“no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation…but men spoke
from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”-II Peter 1:20-21
Is there a God? If there is a God, can I know how to please him? The Bible resolves these mysteries. The Scriptures tell the story of God from creation to eternity. In its pages are the answers to all of life’s questions. How did I get here? Where am I going? Does my life have meaning? God is the answer and the Bible is his revelation to man. In it, the Lord’s power, character, and love are revealed to all people.
Can I trust the Bible? The first question anyone needs to ask about a book is, “Who wrote it?” The Bible was written by men who recorded the message of God. This makes the Bible unique. The word of God is true, accurate, and unerring. It is a perfect record of imperfect people and events. The Scriptures contain direct statements from God (Genesis 1:3; Exodus 20:1; Isaiah 6:8). They contain an inspired history of people following (Joshua 24:31) and rebelling against the Lord (II Kings 17:7). The Bible is trustworthy and inspired. The people it describes are just like you and me. The word of God is unflinching in its description of history. It tells the truth.
Is the Bible I have today accurate? It is a question we all should ask. In his book How We Got The Bible, Neil R. Lightfoot says, “the New Testament is without a doubt the best-attested book from the ancient world.” There are over 5,000 early manuscripts of the New Testament in the Greek language in which they were originally written. The Dead Sea scrolls contain copies of Isaiah, Daniel, and other Old Testament books written 150-years before the birth of Jesus. Sir Frederic Kenyon was the Director of the British museum for over twenty years. He proclaimed, “The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries.” What a blessing!
Can I understand the Bible? God created human beings and delivered his message to us with words we can read and understand (Luke 10:26; Ephesians 3:4). The Bible is actually a volume of 66 books. They were written over a period of 1,500-years by 40 different men. Despite the span of centuries and variety of scribes, the Bible contains a consistent theme. Each book harmonizes with the others because they all have the same author!
The 39 books of the Old Testament tell the story of man from creation to the coming of Jesus. In the Old Testament we are introduced to God’s special people, the Israelites. The Lord promised, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”-Genesis 26:4. That blessing would come through the nation of Israel.
The 27 books collected in the New Testament tell the story of Jesus from his virgin birth to his triumphant return. The New Testament tells me about the life, miracles, and disciples of Jesus. God’s love is expressed in his willingness to send his only Son to die on the cross for me (John 3:16; Romans 3:23-26). Jesus is declared to be the Christ and Son of the living God by the miracle of his resurrection by God the Father (Romans 1:4; Ephesians 1:19-20). Beginning in the fifth book of the New Testament, we are told about the church Jesus built. The gospel is preached and all who have faith in God through Jesus Christ are baptized to receive the grace of forgiveness (Acts 2:38; 22:16). The church is made of Christians who are instructed, strengthened, and renewed by God’s Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14; Ephesians 3:16-20; Titus 3:5).
The 66 books of the Bible tell me about God and how I can be pleasing to him through faith in Jesus Christ his Son. Praise God for his Spirit revealed word!
Click Here for “The Word of God Part II”
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