Just for fun, let’s say you wanted to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for building the largest jigsaw puzzle in the world. A jigsaw puzzle so big that it has 40,000 pieces and covers an area the size of a basketball court. You came up with the idea of making the puzzle; you’re the architect; only you know what the final picture will look like. It’ll take a lot of hard work so you decide to contract the work out. You draw up the blueprints yourself and you decide to hire a general contractor (GC) who will use your blueprints to finish the puzzle to your specifications.
The general contractor you hired decides he needs to subcontract the job to forty people working in many different locations to make 1,000 jigsaw pieces each. The GC then selects those he wants to work on the project. Each worker is given explicit instructions on the size, shape and color of the pieces they are responsible for making and they are then micromanaged by the GC so that the work is done properly. The forty workers have no idea how many others are working on the same project. They don’t have a clue who is working on the pieces of the puzzle adjacent to them and they can’t fathom what the final picture will look like. Their individual knowledge of the project is limited in scope.
It’s the GC’s responsibility to ensure each worker finishes their pieces of the puzzle on time and that the pieces interlock precisely with each other and also with the jigsaw pieces made by the workers on the sections of the puzzle adjacent to them. The GC is tasked with ensuring that each worker makes a seamless puzzle section that will represent a perfect portion of the overall picture. Statistically speaking, it’s virtually impossible for all forty men working independently on this project to have the same vision; to come up with a jigsaw puzzle section that meshes seamlessly with everyone else and contributes to a clear overall picture. The only way to create such a clear picture and build a perfect jigsaw puzzle of this magnitude is if one person is in charge of everything about the project and then personally coordinates and oversees the work of each of the builders to ensure the puzzle pieces and the picture are perfect.
The analogy I’ve just given you is basically how the Bible was created. God, of course, is the builder and architect of his word and the salvation plan for man. God decided to put his wisdom, his word, in written form to reveal himself to us, his creatures, and also as a guide so we can find salvation unto eternal life and have fellowship with God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the general contractor in our analogy. The forty workers hired by the GC represent the forty writers of the 66 books of the Holy Bible. These writers were holy men of God selected by Jehovah to write down the word of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Each book of the Bible reflects not only the personality of the individual writer, it also says exactly what God wants to reveal, down to the last word, letter and punctuation mark. The Bible is the eternal and perfect word of God. The Bible is the truth of God.
Psalm 1:1-2 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
1 John 5:13 – These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Like the people building the jigsaw puzzle, the forty Bible writers didn’t know how many other writers were also working on this project or even who they were for the most part. Many of the Bible writers never read what the other writers had written, especially those who wrote books in the Old Testament. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years (1400 BC to 100 AD). The Holy Spirit was appointed by God to be the equivalent of the general contractor and he was charged with overseeing the writing of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit made sure none of the Scriptures walked over each other or contradicted each other in any way. The Bible is the inerrant word of God. Critics have tried for 2000 years to find errors in God’s word and they’ve all been unsuccessful.
The continuity of the Bible message is maintained throughout each book, which is God’s love for man and the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to redeem a fallen mankind. Only God knew the canon of the Christian faith would eventually contain 66 books, all written by apostles, prophets, men of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible writers came from disparate backgrounds ranging from scholars to illiterate farmers and fishermen. The life experiences of the Bible writers were wide-ranging yet the continuity of the Bible’s theme remained constant. The Bible reads like it was written by one person because it was. God is the author of the Bible. A perfect God gave us his perfect word. God said all that he intended to say and then stopped. God’s word is now complete. There will be no more holy Scriptures sent from God because none are needed. God doesn’t make mistakes therefore God doesn’t need to make later additions to his word because everything God does is perfect the first time. God has perfect knowledge of every circumstance that may arise.
