In college, I had the opportunity to write a paper on how God and evil can coexist. You know the arguments: “There is no way God could be loving, or maybe even exist, with all of the evil in the world today”. This was thrilling for me for two reasons. First, I wasn’t in seminary; I was a psych student with a criminology minor. I was just excited to talk about God without getting into trouble! Secondly, my professor allowed me to use the Bible as my only reference! I know. Bizarre. (He’s the same guy who believed the story of Noah’s Arc was just a fable.)

I have to say that my paper was very convincing to the skeptic. But only the slightest bit convincing if you believe (even with a tiny bit of your being), that the Bible is true. I personally combed the bible to find every bit of explanation for why and how God and evil can coexist, but all of that explanation means nothing if the Bible is just a book full of rules and inspirational stories.

The fact that every single one of the prophecies spoken about Jesus’ life and death were fulfilled is incredible. It’s even more impressive to know that over 300 prophecies were fulfilled and not just a mere eight. And just to put it into perspective for you if you didn’t hear this on Sunday, the probability of Jesus fulfilling just eight Messianic prophecies is 1×1017. 1 in one hundred quadrillion! 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000!

Fulfilled prophecies is one reason I believe Scripture is validated, that everything in it is true. If you were at church this past Sunday, you would have heard a sermon about Jesus being fully God, that he was no ordinary man:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…
— Colossians 1:15–19

This is so important, because if Jesus is God, if he is Lord, we also must accept and believe this part of him. Many people accept and believe Jesus was a great guy, but that will do nothing to our lives if we don’t receive him as Lord. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. He came to abolish the law and give us a new life. He came to cleanse us of our sin. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity; he is the Son of God. He wants to be Lord of your life. He wants to change you from the inside out. He wants to give you freedom from the bondage of sin. You just have to receive him as Lord.

The Bible is real, and it says a lot about Jesus. Open it up, maybe to the book of John, and read about Jesus’ life. Read about the supernatural abilities he had. Read about his and his father’s claims about him being God. Read and believe. It is real.