

It’s human nature to want to be right. But if you really want to find something out, don’t make discussions on the subject, about winning an argument; about I’m right and you’re wrong; about pitting your wits against theirs. Instead, earnestly seek the truth. Because on this subject in particular, even if you win the argument — you lose. Whether you believe it or not, your eternal salvation depends on learning the truth about God and acting on it.

Why do so many believers spend their time and energy, trying to help non-believers, believe? Why would they bother? Because God wants them to. God wants everyone to know Him, and He asks believers to help spread that message.

In reality, whether any of us believe that God exists or not, has no bearing at all on whether He does. Although there are few controversial subjects, in which 95% of all Americans are in agreement.

Where are you, right now? At home? At Work?

Look Around you. Virtually everything you see, is man made.

If you’re in the city, go outside, and look around.

Again, virtually everything you see, is man made.

Even the materials used to build everything, are man made.

Steel, Concrete, Glass, Plastic!

With TV shows like “How it’s Made”, we have at least a vague idea how most things are built or made.

Look around once more, and choose the most complex thing, your eyes fall on. What is it? A computer, an elaborate piece of furniture, a work of art, a skyscraper, a suspension bridge?

Whatever it is, it’s painfully obvious that someone, or some group of people, conceived it, designed it, engineered it, and built it. It certainly didn’t build itself. It didn’t just materialize. It took intelligence and a great deal of thought, to create it.

Now, look in a mirror.

Whether you’re handsome and beautiful, or a little bit less so, what you see in that mirror, is a thousand times more complex than the most sophisticated man made object.

To even consider, that the human body, was not conceived, designed, engineered, and created; is nothing short of ludicrous.

We could discuss the complexities of the human body all day long. Doctors and scientists have studied the human body since the beginning of time, and still find most of it a mystery, and above their pay grade.

So why isn’t it more obvious to people that the creation of the human body was genius? If it’s so obvious that a doormat was planned out, carefully measured, maybe tested for durability and given non-skid qualities, then manufactured with precision equipment. How is it not 100 times more obvious that something as sophisticated as the human body, must have been designed, engineered and created by someone with far more intelligence than anyone on earth?

Can you really believe that the human body, the most sophisticated organism on the planet, basically created itself? That it just developed on its own, or from an ameba, or from some blob of cells?

Charles Darwin himself, the acknowledged father of the theory of evolution, wrote these precise words in his treatise “On the Origin of Species”.

“To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree.”

Evolution theory states that all life on earth began as one celled organisms, like an ameba. And that as time went on, these cells with virtually no intelligence, somehow changed themselves into, and thereby effectively created the most complex, sophisticated, and intelligent creature on the planet — Man.

Anyone studying medicine, wonders at the complexity of the human body. So this incredible creation, the human body, was created by an ameba? And yet with all of our intelligence today, Man is incapable of creating an ameba. But the ameba created Man? Somehow that doesn’t add up.

You can’t create something more intelligent than yourself. The bird creates its nest. The nest cannot create a bird. It can facilitate hatching one, but that’s about all. If someone suggested that a bird morphed into and thereby created Man, you would probably laugh. But an ameba is more plausible?

The theory of evolution, includes something called the LUCA or last universal common ancestor, which is the most recent organism from which all organisms now living on Earth, including Man, have common descent, or in other words, have evolved from.   The theory estimates that this LUCA lived some 3.5 billion years ago, and was virtually identical to our modern day bacteria. Yes the theory is that Man evolved from a bacteria, with no help from any intelligent being.

Now if all life began as a one celled organism, that somehow morphed itself into a more complex life form, then why are there so many different life forms today. If the one celled organism, eventually morphed itself into an alligator, then why isn’t the planet filled with nothing but alligators? How did we get the thousands of different animals, birds, fish, insects, plants, etcetera. Maybe there were thousands of different one celled organisms in the beginning, and each one morphed into something different.  But if they all morphed into something else, why are the one celled organisms still around?

Ok, but regardless, where did all the one celled organisms come from? Who created them?

This is where the theory of evolution breaks down. At the origin of life. No matter how many stages of evolution one may contend occurred, eventually you reach back to the first living organism, that everything else supposedly evolved from. The origin of life. And the only explanations evolutionists have for that first spark of life, are pure speculation.

The top explanation given by today’s evolutionists is:

“Highly energetic chemistry”

That’s right, according to the theory, all the different animals, birds, fish, insects, plant life and of course Man came from “highly energetic chemistry”. Of course that still leaves the question, “where did all the chemicals come from?  If all this seems a bit farfetched, look up “evolution theory” in Wikipedia, and scroll down to “origin of life”.  This is what you will find.

So which creator of life seems less farfetched to you?  Chemicals, or the highly intelligent creator, we call God.

Perhaps the second most common explanation for the origin of life is that life was deposited here on earth by some outer space debris that managed to get through our atmosphere. However, it would seem that the intense heat generated by passing through our atmosphere would destroy any life form in the process. Plus, with all of our space probes, radio telescopes, and other space exploration techniques, science still concludes that the earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life.

Someone once asked “How big is the universe? How far does it go?”. The answer is “It goes on forever, infinity. It has no end”. But all things have an end, you say. True all things on earth, have an end. But if outer space had an end, what would it be? A wall of some sort? Then what’s on the other side of the wall? More space? What’s at the end of that? Another wall? And so on and so on, into infinity.

Eventually you realize that outer space must be infinite, one way or another. And eventually logic dictates that all things must be created. And the creator must be more intelligent than the created. Things simply cannot created themselves. They can reproduce themselves, if their creator designed a reproduction system for them to do so. But a rock can’t create another rock. You can break it in half, and have two rocks, but you really just have two halves. The earth cannot create another earth. The ameba did not create itself. Nor did anything else.

In 1983 a wise old gentleman named Lester Sumrall once said, “Take off your wrist watch and open up the back. Now look at all the tiny little gears and jewels inside. If I told you that no one designed, engineered and built that watch, but that the watch always existed. Or that the watch made itself. Or that the watch used to be a sundial, but it evolved into a watch. You would tell me that I’m nuts.”  God bless that man.

Let’s leave the “Highly energetic chemistry” crowd behind for the moment, and get back to why many people have a difficult time with creation. There is certainly no denying that the earth and everything on it, exists. So why do so many people have a difficult time seeing that at some point, it all had to be created?

Perhaps one reason for that train of thought, is that the materials and methods God uses to create things and to create life, are so vastly different from the things we use to create and build things, that we just don’t think about it that way. Building something with flesh, bone, and blood is so foreign to us, that we can’t get our mind around it.

The theory that Man used to be a Monkey, is about as ridiculous as claiming that a television used to be a radio. Even if you want to change a Man into a Woman, you better see a doctor. All the wishing and waiting around, isn’t going to make it happen. Someone has to make the change. Just because Man has gotten a little taller in recent years, and some animal’s tail got longer over time, doesn’t mean a fish will ever become a kangaroo. Yes certain minor characteristics evolve over generations. But man is still man, and beast is beast.

No one knows the details of the creation. God has told us many things in the scriptures. Many things that we could never have known, otherwise. But details of the creation, wasn’t one of them. Although science has worked feverishly to figure it out, their results still boil down to theories and hypothesis, none of which are agreed upon by all.

When it comes to the creation of Man, the theory of evolution is supported by archeological discoveries of fossils that appear to be various primitive forms of Man. Thus leading to the theory that Man somehow transformed himself from one form to the other, and finally became what he is today.

These discoveries of primitive Man are facts. But what is total conjecture, are the conclusions drawn from these facts. The presumption is that Man evolved through these different forms, by somehow changing himself, without any involvement from a creator. But there is no proof of that.

