Christians often say that God requires faith to believe and that one must simply “take the leap” in order to obtain salvation. In reality, we see that the Bible teaches that God has provided a great deal of evidence for us to believe. No place does God ever ask a person to simply believe without providing evidence to support their faith.

The entire purpose of the Bible is to provide mankind with sufficient evidence to believe. From the beginning of Genesis where God tells us how the universe came into existence, to Revelation where He describes the end of the universe and the creation of all things new.1.

There are three primary ways in which God provides evidence for us to believe. Once we understand this evidence it is up to us individually to make a choice and either believe or not believe.

1. The universe was created by God to show us His handiwork, great creative power, engineering skills, and ability to do all things well.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.  ~Romans 1:20

2. The Bible was provided as an opportunity for man to see God in action as He relates to various individuals. The prophecies of the Old Testament are provided for us to test what God said to see if it is true and thereby prove that God is the author.

When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.  ~Deuteronomy 18:22

3. God sent His Son to earth as a visible representation that He exists, and as the single method whereby He might redeem all those who believe.

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; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  ~Hebrews 1:1-3

The Universe

I have written extensively on the physical evidence for the universe which fully validates that only an infinite intelligence is capable of orchestrating this magnificent universe. For the sake of space here in this short article, let me say that from -430th of a second at the inception of the universe, there were outside forces at work to exact a specific outcome. We see this precise control in the expansion of Gases which began suddenly when nothing had existed prior to that moment. There is no natural process which could control the precise balance of gravity and electromagnetism, the extreme low state of entropy at the beginning of the universe when it should have begun with an extreme state of chaos. The precise manner in which matter expanded in the exact way necessary to produce first and second generation stars, could not happen on its own without intelligent engineering.

Although Theoretical Physicists present mathematical calculations which demonstrate the possibilities of other universes as the cause of our own, these are merely hypothetical and cannot be proven by the evidence of the universe which is before us. We cannot see beyond our present universe, making it is impossible to prove that any other universes actually exist, or if they were the cause of our own. What we can test and observe is that time, space, and matter, all began together in a singularity, when there was nothing prior to that moment. This is precisely what God said in the first line of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

The Word

The Bible is the second physical piece of evidence which proves the existence of God and is really the only literature in existence which tells us the true story of man’s condition and how he came to be such a mess.

It was the intention of God that we would be able to validate that the Bible is the  singular and true word of God. This is accomplished by its prophetic predictions.

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols. Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.  ~Isaiah 42:8-9 (NLT)

Some estimate that there are over 3,500 prophecies of the Bible, of which, nearly 2,500 have already been fulfilled. God said that the test for whether the Bible is His word, is whether or not the words actually come to pass exactly as they were written.

When a prophet would write his predictions, very often there would be an earlier prediction that would be fulfilled during the life of the prophet, as well as a future prediction that would not take place until the later days. If the earlier prophecy did not take place exactly as the prophet had said, then he was defined as a “false prophet” and immediately stoned to death. All of his words would be stricken from the text and he would never be heard from again.

If, however, the words of the prophet which were applicable in the earlier time of the prophets life, came to pass precisely as he had said, then his later prophecies could also be trusted. This was according to God’s measurement for a true prophet.

When we read the words of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Daniel, amongst others that are in the Bible, we know that both their earlier and later prophecies were tested and found to be true. If this was not the case, these prophets and their predictions would not be in our Bible today.

But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.  ~Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NLT)

Daniel predicted the four major world empires that would exist in history, before they came into existence. He described these kingdoms in such stunning detail that skeptics later asserted that Daniel must have written these prophecies after the fact. This allegation was tested by history and it was discovered that all of Daniel’s prophecies were written a minimum of 285 years before they began to take place. Daniel’s most stunning prediction was the date of arrival for the Messiah, where he told us the very day the Messiah would arrive at Jerusalem. Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Messiah on the precise day Daniel had predicted.

In my book, “Prophecies of the Messiah,” I detail the intricate and impossible events that took place as a result of Daniel’s predictions for the Messiah, and Jesus’ fulfillment of what Daniel wrote, to the very letter. It is through these more than 400 Hebrew prophecies of the Messiah that we can fully validate Jesus as the only possible candidate for Messiah. Jesus perfectly fulfilled all 400 of these predictions with precision.

It is through the prophecies of the Bible that we have empirical, testable pieces of evidence to prove that God must exist, for only He is capable of telling us the future with one hundred percent accuracy.

Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.  ~Joshua 23:14

The Son

Finally, to remove all doubts about the existence of God, He sent us His own dear Son, who came to earth in the form of a man, was crucified for our sins, and raised to life again on the third day. The written testimony about Jesus is compiled for us in the pages of the four Gospels. This narrative has been under assault since its inception, and remains under attack to the present day. The text that was written about Jesus 2,000 years ago, all His miracles, His claims to be God, His crucifixion and resurrection, have all have been recorded for us as reliable evidence of the true events that took place when God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

Assertions of corrupted and textual variants are nothing more than fabrications of claims that hundreds of thousands of words were changed. What we actually find is that there are hundreds of spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors in the copied texts but no changes in the text itself. Not a single fundamental doctrine of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has been changed during the entire 2,000 year history of the New Testament. The narratives which describe the miracles that Jesus performed in fulfillment of the Messianic Prophecies for Messiah, are described for us by the writers of the four Gospels. These four men stated that they didn’t believe that Jesus was God until after they saw Him alive, three days after His crucifixion.

Jesus promised these men that after He returned to heaven He would send the Holy Spirit to remind them of all that they had seen and heard, so that they would be able to write a truthful and accurate account of all that happened.

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  ~John 14:25-26

But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  ~John 16:4

These details describe His crucifixion and resurrection, predicted by Isaiah, and the Psalms, and Jesus’ prediction that Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple left with “not one stone upon another.” Just 38 years after Jesus predicted this event, the Roman General, Titus, sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple just as Jesus said would happen.

Our records of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, exist today in the New Testament, exactly as they were originally written not long after the events took place. We have a manuscript today of Matthew’s Gospel that is dated just 28 years after Jesus’ resurrection that was likely written by his own hand, or as a first copy. There are greater numbers of surviving manuscripts for the New Testament than any other literary, historical work of antiquity, 24, 593. I documented this evidence in my latest book, “Why Jesus Is God, And Others Are Not.”

All That We Need

These are the three pieces of evidence that God has presented to the world and are all that any person needs to make a logical, reasonable decision for Jesus as their Savior. It is also these three pieces of evidence that make Jesus a singular exception to all other gods and religions of the world. None of these other religions present a revelation of their God that is comparable to the God of the Bible. This presentation is logical and intelligent, presenting a plan of salvation that makes sense and can save anyone who believes. This is a unique plan of salvation in that it is totally free to the believer, whereas all other religions have a “works based religion” where the participant must perform to a certain level before they are acceptable. Those who come to Jesus, regardless of their past failures and sins, are all acceptable to Him because He paid the cost of your salvation for you. There is no other person in the history of the world who is like Jesus. Anyone who reads and studies the four Gospels for a few months will come away with an entirely different view from what critics say about Him in their books and articles.

Acting on the evidence which God has provided the world, He expects every person to make a decision either for or against Jesus. It is by our words to confirm that we are trusting in Jesus for our salvation, or through the words we speak in opposition and denial of Jesus, that will be our judge.

Jesus said that everyone of us will give an account for all the words we speak during our life, and it will be what we said that God will use to determine whether we are worthy of eternal life.

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  ~Matthew 12:36-37

As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame.” Everyone is the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved.”  ~Romans 10:11-13 (RCR)

Categories: Archeological Confirmation, Dying for those who reject Him, Empirical Evidence for God, God is Eternal, God is Singular, God knows all things, Historical Validity of the New Testament, How Salvation Occurs, Jesus is God, Jesus is the Messiah, Literary authenticity of the New Testament, One Way to Heaven, Prophecy proven by History, Reliability of the New Testament, Robert Clifton Robinson, Sin and death, The age of the Universe, The Creation of the Universe, The Crucifixion of Jesus, The Four Gospels, The Historical Crucifixion of Jesus, The Historicity of Jesus, The only way to heaven, The Suffering of Jesus, Those who stop believing, What happened at the Cross, What is required for Heaven?, Why evil exists, Why God Allows Evil, Why Jesus Is God And Others Are Not

Tags: Bible Prophecy, Claims of incorrectly translated texts, Deuteronomy 18:21-22, Empirical Evidence For God, Evidence for God from the universe, How the Bible was written, Isaiah 42:8-9, John 14:25-26, Joshua 23:14, New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Reliability of the New Testament, The Son of God