2 Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 1:1-2 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
Romans 15:4 – For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
In Old Testament times God spoke to the people through his prophets and Jesus Christ was not only the Son of God but also a prophet of God. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is a finished work. After the time of Christ and the apostles there will be no more prophets from God because none are needed. Anyone who comes claiming to be a prophet of God is a false prophet sent by Satan to fool the elect. Today God speaks to us directly through his son Jesus Christ and through his written word, our Holy Bible, which God in his love, mercy and grace has provided to us so that we might know him and find salvation unto eternal life in its pages. We cannot see an invisible God but we can see a physical book with pages and written words (the Bible) that cannot have been written by man. Anyone reading the Bible can clearly see the wisdom, truth and spiritual power shining forth from its pages. Millions of people have given their testimony that the Bible is the word of God and that their lives have been changed for the better by obeying the commandments of God and living by the precepts of the Bible.
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
In the above verse of Scripture God reveals to us the power he has placed in his word. Nothing is impossible with God and he has chosen to endow the Bible with immense spiritual power. Let’s break down the verse above into its various parts:
1. The Bible is a book of written words composed by men led by the Holy Spirit. God is the author of the Bible.
2. The words of the Bible invoke the power of God for those who believe in him. It pleased God to gift eternal life to man through the reading of his word in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
3. When the gospel of Christ is read the Holy Spirit of God is always present and ready to convict the tenderhearted of their sin and translate the eternal spirit of the sinner from eternal death in hell to eternal life in heaven through a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
4. And in much assurance means God has assured us many times in his word of promises that he cannot break. God cannot lie. God is ever faithful. God promises that believers will have eternal life in heaven and he will do it. The disciples of Jesus Christ are left on the earth to continually give assurance to the nonbeliever of God’s love for man and God’s willingness to accept all his children unto salvation if they would just believe on the name of Jesus.
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
The Bible is a book unlike any other book. What makes the Bible special is that God has decided to put his power there, along with his Holy Spirit, as the conduit through which God talks to man and the mechanism through which God saves man unto eternal life. The Bible is special because in it God makes a covenant with us, promises that he cannot break if we claim those promises by professing our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. God will continue to send out his saints among the nonbelievers until the last Day to give further assurance that God loves them and wants to save them. If anyone asks why the Bible is so special please go over 1 Thessalonians 1:5 with them and point out the promises of God.
1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (i.e. the Bible).
Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).
Ephesians 6:19 – And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.
Jehovah God tells us the Bible is his word. If you need more proof there is corroborating evidence right there in the pages of the Bible. Prophecy is nothing more than history written in advance, which is something only God can provide because he’s the author of history. One of the reasons God made the Bible one third prophecy is to prove that he is God. There are over 1000 prophecies in the Bible, over 500 of which have already been fulfilled and documented as historical fact. This includes over sixty prophecies concerning God’s Christ, the promised Messiah, that were fulfilled by the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Matthew 7:18,20 – (Jesus speaking) – A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
I might add that all of the fake religions and false gods that have existed throughout history have all been sponsored by Satan and not one of them has ever produced even a single good fruit or fulfilled prophecy between them. They can’t because Satan is not God. Satan is a bad seed; a bad fruit; and it’s impossible for Satan to write prophecy or produce any good fruit. One of the spiritual truths of God is a bad tree can only produce bad fruit and a good tree can only produce good fruit. This is true of God as well as religions, angels, demons and man. According to the book of Proverbs, a wise person is one who evaluates all of the evidence that proves Jehovah is good and the one true God of this world and then seeks God’s grace unto salvation and eternal life in heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:4 – Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Proof is nonexistent for all the fake religions and false gods but the proof of our God, Jehovah, is overwhelming. Over 99% of people who read the Bible twice with an open mind will come to the realization of the truth of God and accept his saving grace. Most people only need to read the Bible once to know the truth of God. Anyone who ignores all the evidence of the truth of God and doesn’t give God a fair hearing deserves their fate. They’ll spend eternity in hell, in the lake of fire God made for Satan and his fallen angels. Everyone sent there will be in constant pain and anguish forever. A trillion years is just the blink of an eye in eternity!
Isaiah 46:9-10 – Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.