When you read the account of God’s creation of the world in Genesis, you can see that there is no detail included, as to how God actually created Man and the Earth. God gave this account to Man many years ago, long before Man would be capable of understanding even the simplest aspects of the creation. So God gave us this very simplistic description of the creation, so that all people could understand it. But that doesn’t mean that the creation itself, wasn’t extremely complex. When you explain something to your young children, you don’t explain about the compression ratio in the engine. You simply tell them you’re going for a ride.

God is neither a witch nor a magician. He didn’t create the universe by twitching His nose or pulling it out of a hat. When the scripture says, God said “Let there be light” and there was light. Do you really think it magically and instantly happened?

Isaiah 48: 13   (Listen to how God described it through the prophet Isaiah.)

I am he; I am the first and I am the last. ¹³ My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens

Remember God said He made us in His image. I believe that He meant more than just in physical appearance.

When a man decided to build the Empire State Building, and he said “Let the Empire State Building be built”, it didn’t just materialize. He said it to his staff who then got to work planning and building etc.

When God said “Let there be light”, I suspect He was speaking to someone, not talking to Himself. And in the space between “Let there be Light” and “the light being”, I suspect there was a whole lot of thinking, planning, conceptualizing, designing, engineering and creating that went on. Something that sophisticated, just can’t be created without it.

Jeremiah 10:12   (Listen to how the prophet Jeremiah described all the thought God put into it.)

¹² But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom     and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

Genesis 2: 2   (As with anything we build, God didn’t just snap his fingers. It took a lot of planning and work. Otherwise, why would God have wanted to rest when He was finished.)

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Now, the Empire State Building was not the first building built by a man. Man had a lot of practice, starting with mud huts, and working his way up to that level of sophistication.

Well, since God made Man in His image, why would you not think God did a similar thing when He created Man. We know from fossils that He created dinosaurs. Perhaps He looked at them, and thought, “To Big. I need to scale these things down”. We know the dinosaurs don’t exist anymore. So I suppose God wasn’t satisfied with them, and scrapped the idea.

Now why also, would you not consider that the various forms of primitive Man were prototypes for God’s final version — Us. And when God finally had everything to His satisfaction, that’s when He created Adam and Eve.

I submit to you, that there is much that God chose not to share with us. Just as there is much that your parents chose not to share with you. One thing years of experience teach, is that just because you don’t fully understand something, don’t just discount it altogether.

Scientists, like the ones that used to believe the earth was flat, have a job to do. Their job is to discover new things. But certain things are unknowable. You will never know what happened, on the dark side of the moon last night, because no one was there to observe. But if scientists don’t discover something, sooner or later they’ll probably find themselves out of work. So they develop “theories”. Things that might be, or might have happened. The problem with any “theory” on creation is that, although it can’t be proved, it can’t be disproved either, because it is unknowable. A scientist will get a lot of fame and fortune, if he can get his “theory” popular acceptance. Kind of like a hit song. So scientists will promote their theories, for their own benefit. I suspect you’ve heard the saying “say something often enough, and people will start to believe it”? Well, believe it or not, this is a theory some scientists would like you to believe. It goes something like this, but please pardon the added sarcasm:

O.K. so gazillions of years ago, there was an explosion in an empty universe, that just happened to occur by itself, and giant rocks flew everywhere, but then some of them stopped and just happened to create our perfectly balanced solar system, with one rock in the middle, burning like an inferno (the sun) , and the other cold rocks just happened to revolve around it, at just the right distance to maintain their orbit for gazillions of years. Now, one of the rocks, earth, while it was flying around the sun, just happened to develop an atmosphere, by itself of course, and as luck would have it, the air was just the right makeup for people and all the birds and animals to breathe and exist perfectly. By the way, the atmosphere also just happens to protect us from the other rocks flying around in space, which would otherwise crash into and destroy the earth. Plus, the atmosphere also just happens to maintain the temperature on the rock, that we need to survive.

Oh, and now the rock (earth), somehow created water, by itself. Isn’t that fantastic. In fact, so much water, that most of the rock is covered with it. But the best part is, the rock was smart enough to make 2 different kinds of water. One with salt, and one without. And fortunately it put the unsalted water on the land in lakes and rivers, so people could drink it, and the salted water in the sea, so people could travel great distances on it, without having to walk. The water really is very handy, as we would get pretty thirsty without it, not to mention an occasional bath.

And by the way, the rock (earth) isn’t completely cold. It actually has hot stuff inside, that shoots out sometimes (volcanoes). Who knows how that got in there? What’s really amazing is the hot stuff inside, combined with the heat from the sun which burns at about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, then calculating the heat loss based on the distance between the two, gives us just the right temperature range on the rock (earth), for people to live. What a lucky break that was. Of course you will need a coat in the winter.

The other handy thing the rock did was to create gravity. Just the right amount of gravity, so we don’t go floating around uncontrollably. Alright, let’s get back to the rest of the solar system. How clever of it to create light. Isn’t it fabulous that the calculation between the brightness of the sun and its distance to the rock (earth), gives us just the right amount of light, during the day, so we don’t go blind from too much, or bump into things from too little? And of course our eyes are designed to operate perfectly within that range.  Now we’ve been this lucky thus far, I guess it wasn’t too much to ask, for that little rock (the moon) to come flying by, stop right at our doorstep, and start revolving around us. The light at night and tide changes are helpful as well. Oh, one other thing, the patterns of the stars, that create the constellations, are great for navigation, because they repeat their patterns like clockwork. That was lucky too. Speaking of day and night, how fortunate that our rock (earth) decided to turn (rotate), giving us a reasonable amount of time to work during the day, before we need some rest and sleep at night.

We could go on and on with more incredible coincidences that just happened to occur, because no one planned any of this, like:

• Buoyancy, so ships can travel across the sea, and not sink.
• Air currents, so birds and airplanes can fly.
• Clouds, to give us shade and rain.
• Rain, to water our crops and replenish our supply.
• Fire, for warmth and dozens of other functions.
• Electricity, for a thousand benefits.
• Combustion, for powering things.
• Oil, for transportation, and plastics.
• Minerals, like iron, bronze, gold, and dozens of others.
• Chemicals, for a multitude of necessities.
• Wood, Stone, and other materials for building things.
• Trees for Shade, Plants for Food, Animals for Companionship

The list goes on. If all of these things seem like no big deal, get on that next rocket ship to Mars, and see what it would be like without them. And if you calculated the odds, that all these things happened just by chance, every one simply a coincidence, with no planning, engineering or intelligent thought behind it. No gambler on the planet would bet a nickel on it. When you really think about it, it’s so painfully evident that these things must have been planned, engineered, and created.

One last thing. The sheer beauty of it all. The blue sky, the crayon sunsets, the starry nights, the mountains, the sea, the forests, snow covered hills, tropical islands, the change of seasons. Even looking back at the earth from a space capsule. Beauty is seldom random. Sit down at a piano, hit a bunch of keys, and listen. Then listen to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, or the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere”. Beauty takes talent, thought, and hard work to create. The level of beauty in the creation, took genius.

Have you ever watched someone die? We’ve all seen it happen a thousand times in the movies. And even there it sometimes brings tears to ones eye. But have you ever actually watched someone, or even a pet animal, at the moment of death? It is an extraordinarily profound experience. One that stays with you for a very long time.

Most of us spend 99.999% of our time with the living. And so life seems so ordinary, so normal, so taken for granted. But it’s not until we stare death in the face, that we fully appreciate the miracle of life. Watching a living thing, move and react, warm and breathing, at one moment. Then suddenly that life disappears, and there’s nothing left. That living being is gone. And it’s so so final. It’s only at that moment that you truly appreciate the miracle of life. And come to the realization of how precious it is.

