Another reason I am a follower of Jesus and a Christian is that I have discovered how much I need the Lord’s grace and forgiveness.

A mother once asked her husband to watch their daughter, Annie, while she went to town. He agreed but wondered how to keep her busy. He leafed through a magazine and found a world map, which he then cut into small squares and scattered across the floor. He then called Annie and said to her, “Annie, please put the world back together for us, and when you are finished, come and call me.”

He thought this would keep her busy for a long time, but a few minutes later, she called to him, “Daddy, I am finished.” He could not believe it. However, when he checked it, every piece was in the right place.

“How did you do it?” he asked.

She then said, "When Daddy cut the card, I saw a picture of a man and a woman on the other side. I thought if I could put the man and the woman back together, I could put the world back together."

The big problem in the world and in the lives of people like us is what is going on in our own hearts and in the hearts of so many people around us, where we cannot see.

Let me explain it another way. Imagine you die and wake up in this huge hall. An angel comes in and says, "Welcome to the theatre of God's judgment. Sit back, relax, and watch the show that follows!"

Before you, on a giant screen, you see your entire life playing out before you: everything you have ever done, said, or thought. You see there all the sins you have committed, but also everything you have left undone; everything you should have done but did not do, and failed to do.

When the film ends, the angel comes back and says, “Relax. There is now a second showing. This time, everyone who appeared somewhere in the film will sit with you and watch it.”

I don’t know how you would feel about that! Yet I know and believe that if there is a day of judgment waiting for us somewhere, I really need God’s grace and especially His forgiveness!

I don’t need anyone to convince me that what has happened in my life, everything I have thought, said, and done, and everything I have failed to do and say, definitely deserves the wrath and punishment of a holy God!

The Bible does not say for nothing that all these things, which the Bible calls “sin,” cause separation between the holy God and me. It is like this huge overdraft that is slowly but surely building up in my bank account before God. The worst thing of all is that no one can help us with this, because all of us are completely overdrawn, and no one can pay off this debt.

Yes, I know there may be those who want to make excuses. Who says: “It wasn’t my fault! It was my parents… my teachers… society’s fault!”

Others will try to deny much of this. However, God knows the full truth. He knows that you and I are equally guilty, and that there is only one punishment for this that is just. The Word is very clear about this: All of us are guilty and ultimately deserve only one deserved punishment, namely, death! Yes, not only will we ultimately experience hell or die here on earth, but we all also deserve eternal death, hell, and its full glow of hellish, eternal punishment.

This is where the Good News, the Gospel message of forgiveness, salvation, and grace resounds! What tells of Jesus, the Messiah, who came to pay our bill for and on our behalf! This is what Jesus came to do for us!

This is why He, God the Son, became man. As John 3, verse 16 says: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Yes, for this, Jesus the Christ came to pay with His blood, His life, to fully pay the debt that rested on us.

Yes, I chose to believe it! That Jesus did this for me, too.

That is why I accepted Him as my Savior and Lord, so that, as John 1:12 says, I would also know with certainty: I am now a child of this God and will never perish! Because I believe that Jesus did this for me, I believe that God, as a Holy God, can also forgive me and absolve my sin, because Jesus has already borne the full punishment for it.

Tell me, do you believe this, too?

Do you really believe this?

Then just grab that word and promise in John 1:12 for your life again today, because the God who says and promises it cannot lie! What He says stands firm and is true!

How sure are you of your facts as a believing follower of Jesus?

How sure are you that God has really revealed Himself to us and that He has spoken to us?

Well, of course, the answer to these questions is a choice that you have made somewhere in your life based on what you believe to be true and certain.

For me personally, it is extremely important that these faith choices that we have made as believing followers of Jesus are based on demonstrable facts that can be rationally and logically defended in any court or lecture hall around the world.

Let me tell you why I believe that in these 66 books of the Bible, we truly discover and hear the true God speak.

I don't know what to say to people who want to dismiss what you believe as short-sighted and even stupid.

Do you know that most of these people have probably never read the Bible themselves or tried to understand what we are dealing with in the Bible?

How does one explain the heart of everything we read in the Bible?

Here is how I usually explain it to people.

I then explain to such people that the essence of what is in the 66 books of the Bible can be summarized in one word, namely, in the name of Jesus in the New Testament, and in His Name in the Old Testament as the Messiah who is coming!

After all, the Bible contains these two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament consists of 39 books that were written by about 30 authors over a period of more than 1000 years, originally in Hebrew, with a very small part in Aramaic.

The first book in the Old Testament, Genesis, begins with the creation of everything, and how God created for Himself a new people, who we know as the Jews, and who will live in the land of Israel. These new people are important for only one reason, and that is because they are to be the womb from which the Messiah would be born years later. The last book of the Old Testament is the book of Malachi.

