They say that there are hundreds of billions, or even trillions, of planets like Earth in the universe. It is truly astonishing to think that God created the vast universe and all those planets by His Word. It is beyond comprehension that this great God sent His own Son to Earth, a tiny speck in the universe, to become human and die on the cross, in order to make us His sons and daughters. This is a love that is truly difficult to understand.

For a long time, God has been revealing to us who He is and why He has shown us—and me—such immense love. The book that records all of this is the Bible.

There are several books in the world that claim to be given by a god, but no other book has as much definitive evidence of being the word of God as the Bible. We, who are naturally sceptical and hesitant to believe, may find it intriguing and ask, ‘Could it be true?’ when a particular individual claims to have personally met an angel and received a divine revelation. But we cannot base the truth that determines our eternal life on the words of one individual. What if that person is lying? Or what if they were deceived by a fallen angel, a demon, and became convinced of their claims?

Among the books that claim to be divine revelations, the Bible is unique. It was written over 1,500 years by about 40 people from different times, different continents, and different statuses and professions, all of whom met God, experienced Him, and recorded what they heard from Him. As a result, it records various historical figures and locations that appear in history as they are. If you visit the British Museum near our church, you can see countless artifacts related to the Bible on display. Because of this, the Bible is something we can thoroughly examine for its truth, making it far more reasonable than a revelation that someone received alone in a secret place like a cave, claiming to have met and heard from an angel.

So, we should not think that it’s difficult to accept the Bible as God’s word just because He didn’t write it Himself in some mystical way, but rather had it written by people. Instead, we should recognize that God, in a deeply personal and loving way, spoke to us in a manner consistent with His involvement in our history.

The reason we can believe without doubt that the Bible is God’s word is that Jesus, who was crucified and rose again three days later to prove that He is the Son of God, confirmed that the Old Testament, which was written by human hands, is indeed the Word of God. It is amazing that the Bible, despite being written by different people across different eras, is unified in its content. But even more, the Son of God, who came to this Earth, directly acknowledged the authority of the Bible as God’s word, making it even more certain.

Therefore, whenever we open the Bible, we should think, ‘This is the word of the true God who created the entire universe, speaking to us and to me right now.’ When we think this way, we will truly want to read the Bible, and we will naturally feel a desire to live according to its teachings. There are many books in the world considered important, but can any book be more important than the Word of God?

That is why I encourage everyone to actively participate in our church-wide Bible reading, which explains the historical context, the main points, and God’s story revealed throughout history. I don’t think there is any excuse for finding it difficult to read one chapter a day. Since we’re reading it together, let’s take this opportunity to be ambitious and make an effort to read the Bible diligently!