O.K. we’ve talked a lot about the inanimate parts of the creation, but we haven’t thoroughly considered the most important part of God’s creation — Life!

No matter how much you try to stretch the facts, you just can’t get life out of a rock. So if God didn’t create life, then who did? Sometimes it may look like, life springs up from nowhere. But it doesn’t. You may not see it, but the life comes from a seed. Whether it’s a weed in the garden, or a human baby, there is always a seed. But the seed is the second generation of life. Seeds always come from the first generation — a living thing. The body of the male animal, creates the seed for its offspring.

One of the elements of genius, which God incorporated into His creation, is the ability for His creation to sustain itself, through reproduction. When Man builds something, no matter what it is, it eventually wears out. So he has to keep building replacements. Imagine if God had to personally replace all the chickens and cocker spaniels, when they die. But by perfecting the element of reproduction, His creation sustains itself.

That may sound simple, but consider the enormous number of factors involved.

Every plant, every bird, every insect, every animal, every living thing, had to be designed and engineered to be capable of reproducing itself. And because all of the plants and creatures are very different from each other, God had to devise very different methods of reproduction, that would be suitable for each creature. Some lay fertilized eggs, some are live bearers, some eggs are fertilized after they’re laid. Some plants are fertilized by insects, some fertilize themselves. The weather and the seasons play a factor as well. And it’s all in perfect balance. How far do you think the human race would have gotten, if God hadn’t injected pleasure into sex for reproduction?  Coincidence?  I think not.  The more you really think about the incredible details that have to work perfectly to sustain this creation, and keep it in perfect balance, the more you realize the genius it took to create it.

We look at a baseball bat and think “Nice wood, beautifully made”. Yet, some people look at parts of this incredible creation and think, “Oh, it’s just wilderness”. Even the wilderness contains a very sophisticated ecosystem, consisting of virtually every part of the creation other than Man. Of course it had to be created, but we just don’t think about it that way. It’s so obvious to us that someone had to make the baseball bat, because we know that the bat wouldn’t exist unless someone made it. But from our viewpoint, the wilderness and all of creation, was always there. Because it was there before we and everyone we know were born, it seems like a given. Like it always existed. But it didn’t. It still had to be created at some point.

Remember when you were a child? When you looked around, you saw adults and you saw kids. And you were painfully aware of which group you belonged to, because the adults had privileges that you didn’t. You never thought about the adults, as anything but adults. To you, they were always adults. Even though they were kids, years earlier. You weren’t there when they were kids, so it seemed like they were always adults, to you. In fact, when you first saw photos of mom or dad when they were children, you probably laughed, because it seemed strange to think of mom or dad as a child. Your childhood experience with adults, has certain similarities to the way you perceive God’s creation. Because it’s always been there, from your viewpoint, it seems like it’s been there, forever. Like it’s always existed, and therefore didn’t need to be created. But everything in this world had a beginning. The creation is no exception. Everything in God’s creation is made up of matter, just like everything created by Man, that we can see or touch. Somehow, some way, and by someone, it all had to be created. Complex things don’t create themselves.

Let’s consider God’s creation, in a different way.

First of all, let’s consider the magnitude of God’s creation, starting with size and distance. In outer space, there are more galaxies then we can see, even with our strongest telescopes. That’s because they are so far away. Our galaxy, which we affectionately named “the milky way”, is about 100,000 light years across. That is literally about 5,878,000,000,000,000,000 miles. In non-scientific terms, that’s a lot. By comparison, the earth is only about 8,000 miles across.

Within our galaxy there are about 300,000,000,000 stars, like our sun. And then there’s our tiny little solar system, with Mars, Venus, and Earth, etc. Can you imagine being able to create that entire universe, with all of those galaxies, and then able to make the inner parts of a mosquito? Incredible.

Even on the earth, God really created 3 different worlds. The land, for us and all the animals. The air, for all the different birds and flying insects. And the sea, for the fish and so many other sea creatures. There are so many different creatures in the sea, we’re still discovering new ones, in the depths.

Have you ever taken a really close look at a bird, a fish, and a dog? Each one is perfectly suited for its world: air, sea, and land.

Have you ever examined a parakeet? Under its feathers, there’s nothing to it. It’s the scrawniest little thing you’ve ever seen. The neck looks and works like a rubber band, and can turn 360 degrees. It weighs almost nothing. But it would have to, in order to achieve flight. Yet with its feathers on, it’s a thing of beauty and grace, both in appearance and in flight. We use the term “dumb animal”, but anyone who’s ever piloted a plane can appreciate the skill and intelligence the bird must have to master flight under all different air current and weather conditions. Not to mention a 20 mph landing onto a half inch diameter tree branch. Have you ever carefully examined a feather? What an amazing design. What a brilliant method of achieving flight, and at the same time creating warmth, protection, and beauty for the bird.  Every aspect of the bird, is so clearly designed for flight.  Wings, feathers, weight.  And imagine, because delicate feathers get lost or broken, God designed a molting process, whereby all the bird’s feathers are shed, and replaced with new ones.  But done so, in such an orderly way, one at a time, so that the bird is never without it’s ability to fly.  The bird didn’t anticipate these needs, and design them itself.  Or purpose to acquire them a billion years later, through evolution.

Compare that bird so obviously designed for flying in air, with a scaly fish, with gills instead of lungs. Clearly designed to spend its entire life under water. Fish have been clocked swimming at 68 miles an hour, compared to a human, struggling to swim at 4 MPH. Or compare both to a furry dog that can run, jump and dig on the land, with an amazing propensity to give love and affection to humans. Do they seem like they all evolved from the same ameba? They’re so drastically different from each other, it’s almost impossible to think that each one wasn’t specifically designed for its environment.

When you consider all the birds, fish, animals, and insects, etc., scientists presently estimate there are 8,700,000 different types of creatures on the earth. That’s different types of creatures. Now, within each type, there are millions, billions, or trillions of creatures. More than 7 billion people alone, and I wouldn’t want to have to count the mosquitoes.

Now, with those enormous quantities of each of the almost 9 million different types of creatures, each one needing space, food, water and other things to sustain its life, consider the engineering it took, to create a world that would maintain it all, in perfect balance.

God had to determine, what will each creature look like, how will it behave, what skills should it have, how smart should it be, where will it live, what will it eat, and on and on. Then resolve the conflicts, when multiple creatures needs overlap. Then design and create it all.

Once again, to think that all of this happened by itself, and its perfection by coincidence, is just inconceivable. Can you really chalk up all of these things to just coincidence? No planning, no design, no engineering, just dumb luck? If so, then maybe you really can believe that the 8,700,000 different types creatures on the earth all evolved from an ameba, a blob of cells, or some bacteria.

Alright, let’s consider this — Your face. That’s right. Your face. It has 2 eyes, 1 nose, and 1 mouth, just like everyone else on the planet, all 7 billion of us. And yet somehow, God was able to infuse into our reproductive system, a way to make virtually everyone of the 7 billion faces distinguishable from all the others… at a glance. Stop for a moment, and really think about it. That one feat alone is mind boggling. Imagine the greatest artist in the world, trying to draw 7 billion different human faces. Even with enough time, he or she couldn’t do it. Can you distinguish every monkey from all the others, just by looking at its face? Every sparrow, every flounder, every turtle?

No, because it isn’t important. But God knew that we would need a simple, fast and easy way to identify each other, and He gave it to us. No extra charge. God has done, and is still doing, so much for this ungrateful human race. And the sad part is, most of what God has done for us, we are not even aware of. But isn’t that what an unselfish father does for his children.

