The story of the Bible is a story of a book that has been supernaturally preserved and protected. The Bible is divided into two parts that are called the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books and was written before Jesus left Heaven to be born on earth. The New Testament has 27 books and was written after Jesus returned to Heaven following the resurrection.

Over the centuries, the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament have been accurately and miraculously preserved and protected from error and enemies. Skeptics, kings, dictators, civilizations, and societies have tried to eliminate the Bible. These same skeptics, kings, dictators, civilizations and societies have all fallen in time – but in 2008 in the 21st century -- the Bible still stands! The reason why is given in Isaiah 40:8: The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. The supernatural protection of the text of the Bible over all these years is one reason for trusting it.

The Bible can be trusted because the sixty-six books it contains are consistent in what they say. If the Bible had been written by one person at one time, one could understand how it would be unified. But look at its diversities:

* It was written on three different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe).

* It was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic).

* It was written over a span of fifteen centuries.

* It was written by forty different authors.

* It was written by people from all walks of life (from Kings to Judges from Prophets to fishermen from tax-collectors to a doctor).

* It was written from many different places in life (from palaces to prisons from deserts to cities).

And yet, the Bible tells one story from beginning to end: God’s love for humanity and His desire to rescue us from our sin through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, so we could be with Him forever in Heaven. In spite of this wide diversity, the Bible is one book. It agrees in doctrine, in details of prophecy, and in all it says about the Son of God and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. No human being could account for that – only God could do that.

The most important issue with religions is who wrote the "holy" book you believe in. Other religions say their "holy" book was written by a man who said he was inspired by God. We believe the Bible was written by God who inspired man. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16 says that: All Scripture is inspired by God … Because God is the ultimate author of the Bible, and God is the ultimate author of truth, what is found inspired in the Bible from God -- can only be truth that is fully trustworthy. The incredible unity of the Bible is another reason why we can believe in the Bible.

In places such as Mark 7:13, Jesus spoke of the Scriptures as “the word of God.” If I believe Jesus is who He said He is, then I would want to believe what Jesus believed about the Bible.

(1) Jesus believed in the first man and first woman mentioned in the book of Genesis (Matthew 19:4).

(2) Jesus believed in Moses and what was said of him in the Old Testament (John 6:31-32).

(3) Jesus believed in Noah and the world-wide flood (Luke 17:26).

(4) Jesus believed in the Old Testament prophets like Daniel (Matthew 24:15; 22:40).

(5) Jesus believed in a literal place called Sodom and Gomorrah that experienced the judgment of God (Matthew 10:15).

(6) Jesus believed the Bible’s account of Jonah and the whale (which the Bible actually calls “a huge fish” – Matthew 12:40).

Jesus never gave any indication that any part of the Scriptures was fables or myths – He endorsed the full reliability of God’s book the Bible. If Jesus believed in the Scriptures, I want to believe in them, too.

One clear confirmation of the Bible’s credibility is the accuracy of its prophecy. One of the strongest arguments for the believability of the Bible is its 100% accuracy in predicting the future. These future predictions are called “prophecies.” The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies, so we can measure its trustworthiness. These predictions of the future were recorded in the Bible by God’s prophets. Every prediction happened just the way that it was said. No other “sacred writing” has such perfectly accurate predictions of the future.

Some of the most dramatic examples of fulfilled Bible prophecy are those concerning Jesus Christ. For example, Isaiah and the Psalms record specific details about the death of Jesus by crucifixion -- hundreds of years -- before this terrible form of execution were ever practiced. The prophecies recorded in the Bible came true in such a detailed way that they could not have been predicted by chance.

(1) Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) – Fulfilled (Luke 1:26-27)

(2) Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) – Fulfilled (Matthew 2:1)

(3) He would be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) – Fulfilled (Matthew 1:23)

(4) Crucified with robbers (Isaiah 53:12) – Fulfilled (Matthew 27:38)

(5) Buried in the tomb of the rich (Isaiah 53:9) – Fulfilled (Matthew 27:57-60).

After the resurrection, Jesus started with Moses and the Prophets, and explained to them how the prophecies in the Scripture had been fulfilled (Luke 24:27). Since these prophecies were written down at least 400 years before they happened, there is no doubt that the Bible’s writers were inspired supernaturally - by God.

Reason #5 – We can believe what the Bible says because of the life-changing power of the Bible.

History is marked by those who have been changed by reading what this Book says. It has provided hope to the hopeless. It has brought peace to the restless. It has brought amazing deliverance and change for millions of people of all ages and from all walks of life, who have had the deepest needs of their lives met by the power of the message found in the Bible.

Hebrews 4:12 says: For the word of God is alive and powerful… Millions of lives have been changed through the truth in the Bible.

Of course, if the Bible is fully trustworthy, there are two questions we should ask today: (1) Am I reading the Bible? And (2) Am I following what the Bible says? God’s goal isn't for me to just get into the Bible – but for the Bible to get into me.