Biblical Truth Is Historical in Nature

2023-11-08

Unlike many other faiths, the truth of the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ are rooted in history. If the history in the Bible is false, then it is worthless.

The Bible records true history. God really exists and He is the real Creator who created all things. Humanity rebelled and God showed grace yet also judged sin with the Flood. Israel is a real nation, and its kings were real personages. Jesus Christ really came into the world to save sinners. He really died for the sins of the world, was buried, rose from the dead the third day, and ascended into heaven (consider this ancient creed that emphasizes the historicity of Jesus, His death, and His resurrection). If these events are fabrications, then the Christian faith is vain and every Christian lives a pitiful existence. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain... If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 19).

The Bible is not mantra and mumbo jumbo. It is largely narrative recounting the real events of God’s grace in the midst of human rebellion. When humankind rebelled, God was gracious in explaining there would be a Savior that would come and offer deliverance from sin and death. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Everything else builds on this single verse.

One way God expanded on this “first gospel” is by progressive revelation. More details emerged as time went on before He came: Where the Savior would be born (i.e., Bethlehem; Micah 5:2), from what family lineage and tribe (i.e., the tribe of Judah; Genesis 49:8-12), how He would be born (i.e., by a virgin; Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14), How He would live (i.e., righteously; Isaiah 53:11), how He would die (i.e., crucifixion; Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10), how He would live again (Isaiah 53:12), and how He would judge the world (Isaiah 59:18-20). All but the last have happened already.

Moreover, Biblical history is replete with patterns that picture Christ, such as the Passover, the brazen serpent, and the sign of Jonah. The culture of ancient Israel was permeated with pictures of the Savior.

With so many explicit and implicit narratives and statements, people should have known Jesus when He came. Some did, while many did not. What is important for us is that the Scriptures are magnificently put together that it is evident that it is not manmade. God wove history together to show us our need for Jesus the Savior. Everyone in the western world today has access to the Bible.

When we believe on Christ for salvation, we are dependent on the real Son of God who became a man, who died for us and rose again in real history. You cannot separate history or the sciences from the Bible. If the Bible is not real history and if Jesus is not really risen, the Christian faith will collapse. But, praise God, it is the Word of God and Jesus is alive today.