Think about all of the creations Man has built. If they do anything other than sit and look pretty, they require some form of power. At first we used what God had given us. Things like wind or gravity. But they had serious limitations. So we developed more sophisticated forms of power, like steam, nuclear, and combustion engines. Of course each of these must continue to be replenished with fuel. Imagine if you could build something that would go and get its own fuel.

That’s what God did, and we call the fuel, food. Pretty amazing. God instilled in every creature, a reflex to replenish its own fuel supply. Now since there wouldn’t be life without food, God had to design an appropriate food supply. Have you noticed that there are no 12 foot long string beans, or 300 pound apples. That’s right, just another amazing coincidence that our food is just the right size for our hands and bodies. All the different fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, etc. All the right size, even for past generations without our modern agricultural equipment. What about the ultimate in convenience, the banana. A perfect fit in the hand, and zippers to peel back the perfectly protective cover, which keeps the fruit clean and fresh until ready to eat. Coincidence, of course.

One other aspect of our food. Not only is it perfectly designed for us size wise. But even more importantly, it’s perfectly designed for us, nutritionally. With just the right vitamins, mineral, proteins, and fats to properly fuel our bodies. I know, another coincidence.

If you really take the time to contemplate the things we’ve discussed, you will start seeing God’s creation in whole new way. The more you think about all of the different aspects of this creation, the more you can see God’s hand in each. You’ll begin to find you own elements of the creation that are far too majestic to be coincidence.

The Bible is not just a book. The Bible is a compilation of 66 books, written by dozens of different authors. Written over a period of thousands of years, all telling us what God did and said during their lifetime. So why did all these people write the books? With very few exceptions, they all had some form of direct contact with God. Either God the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. If God ever chooses to contact you, you will know that it’s a very profound experience. One you will never forget, and will take with you to the grave. These writers were either inspired by, or told by God, to record their experiences, so that you and I would know what happened — learn from the mistakes of others — and know God.

An atheist might say, “It’s all nonsense. Made up.”

Let’s explore that. Historical documents, apart from the Bible, confirm that these were real people. They did exist. Archeological discoveries have found ancient copies of their writings, describing the same information as in our present day bible. So what does that leave us with? That they lied? Did all these people lie? Just make it up? Why? What was their motive to lie? Many of them lived at different times, so they couldn’t discuss their experiences or create any sort of conspiracy. Some were kings, so they already had all the wealth and power they could ever use. But most were just ordinary people, whose lives in most cases, were made more difficult, because of their faith and obedience to God. The writers didn’t benefit from their work. No book deals or TV appearances. I suspect very few of them ever expected their writings would last more than a few generations. But nevertheless, they wrote the books, despite the fact that many of them were persecuted or killed for doing so.

Also, these writers didn’t write in a vacuum. There were thousands of other people nearby, to contradict them, if they were writing falsely. And thousand of witnesses to corroborate the accuracy of their facts.

It wasn’t like today, where we have millions of books, with millions of copies of each book. And any schmuck can write garbage and get it published. Books back then were very rare, and every copy had to be hand written. There were no printing presses, book binderies, or air conditioned libraries. Creating copies of these books and preserving them for thousands of years, was a labor of love. Something which people obviously felt was very important and precious. People not only took the time, to pass these writings down from generation to generation, over thousands of years, but throughout all that time, they read the books, followed the information, and worshiped God, through these writings.

By the way, a good deal of the information about the people in these writings, is not very flattering. In fact, the writings reveal a lot of negative qualities of the people. If anything, the people would be more inclined to sweep much of this information under the rug, rather than preserve it. But preserve it they did. More so, than any other thing ever written by anyone.

Consider the 12 Apostles. They were the primary witnesses to everything Jesus did and said, while on earth. So let’s presume for a moment that Jesus was not the son of God. Why did the Apostles follow Jesus in the first place? What was their motive? Fame, fortune, power, ambition? After Jesus was crucified, how could they achieve that? They had no power. They were hunted by the authorities. And yet, they continued to spread the message, Jesus gave them, so that you and I could hear it, believe it, and be saved. What was their earthly gain from all this?

1 Corinthians 4: 9-13   (The Apostle Paul writing to a group of believers who he felt were praising him too highly, for delivering the message of Jesus, wrote these words about himself and the other Apostles.)

⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Those are pretty strong words. Eleven of the Twelve Apostles, were martyred because of their faith. Only one, died of natural causes. All this considered, how could they be anything but sincere.

But what about accuracy, you might say? The Gospels weren’t written until years after Jesus spoke those words. How could His disciples have accurately remembered what Jesus said? Well first of all, their time with Jesus, listening to Him and experiencing the miracles first hand, must have been a pretty memorable experience. You tend not to easily forget things that are dramatic. Secondly, after Jesus ascended back to Heaven, the Apostles spent the rest of their lives, teaching and repeating what Jesus said and did. So it stayed constantly fresh in their minds.

John 14: 25-27   (And finally, they were reminded by God Himself, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:)

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

As for the accuracy of the entire Bible. When a single author writes a book, especially on a controversial subject; who knows whether his information is accurate, true and trustworthy. But when dozens of authors write separate books, spaced out over a thousand years, all in agreement, confirming the same facts, the credibility of the information is very high. The likelihood of all these authors from different generations, being involved in some great conspiracy, to fool mankind is pretty slim.

Many of the books in the Bible contain Prophecy, whereby God tells His Prophet, something that will occur in the future, sometimes hundreds of years in the future. The Prophet records the event in his writings, and through historical documents, we find that the event occurred, years later, just as God said it would. Some prophecies are somewhat vague or even somewhat disguised, because God didn’t want Man to know too much about the future, ahead of time. Just as Jesus explained many things in parables. But many of these prophecies describe events very plainly. Events that are very specific. Sometimes God even tells us precisely when they will occur. And these events are such, that no Man could predict.

If it were a case where some of the prophecies came to pass, but others didn’t, then that would cast doubt on all of them. But that’s not the case. The Bible is filled with dialog between God and Men. Hundreds of conversations that took place over thousands of years. God said many things during these conversations.  Wouldn’t you think that after all the statements made by God, and after all of the incredible things He told us, prophesied, predicted and spoke about; that if He were not God, just one of those things would by now have been proven false? After thousands of years of scientific discoveries, we know millions of things today, that were unknown or thought to be different, back then. Yet nothing God or Jesus said, conflicts with all that newly acquired knowledge. Jesus could have referred to the earth as flat, or said that man could never fly, or reach the moon. He could have told us He would return in the year 1500, or that ships would always depend on the wind. But He didn’t. After all those years, nothing the Father or Jesus said, proved to be incorrect. Yet the things They did predict, have come true. If you’re convinced that Jesus is not God, you could say He was lucky. But the odds are not in your favor.

There are hundreds of instances in the scriptures where God told someone, for example, “that in 3 days God would do something, and 3 days later God did it”. Well, if God told that to you, you would be astounded, because you would know that it really happened, just the way God said it would. But when you read someone else’s account of it, there’s always some doubt. The amount of doubt, depends greatly on the credibility of the writer. Hence the importance of establishing the credibility of the writers of the scriptures.

Aside from those instances however, there are dozens of prophecies in the scriptures, where the credibility of the writer is not relevant. That’s because the writer recorded God’s prophecy concerning something that will happen long after the writer is dead. The fulfillment of the prophecy is then recorded by historians and others, that have no relation to the prophet. You can’t fake that. That means that God really did speak to someone. And God either knew the future, or controlled the future. Either way, that’s pretty strong proof of God’s existence.