The second part of the Bible is called the New Testament and consists of 27 books.

This section was originally written in Koine Greek by about 10 writers over a period of about 40 years.

The New Testament begins with four stories by four different writers that talk about the 33 years of Jesus on earth, and ends with the book of Revelation.

The entire New Testament is about Jesus, about His life and everything He said and did, and everything that people believed about Him. It tells how the thousands who believed in Him during those about 40 years after His life on earth, testified about Him and lived for Him. Thousands of them were even willing to die and be martyred for what they believed about Him.

Yes, Jesus, according to the best historical data we have, was born in September, 3 BC, in Bethlehem, Israel, and was also known at that time as Jesus of Nazareth, because His parents lived in the village of Nazareth.

He would ultimately live only 33 years on earth, and on the day before the Jewish Passover that year, in April, 30 AD, he was crucified, buried, and, according to what we believe, rose from the dead three days later on Golgotha, just outside Jerusalem. For 40 days after that, He appeared alive to hundreds of people, and then ascended to heaven, to give and pour out the Holy Spirit on all His followers ten days later, so that they could testify about Him in His Name and be used by God.

Do you know that more is written about Jesus and his life here on earth as a historical person in extra-biblical sources than is written about people like Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, or Napoleon Bonaparte in the history books of the world? Yes, we can read about Jesus of Nazareth in extra-biblical sources more than 10,000 times.

In other words, a person who really tries cannot have any doubt about the question of whether Jesus really lived.

The next question then is: How do we know that Jesus was really the One? How do we know that Jesus was who He Himself said He was, and what all the millions of His followers today still believe about Him?

This is one of the most important questions that you and I must answer for ourselves. Let me try to give you my answer to this question.

I said that the entire Bible, all 66 books of the Bible, and even the 39 books of the Old Testament, can all be summed up in one word, namely, the name of Jesus. However, in the Old Testament, He is not called Jesus, but the Messiah, the Anointed One, God who becomes man and comes to live among us on earth.

In the Old Testament, we find 322 verses called Messianic prophecies, in which the coming and life of this Messiah or Anointed King are prophesied in advance.

J. John, a well-known evangelist, preacher, speaker, broadcaster, and author, told the following story in this regard:

He tells how he asked one of his Jewish rabbi friends to read through all these Messianic prophecies with him one morning in a coffee shop.

After that, J John asked him: Hey, does each of these 322 prophecies remind you of someone?

How remarkable it is that we cannot help but notice how these 332 prophecies, down to the letter and in the finest detail, describe this Messiah: Where He would be born, in what area His parents would live, and yes, even how He would die, and even the exact number of coins used to pay for His betrayer.

Do you really realize how remarkable all of this is?

Do you know what the mathematical probability is that 322 prophecies, in one man’s life here on earth, described and prophesied precisely and in the finest detail in 39 books that could happen exactly as prophesied over more than 1000 years, could happen exactly as they were prophesied?

The probability that all of this would happen is 1 in 10⁸⁴—that’s 1 followed by 84 zeros!

In other words, to put it mildly, it doesn’t happen every day!

Last time we talked about the scientific probability that 322 prophecies prophesied in the 39 books of the Old Testament, over a period of more than 1200 years, by more than 30 different writers, are one in 10 to the 84th power. That is 1 followed by 84 zeros!

Yet our faith as followers of Jesus, as important as it is, is not based only on these fulfilled prophecies. It is not even based on everything that Jesus himself taught, how He lived, or what He did, or even that He was crucified.

No, the most important of all important things why we believe in Jesus is because this Jesus rose from the dead!

That is why 1 Cor. 15 says that everything we believe as followers of Jesus stands or falls on whether He really rose from the dead, and whether He still lives!

Listen to what it says in verses 1 to 7:

“I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and in which you also stand. By this gospel you are also saved, if you hold fast to the message I preached to you. If you hold to something else, you have believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then to more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom some are dead, but most remain. After that, he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared to me also, who was born out of time.”

That is why verse 14 says: ‘And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.’

Therefore, most of the attacks on what we believe as followers of Jesus and on the Bible have been aimed at trying to prove the resurrection of Jesus to be a lie.

So, in the 18th century, there was a man named Gilbert West who didn't like that many of his friends had become Christians. He set out to write a book disproving the resurrection, because if you can disprove the resurrection, you can disprove the heart of the Christian message.

Halfway through writing the book, however, he encountered a Living Jesus himself. Instead of disproving the resurrection, he ended up writing a book defending it.