Many times the writers of Scripture didn’t fully understand what the Holy Spirit was having them write down and their life experiences certainly didn’t qualify them to expound on the subject they referenced. It wasn’t a requirement for the Bible writers to fully understand the spiritual truths they were writing down. For example, the Bible said Israel would be reborn in a day and that came to pass on May 14, 1948, when Israel declared itself once again a sovereign nation from the city of Jerusalem. Such a thing had never happened before then or since, so we can’t say it was a lucky guess or easily foreseen. The following Scripture was written prior to the destruction of Israel and the dispersion of the Jewish people to the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 66:8 – Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation (Israel) be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.
The Bible tells us the earth is round and hangs in space supported by nothing. The Bible tells us all material things are made up of things that are unseen (invisible atoms). We didn’t know any of these things scientifically until thousands of years later. In ancient times people thought the bottom of the oceans were smooth and sloping, like a bowl. Scripture tells us the ocean floor has mountains, canyons, ocean currents and fresh water volcanoes. All these facts were later verified by advances in human knowledge over a span of many hundreds of years and even thousands of years in some cases.
Isaiah 49:22 – It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
Isaiah 43:15-16 – I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters.
God even gave us the name of the very person who would free his people from their seventy years of Babylonian captivity before it ever happened (King Cyrus). These prophecies and predictions are too numerous and too precise to be lucky guesses. They can only be revelations by Jehovah God, the author of history and the creator of the universe. I don’t know what else God has to do to convince the ungodly that he is God and there is no other; that salvation unto eternal life is through Jesus Christ and no other. For those who have eyes, let them read what I’m writing and understand the word of truth, which is our Holy Bible. If you’re a nonbeliever it won’t be easy to start your journey of faith, but start you must, because the fate of your eternal soul depends on it.
1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Satan will resist you at every turn. Satan has put blinders on the nonbeliever so they cannot see the truth of God without great effort. Those who cannot overcome the wiles of Satan will suffer eternal death. All is not lost; you have help available to you. As you start your daily Bible reading pray for God’s help in keeping Satan at bay long enough for you to give the Bible a fair hearing. Pray for God to reveal himself to you, even if you haven’t reached the point where you believe in God yet. God is good, fair, merciful and gracious to all who seek him. God will help you if you ask him. I know this to be true because God says so in his word and God cannot lie or break a promise. Give it a shot. What do you have to lose, other than your immortal soul!
Isaiah 44:28 – Who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the temple, your foundation shall be laid.”
James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
I blog because I have an unquenchable thirst for God. God commands that I witness for Christ and my blog is my platform for passive witnessing for Christ and it’s my reasonable service to God. God predestined me to be a Christian blogger before he laid the foundation of the world. There are millions of other Christian writers who have been called by God to fulfill Psalm 45:1, each in their own way as prescribed by God. I want to be great in heaven and that’s something we should all aspire to be. The Bible tells us repeatedly to do good works on earth, which will be rewarded in heaven one day. The Bible also tells us if we want to be considered great in heaven it will come by our witness for Christ while on earth.
Psalm 45:1- My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Luke 7:27-28 – (Jesus speaking) – This is he of whom it is written, “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet that John the Baptist.
Everyone considers the greatest prophet and Christian to be the Apostle Paul, including me. After all, Paul was appointed by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and establish the early church. Paul wrote more than half of the New Testament. You would think God thinks as we do but you’re mistaken. As we learn in Luke 7:27-28, the greatest prophet of God is John the Baptist. Why? Because John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Christ, got down to the nitty gritty of personal witnessing for Christ throughout all Israel and brought many of thousands of Jews to salvation. All John did was witness for Christ for less than a year and Jesus proclaimed him the greatest prophet because of it. If witnessing for Christ is God’s top priority it should be ours as well. When we get to heaven our greatness will not be not be defined by our good works. Our witness for Christ, both sowing the seed of the gospel and reaping souls for the kingdom of God, will determine our rewards in heaven and our standing among the saints and before God. I exhort you to be “all in” when it comes to the business of God, which is witnessing for Christ, with determination and perseverance.