The Bible is among other things, a history book, describing God’s interaction with Man over a period of thousands of years. As you might imagine, a lot happened during all that time. And as with any history book, if you’ve missed some parts of it, the rest can be very misleading or even incomprehensible.

Giving detailed descriptions of specific fulfilled prophecies, is not a simple matter. In most cases, there is a lot of background information, that would need to be thoroughly explained, in order to make the explanation convincing. It can be done, but not without getting lost in the weeds, and perhaps boring you to tears, with lots of names you’ve never heard of, dates that work backwards (because of B.C.), and mathematical conversions from ancient calendars and the like. A complete description can be very technical.

Some things you either have to take on faith, or do a lot of work yourself, to prove it. So we’ll discuss some examples of fulfilled prophecies, but if you need more examples for absolute proof to be convinced, you will have to do the research, which starts with reading the Bible.

Let’s explore some of these prophecies, starting with what God said about prophecy, to the stubborn Israelites. Although God gave the Israelites many special blessings, they were unfaithful to Him, and worshiped idols. God spoke these words through His prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 48: 3-7

³ I foretold the former things long ago,     my mouth announced them and I made them known;     then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. ⁴ For I knew how stubborn you were;     your neck muscles were iron,     your forehead was bronze. ⁵ Therefore I told you these things long ago;     before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say,     ‘My images brought them about;     my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ ⁶ You have heard these things; look at them all.     Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,  of hidden things unknown to you. ⁷ They are created now, and not long ago;     you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say,     ‘Yes, I knew of them.’

Now let’s look at some specific prophecies, while trying not to get too technical.

The 70 Year Exile of the Israelites (Approx. 600BC)

Through His prophet Jeremiah, God told His chosen people, the Israelites, that if they continued to be disobedient and unfaithful to Him, He would stop protecting them and allow their enemies to conquer and enslave them. But that after the current wicked generation grew old and died, God would rescue the remaining Israelites, and bring them back home to Judah, 70 years later. Plus, even though God allowed their enemy, the Babylonians, to mistreat the Israelites, God would punish the Babylonians for doing so.

Jeremiah 25: 2- 14          

² So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: ³ For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁴ And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. ⁵ They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. ⁶ Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

⁷ “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

⁸ Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹ I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. ¹⁰ I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”

¹² “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. ¹³ I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. ¹⁴ They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Jeremiah 29: 10 – 14  

¹⁰ This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

As the Scripture says, God had been warning the Israelites and patiently waiting for them to repent from their wicked ways, for 23 years. But the Israelites didn’t heed God’s warnings, and so God allowed the Babylonians to do precisely what He said they would do. To destroy Jerusalem, conquer the Israelites and bring them to Babylon to enslave them.

But also as God said, 70 years later God had His servant Cyrus, the King of Persia, destroy the Babylonians, release the Israelites from captivity, and send them back home to Jerusalem and Judah. Not only that, God moved Cyrus to send with the Israelites, all of the valuables that the Babylonians stole from the Temple, plus send additional money and people to help the Israelites rebuild their city and temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed.

Ezra 1: 1 – 11   (After Cyrus destroyed Babylon, Ezra records what God moved Cyrus to do.)

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴ And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

⁷ Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

¹¹ In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

But how did Cyrus get involved in all of this? Cyrus was a Persian, not an Israelite. He was not a believer, not one of God’s chosen people. Cyrus didn’t have the money and power to defeat the strongest nation on earth, at the time, Babylon.   But he didn’t have to. Because God did. God spoke to Cyrus ahead of time, through the prophet Isaiah, and this is what He said.

Isaiah 45   ( The prophet Isaiah, explains how and why Cyrus did what he did.)

¹  “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,     to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him     and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him     so that gates will not be shut: ² I will go before you     and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze     and cut through bars of iron. ³ I will give you hidden treasures,     riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord,     the God of Israel, who summons you by name. ⁴ For the sake of Jacob my servant,     of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name     and bestow on you a title of honor,     though you do not acknowledge me. ⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;     apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you,     though you have not acknowledged me, ⁶ so that from the rising of the sun     to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me.     I am the Lord, and there is no other. ⁷ I form the light and create darkness,     I bring prosperity and create disaster;     I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸ “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;     let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide,     let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it;     I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹ “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,     those who are nothing but potsherds     among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter,     ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say,     ‘The potter has no hands’? ¹⁰ Woe to the one who says to a father,     ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother,     ‘What have you brought to birth?’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says—     the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come,     do you question me about my children,     or give me orders about the work of my hands? ¹² It is I who made the earth     and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens;     I marshaled their starry hosts. ¹³ I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness:     I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city     and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward,     says the Lord Almighty.”

¹⁴ This is what the Lord says:

“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,     and those tall Sabeans— they will come over to you     and will be yours; they will trudge behind you,     coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you     and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other;     there is no other god.’”

¹⁵ Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,     the God and Savior of Israel. ¹⁶ All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;     they will go off into disgrace together. ¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the Lord     with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced,     to ages everlasting.

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens,     he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth,     he founded it; he did not create it to be empty,     but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord,     and there is no other. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret,     from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,     ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth;     I declare what is right.

²⁰ “Gather together and come;     assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,     who pray to gods that cannot save. ²¹ Declare what is to be, present it—     let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago,     who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord?     And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior;     there is none but me.

²² “Turn to me and be saved,     all you ends of the earth;     for I am God, and there is no other. ²³ By myself I have sworn,     my mouth has uttered in all integrity     a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow;     by me every tongue will swear. ²⁴ They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone     are deliverance and strength.’” All who have raged against him     will come to him and be put to shame. ²⁵ But all the descendants of Israel     will find deliverance in the Lord     and will make their boast in him.

So everything God told His prophets, came to pass. The destruction of Jerusalem, the exile of the Israelites to Babylon, their enslavement, their release after 70 years, their return to Jerusalem, and the punishment of the Babylonians

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 The Destruction of the Temple (Approx. 70 A.D.)

God had worked with His chosen people, the Israelites, for 1500 years, blessing them, helping them, and protecting them. During most of that time, the Israelites were disobedient, wicked, and unfaithful to God. But God’s faithfulness caused Him to endure their disobedience. 600 years after the Israelites rebuilt the temple that we just discussed, God gave the Israelites (by then called Jews) one final opportunity to repent from their wickedness, and receive God’s forgiveness and salvation. God came to Earth Himself, in the form of Jesus, and went to that very same temple in Jerusalem, to make His final offer. But the Israelites/Jews rejected Him and refused, sealing their fate. God’s tolerance had finally reached its limit. As Jesus left the temple, which had been built by King Solomon 1000 years earlier, and then rebuilt by the Israelites after the 70 year exile, He prophesied to His Apostles, that the temple would be completely destroyed, their city Jerusalem ravaged, and the Jews themselves scattered throughout the nations.

Matthew 24: 1-2   (Jesus, speaks to His disciples.)

¹ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Luke 19: 41-44 & 21:20-24   (The Apostle Luke describes the following.)

⁴¹ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it ⁴² and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. ²² For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. ²⁴ They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.

Upon leaving the temple, Jesus explains in His prophecy that since God has abandoned His temple, God will no longer defend it, or the Jews. Throughout the old testament God repeatedly warned the Jews, that if they didn’t repent, He would scatter them among the nations, and would allow their enemies to destroy Israel. As early as Leviticus 26:33, God told them “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.”   The Jews rejected God’s final offer for redemption, through Jesus. So Jesus let His disciples know, through this prophecy, that what God had warned the Israelites about repeatedly, was going to happen. The temple and all Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the Jews who survived would be scattered among all the nations of the world. Just 35 years later, the Romans, under Emperor Titus, then a General, brought all those things to pass, and the Israelites were scattered and homeless for the next 2000 years, until the United States of America recreated the country of Israel in 1948 after the holocaust in World War II.