In the 19th century, there was a famous atheist in America named Ingersoll. He was upset that Christianity was growing so rapidly worldwide. One of his friends was the famous general, General Leo Wallace. Ingersoll said to him, "Leo, you have to help me. Why don't you write a book that refutes the resurrection?"

That's how Leo Wallace began writing his book. His wife was a Christian, and she prayed for him while he worked. That's how Leo Wallace also met a living Jesus while writing his book about the resurrection of Jesus. Today, you and I know his book because it became the text of the famous film titled "Ben-Hur".

In the 20th century, a lawyer and journalist named Frank Morrison decided that he would destroy Christianity. He believed the only way to do this was to refute the resurrection. As a journalist, he knew how to do research, and as a lawyer, he knew how to examine evidence. Halfway through writing his book, he found so much evidence for the resurrection that he met a living Jesus himself! Eventually, his book would be published with the title: "Who Rolled Away the Stone?"

So, if you are in a hurry to meet a Living, Risen Jesus, try writing a book to refute the resurrection!

I want to end this section with an image.

Imagine life as this street in front of us, with a road ahead, and this fork in the road. You don't know whether to go left or right. However, in front of you are two men lying in the middle of the fork in the road. One is dead, but the other is alive. Which one would you ask for directions about life ahead?

I am a Christian because Jesus Christ is alive. So His resurrection confirms everything He said and everything He did.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He spent 40 days with His disciples there in Jerusalem and the surrounding area before He ascended to heaven.

During those 40 days, He added nothing new or took away anything He had taught them during the previous three years.

Therefore, we can trust what Jesus said about the past, the present, and the future.

I am a follower of Jesus and a Christian, because I believe there is undeniable logical and historical evidence that everything we believe is true, but especially because Jesus really rose and lives as the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

An intelligent person who seeks the truth cannot help but take a book with the unique historical qualities of the Bible seriously.

How many times have archaeology, science, and historical research shown that what is in the Bible, even to everyone's surprise, is exactly as it was written down in the Bible so many centuries ago?

Yet there are still people who ask in surprise, "Are you still reading the Bible?"

Even at school and university, without most of us realizing it, things are said and taught that directly contradict what is in the Bible. Just think about how easily the theory of evolution is used to explain to our children at school and at university the primal beginning of everything!

Therefore, it is time to tell each other again why we believe that the Bible is the Word of God and why we believe that it is reliable.

Let me show you some of the unique features of the Bible:

• Did you know that the 66 books of the Bible that we know were written by more than 40 different authors over a period of about 1400 years? They were from all walks of life, and some of them were even kings like David and Solomon; others were wise gurus, poets, and musicians, yes, even a doctor and historian, fishermen, and even a learned Scripture expert and interpreter of Scripture, named Paul. These authors wrote these 66 books on 3 continents: A portion in the Middle East and Africa, a portion in Asia Minor, and a portion in Europe.

• The largest part of it was written in 2 languages: The Old Testament in Hebrew (with a very small portion in Aramaic), and the New Testament in Koine Greek, the language of every man at that time.

• We find in this Bible all kinds of literature such as history, legislation of all kinds, civil, criminal, ethical and religious, but also poetry, psalms and other songs, prophecy, personal memoirs, and even apocalyptic.

• Yet, despite all that has been said above, there is this golden thread that is noticeable throughout the entire Bible that leaves scientists completely astonished and speechless.

• If someone were to ask you: What is the Bible mainly about, you could answer them as follows: In the Bible, we hear God speak and how He reveals Himself and His heart and will to us. Millions of people can testify how this God has met them somewhere in their lives, spoken to them, and shown them His face, His heart, and even His plan for their lives.

• In the 39 books of the Old Testament, we discover this God as Creator, but also as the God who creates for Himself a people who would ultimately be the womb from which the promised Messiah was born.

• In the 27 books of the New Testament, we read in 4 gospels the good news about Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, about His birth, His life, what He said and did, His death on the cross, burial, but also about His resurrection from the dead. Then we also read how He showed Himself alive to hundreds of people for 40 days, ascended to heaven, and 10 days later gave His people, as He promised, the Holy Spirit to dwell with and in them forever. In the rest of the New Testament books, we read how this radically changed the lives of thousands of people, so that they were even willing to die as martyrs for their faith in Him.

• Can you believe that 11 of Jesus' disciples eventually died as martyrs, because they were so sure about Him as King, Lord, and Savior in their lives!

• Even though the faithful followers of Jesus were persecuted, tortured, and killed throughout the centuries, this did not prevent faith in this Jesus and in this God from spreading like wildfire across the world and is still the largest religious movement in the world.

• Yes, despite so many who have tried, no one has ever been able to stop the printing and distribution of the Bible, and the Bible is and remains a bestseller worldwide today.