The Arrival of Jesus

There were many prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Jesus. The Old Testament ended 400 years before Jesus’ birth. So there was no way the prophets could have knowledge of any of the events concerning Jesus life, other than supernaturally from God. Once they wrote their prophecies down, they would either be proven right or wrong, in the years to come.

God told His prophets where Jesus would be born, where He would be taken after His birth, where He would grow up, things He would do, and things that would happen to Him.

Micah 5:2   ( As example, God told the prophet Micah, where Jesus would be born.)

² “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.”

But perhaps the most interesting prophecy of all, concerning Jesus, foretold when Jesus would arrive and die on the cross. Of course God didn’t want mankind making plans around this event, so He gave this prophecy to His prophet Daniel, in a very subtle, almost cryptic way. For instance, instead of simply saying “490 years”, God said “seventy ‘sevens’ “. Meaning 70 times 7, or 490. Here is the prophecy:

Daniel 9: 24-27                

²⁴ “Seventy ‘sevens’ (490 years) are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy One.

²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Prince, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’(483 years). It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. ²⁶ After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death, but not for Himself. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. ²⁷ He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple, it will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

Briefly, the scripture refers to Jesus as the Most Holy One and the Anointed One. It says He will atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness. It say He will confirm a covenant with many. It says He will put an end to sacrifice and offering. It says He will be put to death, but not for Himself.

All these things Jesus did. The prophecy also said He will seal up vision and prophecy meaning after Jesus and His Apostles, God will no longer give Man a vision into future. The Apostle John’s book of Revelation, is the last prophesy and the end of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible.

And finally, the prophecy said, the people of the ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary . Referring to the Roman army under the Emperor Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, in 70 AD, as described in the previous prophesy above.

As for the time when all this will occur, the scripture says:

“From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Prince, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’(483 years).

In other words, 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, the Anointed One Jesus will begin His ministry.

In 457 B.C. Ezra led the people back to rebuild Jerusalem by the King’s edict (Ezra 7:6,7; 9:9). To this beginning point, the calculation would run something like this: The prophecy says the amount of years from the decree, to the arrival of Jesus ministry is 483. So one would minus 457 from the 483 and then add 1 for the change from B.C. to A.D. since there is no zero. This would make the time of arrival for Jesus’ ministry to begin at 27 A.D. (483-457=26+1=27). It is generally acknowledged that Jesus died around 30 A.D. and he began his ministry 3 years earlier, at 27 A.D. Thus the fulfillment of the prophecy!

So 500 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Daniel foretold all these things.

 Other Prophecies

There are enough other prophecies to fill hundreds of pages. But it’s not necessary to study them all. The point is, that God told Man certain things about the future, that only God could know. So here are some further examples:

Malachi 3: 1   (God foretells the arrival of John the Baptist, 400 years before his birth, through the prophet Malachi.)

¹ “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

Isaiah 53   ( God foretells more about the arrival of Jesus Christ, 700 years before his birth, through the prophet Isaiah. If you read the Gospel of Matthew, written more than 700 years later, which describes the things that Jesus did, and the things that happened to Jesus, you will see the fulfillment of this prophecy which God gave to Isaiah.)

¹ Who has believed our message     and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,     and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,     nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. ³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,     a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces     he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain     and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,     stricken by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,     he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,     and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,     each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him     the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,     yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,     and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,     so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.     Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living;     for the transgression of my people he was punished. ⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,     and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,     nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,     and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days,     and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. ¹¹ After he has suffered,     he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,     and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,     and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death,     and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many,     and made intercession for the transgressors.

As previously mentioned, many of the Old Testament prophecies are complex and require a good deal of background information in order to be understood and convincing. So let’s explore some New Testament prophecies made by Jesus Himself, about the future. These prophecies are simple, straight forward, and require little or no background information.

Luke 1: 46-48   (When the angel told Mary that she would bear the Son of God, she made this prophecy.)

⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

And to this day, Mary is referred to as the Blessed Mother.
Matthew 16: 17-18   (Jesus is speaking with the Apostle Simon Peter.)

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

In this statement which Jesus made, most people focus on the words, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”. But consider more deeply the second part of the phrase, “ I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it “. In this profound and bold statement, Jesus makes the prediction that the fledgling church which had barely begun, would become so strong, that Death, Satan and all the demons of Hell will not be able to stop it. And 2000 years later, this Prophecy is still fulfilled.

Matthew 21: 15-17   (Here Jesus is confronted by the chief priests, at the Temple.)

¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants     you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The chief priests were no doubt, intimidating figures. Imagine appearing before the Pope. Yet when the priests asked Jesus “Do you hear what these children are saying?”, Jesus didn’t have to think about His answer. He immediately replied by quoting Psalm 8:2, the perfect response, and the prophecy that applied to Him at that moment. No human at age 32, would be that familiar with the more than half million words in the old testament, to choose just the right 14 words, that applied to that moment, and recite them from memory. Call it a miracle, or call it, just God repeating His own words. But Jesus did this on more than one occasion.

Matthew 24: 14   (While sitting on the Mount of Olives, Jesus spoke these words to His Apostles.)

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Once again, Jesus makes a daring prophecy, saying that His message “will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations”. Today with TV, internet, and air travel, that might be more feasible. But at that time, having just 12 men and some camels to do the job, this was a truly bold prophecy. Remember, Jesus had no money, no political power, no influence on the important people of the day.  In that sense, Jesus was a nobody.  Yet once again, His words are fulfilled, as the gospel has been preached to the whole world.

Matthew 24: 35   (During the same discussion with His Apostles, Jesus said this.)

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Here Jesus delivers another bold prophecy, stating without any qualifications, that His “words will never pass away”. And two thousand years later, His words are as alive today, as they were the day He spoke them.

Matthew 26: 12-13   (Before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke these words to His Apostles.)

¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

In this example, we have another simple, but extremely bold prophecy, made by Jesus in an almost off-handed comment. Yet for 2000 years, the prophecy has been fulfilled. For Jesus to be so confident about such a seemingly insignificant event, as to make the prediction, that this event will never be forgotten, is nothing short of omniscient.

Luke 21: 12-19   (Speaking to His Apostles, Jesus prophesied the hardships which they would have to encounter.)

¹² “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. ¹³ And so you will bear testimony to me. ¹⁴ But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. ¹⁵ For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ Everyone will hate you because of me. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ Stand firm, and you will win life.

Imagine hearing these words from the person you’ve built your life around.  Could it be more terrifying?  Jesus was their master, their protector, their everything.  And after letting His Apostles know that He Himself would be killed, Jesus told them how difficult their lives would be.  Yet they went on to do as He asked.  Would you, if you weren’t firmly convinced that Jesus was God?

Many people have spent countless hours trying to refute and discredit the Bible.  Unsuccessfully!

Science changes its conclusions frequently, whenever it finds that its previous discoveries were miscalculated. There was a time when 99% of physicists were convinced that space and time are fixed. That is, until Einstein working in a patent office wrote a paper, in which he showed that they are not.

The Bible however, and all of its contents, have remained unchanged for 2,000 years. Yet after all that time, the Pew Research Center reports that today, more than 2 billion people believe it is the Word of God.

Let’s talk about the scriptures that comprise the Bible. As previously mentioned, the Bible is among other things, a history book. Or more specifically, a compilation of 66 history books, written by different authors, and bound into one volume. The books chronicle the interaction between God and Men, over a period of thousands of years.

Now, at issue here, in order to help answer the question as to whether God exists, is, “are the scriptures real and true, or are they fake”. Did God really do what the writers said He did? Well, we know the writers are real. Things don’t write themselves. So then, is what they wrote real and true?

Since none of us were there, during the events described in the scriptures, it’s impossible to say with 100% certainty. But the same can be said about any historical matter. What about George Washington? No one alive today has ever seen him, spoken to him, interviewed him. There are no photos, no recordings. OK, there are some signatures and letters he supposedly wrote. But did anyone see him write them? George lived more recently than Jesus, so that makes a difference, you might say. Alright, so what about Caesar, Cleopatra, and other lesser know historical figures? Do you believe most of what the historians wrote about them? Most people do. But why? As in any court of law, you simply have to decide, based on the preponderance of the evidence.

One factor that gives credibility to a writer’s claim, is when the writings of other authors are in agreement, confirming the same facts. Throughout the Bible, there are multiple authors corroborating the same events. Many times the authors not only didn’t know one another, they lived at different times, making it impossible for them to collaborate with each other, on the facts.

The scriptures describe hundreds of occasions when God had some type of interaction with people. Many different people. Some of these occasions were personal and private, with one person. But other occasions were very public, witnessed by thousands of people. Any incident that occurred today, witnessed by thousands of people, would be very difficult to deny. Someone writing about it would need to be very careful not to distort the facts. Otherwise they would be ridiculed, and their writings dismissed as fake. Certainly the writings would not be respected, preserved, and handed down from generation to generation, for thousands of years.

Consider other historical writings. Only the most significant, did people take the time and effort to safeguard, and preserve for future generations. We all know how quickly we forget and discard the unimportant, and move on to something new. The length of time that people have risked their lives to keep and preserve these scriptures, speaks volumes to their credibility.

Let’s explore this factor a little further: The dictionary defines the word “manuscript” as the handwritten text of an author’s work. Every historical document had at one point, one or more manuscripts. The more important the document, the more people would create duplicate manuscripts, to meet the demand for the information contained therein. But as time goes on, some of the manuscripts get lost or destroyed. So for each document, the number of surviving manuscripts, that exist today, is a real indication of the importance people placed on that document, throughout the ages.

Beyond that, the time span between the original writing of a document, and the earliest surviving manuscript, can be an indication as to the accuracy of the transcription. The shorter the time between the two, the more likely that the information is accurate.

Here is a brief comparison of some of the more important ancient historical documents.

 *Earliest incomplete manuscript / The earliest surviving complete New Testament manuscript
is dated 350 AD, 300 years after the original writing.

Dramatically, when the surviving manuscripts of the New Testament are compared to all other ancient writings, they stand alone as the best preserved literary works of all antiquity, with Homer’s Iliad, coming in second. In both the number of surviving manuscripts, and the time span between the original and the earliest surviving manuscript, the New Testament Scriptures far surpass all others.

Also noteworthy, is that the contents of many of the scriptures are not very flattering to the people, or to their rulers and kings. Not the kind of thing most people would be anxious to preserve. Plus, we all know how rulers, kings, even presidents and political parties, try to write or rewrite history to appear favorable to them. Well, that certainly didn’t happen with the scriptures. So then why would people preserve these scriptures that depict them in such a poor light? Whatever their reasons, the fact that they did, speaks to the authenticity of the scriptures. Otherwise they would have destroyed them, or changed them to be more flattering.

So who are these writers of the scriptures, and where did they get their material from? The writers came from all walks of life. The old King James translation of the Bible, says “God is no respecter of persons“. That’s an odd way to put it. But the NIV translation does a better job. It says “God does not show favoritism“, meaning He is fair to all people. We rise or fall because of our own actions. So God didn’t choose one type of person to write His scriptures. Some were kings, some were ordinary people, some rich some poor, some very smart and some uneducated. Fishermen, Farmers, Tax Collectors, even a tentmaker who at one point tried to destroy Christianity, but when God got through with him, he wound up writing a large part of the New Testament.

As for their material, the things they wrote. Much of it was simply what they saw, heard, and experienced, themselves. Although some of what they wrote, were things that God specifically wanted us to know. So some of it, God spoke to the writer/prophet, and the writer wrote it down. Yes, God actually does speak to certain people, at certain times. How? I have no idea. Why? That’s something God decides. What does it sound like? It’s just like anyone else speaking to you, except the sound doesn’t come through your ears, it seems to go directly into your brain. How do you know it’s God? You don’t. But it’s certainly no human. And much of what is said, no human could know. Afterward, when God’s word is confirmed by the facts, and by being consistent with the scriptures, you know.

Have you ever read the Bible? I mean really read it, cover to cover, not just snippets here and there. If you’re not a believer, you probably haven’t. It’s not an easy read. It’s work. To an extent, it’s much like reading a history text book, and that’s not a fun read either. Like any text book, you just can’t read a little here and a little there, and expect to have a clear understanding of all the facts. Although it is captivating. Not at first maybe, but after a while, the more you read, the more you understand, the more you want to read.

At first, there is much you won’t understand. But if you take just one piece of advice, let it be this: “Don’t write something off, because you don’t understand it”. Even if it sound farfetched. Remember some of what you’re dealing with is supernatural. Read on. Make notes if you wish. Eventually you will find that it all comes together. Even though it was written by dozens of different people, over thousands of years, it all comes together. Within the scriptures, God says “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. So if you truly want to know if God exists, read His word.

At its most basic level, prayer is simply communication with God.

Not so many years ago, it was easier to be skeptical about prayer. If for no reasons, other than technical ones. Children were taught to pray outloud. Perhaps so parents could monitor it. But adults would usually pray silently. And of course kneeling was essential. But how could a mere thought be transmitted to another being who was not even on the planet? It seemed pretty farfetched.

More recently however, starting with telegraph messages through a wire, then spoken word messages through radio waves, and finally colored moving pictures with stereo sound via television waves, prayer transmission didn’t seem quite so implausible. Now today with email, tweeting, wireless smart phones, and who knows what else, prayer transmission seems perfectly plausible.

Yet thousands of years ago, when it must have been impossible to comprehend the mechanics of prayer, the scriptures record instance after instance, of people praying and of God answering their prayers. Even in Genesis, the first book in the Bible, there are many records of prayer. Genesis 20:17 says “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek”. From those ancient times ’til today, people have never stopped praying, through thousands of years.

Now we all know how quickly people get bored with, and abandon things that don’t work. So why then would so many people, consistently, and throughout history, pray? The answer is simple. They wouldn’t, if prayer didn’t work. And in order for prayer to work, to be answered, there must be a God to answer it.

You would think, if anyone didn’t need to pray, it would be Jesus. If you believe that Jesus was part of the Godhead, why would He need to pray? Yet He did, He prayed to the Father, frequently.

As a nonbeliever, you might ask, “how do you know God answered your prayer, and the answer wasn’t just a coincidence?”. Sometimes you don’t. But the more you pray, the more history you have, to measure it. There comes a point when there are just too many occasions, for all of them to be coincidence.

On the other hand, you might say, “I’ve prayed, and I never got an answer” or “I didn’t get what I wanted”. That’s very possible. When you were young, and asked your earthly father for something, did you always get it? Parents are torn in a lot of directions. There are a lot of considerations that need to be weighed, for every request. Will granting your request be good for you? How will it affect important plans, or other people? Parenting is not easy. Imagine the number of prayer requests, and the considerations for each one, that God has to deal with. With that in mind, it’s a wonder any prayers are answered.

But they are. Believers by the millions, will testify to God’s help in their lives, through prayer.

Another resource in the search for God, are believers. Most believers have had some kind of interaction with God. Talk to believers. Ask them about it. As with people in general, some believers are shy, feeling that their experiences are a private matter. While others are quite bold, and more than willing to share their faith and their experiences. In reality, all believers should be happy to speak about God. Why? Because God wants them to. God wants you to know Him. He wants you to Love Him. He wants to Love you.

Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul, wrote a letter to a young man named Timothy, who may have had thoughts like yours or mine. Here is what Paul wrote:

God our Savior, ⁴ wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

Paul, as with many other believers had some amazing experiences with God, and was happy to share them, not only with Timothy, but with you and I as well. As with Paul, many other believers are happy to be a witness to their experiences.

One thing to keep in mind: As in any subject, peoples in-depth knowledge of it, varies widely. Whether it’s football, astronomy, or God, some people know a lot, others don’t. But you don’t have to be a scholar to be a believer. My grandmother couldn’t answer many questions about God, but her faith was as deep as the Grand Canyon, and God responded to her prayers, like no one else I know. So ask any believer about their faith, but for technical matters about God and the scriptures, be sure to find someone well grounded in the scriptures. The scriptures are the source. There is no other.

Sooner or later, you’re likely to come across some misinformation about God. Certainly there is plenty of it. Maybe even from some well intentioned believer. Don’t let it deter you. If it sounds fishy, write it down, put it away, and ignore it for the time being. As your knowledge of God increases, so will your powers of discernment, and one day you will know what is true and what isn’t.

Believers can be found everywhere, in everyday life. Of course if you want a high concentration of them, churches are the places to be. As with believers, churches vary as well, in their understanding and faithfulness to the scriptures. Did you ever hear someone say “This book is the bible of auto mechanics” or of weight lifting, or baking cakes? That means, everything there is to know about that particular subject, is in that book. There’s a reason why people use the “Bible”, as the gold standard for “everything there is to know”. The point can’t be stressed too much, that the scriptures are our one and only source of information about God. That leaves all of us with 2 choices: We can rely on other people to tell us what the scriptures say and mean, or we can go directly to the source, and find out for ourselves.

Why not do both? As discussed previously, the scriptures are complicated. So going it alone, in the beginning, is not easy and probably not even wise. Remember the famous Ronald Reagan quote “Trust but verify”? That’s not a bad approach here. Explore a variety of sources for help with the scriptures. The Lord knows, there are plenty of them today, with internet, TV, radio, and churches. Then spend time alone, just you and the scriptures. Try to develop a routine. Set aside a certain point every day, even if it’s only 10 or 15 minutes. Eventually you’ll be amazed. Your walk with God, right here on this planet will become your most precious possession.

Some of us are fortunate. We’ve led easy lives. But most of us have seen our share of hardship, tough times, and disappointments. Perhaps the worst of it, are the disappointments and pain received from other people. When you build a relationship with God, you’ll find that God never disappoints. He is always faithful, honest, kind, loving, slow to anger, and just. That’s what He wants us to be like. Unfortunately we all fall short of that. Some of us fall very short. But as believers, we have a goal. We have a desire to be like our Heavenly Father, and we have a knowledge of and a love for Him. And because God love us, He cuts us some slack. Isn’t that the way every good parent and child relationship is?

Believers are often held to a higher standard than nonbelievers. Some believers meet that standard, others don’t. But a believer’s failure is not God’s failure. People sometimes look at a believer and say “See, he’s no better than the rest of us”. They’re absolutely right. In fact many non believers behave better than some believers. But parents love their own children, even when they misbehave. Believers are God’s children. You might ask “aren’t nonbelievers God’s children too”? Technically yes, but when you have no relationship with your parent, you miss out on certain privileges. God gives His children that know and love Him, very important privileges. Too many to detail, in this article, but the most important being Salvation and eternal life with Him.

It doesn’t take much to be a believer. Just an open mind, and a desire to know God. In Deuteronomy 4, God tell us “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” And if God says it, you can take it to the bank.

Some people think in order to be a believer, you have to turn your life upside down, give up everything you enjoy, and lead a boring life. That’s true. No, just kidding. See, believers have a sense of humor. Of course, some things will change. But for the better. I’ve never spoken to a single believer, who felt his or her life was better before they knew God.

Don’t take my word for it, go find out for yourself. Talk to as many believers as you can.

God offers a special blessing of Healing to believers. It’s been called by many names through the years. But we’ll simply call it Healing. The blessing is optional, if you’re a believer. Some believers choose to accept it, others don’t, for a variety of reasons. However, those that do, will offer startling testimonies as to God’s faithfulness and the literally supernatural healing of sickness and diseases. We’re not talking about a one-off incident for most believers. In most cases, believers have experienced decades of Healings, covering a wide variety of ailments.

This really isn’t the appropriate place for a detailed explanation and discussion about God’s blessing of Healing. For those interested in learning more about it, there is an in-depth article simply called “Healing”, on this website.

We’ve covered many topics in this conversation. Yet after all the things we’ve discussed, you will still never be 100% certain about the existence of God. There’s a reason for that. God doesn’t want us to be 100% certain, otherwise He would simply reveal Himself to everyone, and we would all know. But that would defeat part of the purpose for our time on earth. God wants one more thing from us, while we’re here on earth:

Faith. Our faith in God, is perhaps the most important gift we can give to God.

Think about how you feel when you say to someone you love, “take my hand, and I’ll keep you safe”. And they reach up for your hand, putting their life in your hands. That’s faith.

When you have 100% certainty, you don’t need faith. So God will always allow a little bit of doubt, for us to overcome.

Let me ask this:

If you lived in a beautiful house, with your family who you loved dearly, and on your way to work you met a stranger. Would you immediately invite him to move in and live with you and your family, for the rest of his life? Of course not. Not unless you were crazy. At best, if you were extremely compassionate, you might think about it. Then you would first want to get to know him, make sure that he’s honest, reliable, trustworthy, compatible with you and your family, and probably a lot more.

If you and I are smart enough to take those precautions, don’t you think God is? Do you think God would be foolish enough to invite people to live with Him, for eternity in heaven, who He has no relationship with, and that might be dishonest, untrustworthy, unreliable troublemakers? If He did, heaven wouldn’t be heaven any longer. It would be just like earth.

That’s why God put us here on earth. Not just to do the things we want to do. God put us here to do 2 things: To build a relationship with Him. And to learn how to get along with, and love other people. It’s that simple. If you can do those 2 things, God will invite you to spend eternity with Him in heaven. That’s the prize. If you doubt it, read the scriptures, cover to cover, and I am convinced that you will reach the same conclusion.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have been an unbeliever, I understand. I was once one too. Pray for God to reveal Himself to you, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Admit to Him, that you can’t truly succeed without His help. Then read the scriptures, over and over if necessary, until you understand them. I guarantee, that you will find God.

You don’t have to go it alone. There are people, churches, websites, TV and radio broadcasts, that will walk with you every step of the way. But you have to take the first step. God bless you.

P.S. You may not be ready, now. Sometimes it takes years to finally be ready to come to God. A comment here, a discussion there, a TV or radio broadcast. They add up. Unfortunately it often times takes some devastating experience in our lives. A moment when we breakdown and finally admit to ourselves that our way hasn’t worked. We’ve used our best judgment, and it still hasn’t worked. That’s the moment in my life, when I prayed “God I can’t do it anymore. I’ve made a mess of things. God, I don’t know if you’re really there, or if you can hear me. But if you can, help me, show yourself to me. I’ll do it your way.” That was 33 years ago, and I’ve never regretted it for a moment.

If you cannot yet come to grips with Jesus Christ, or even with God the Father, at least wrap your arms around the fact that there must be a Creator, and that we call him God.

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