God and The Bible
God and The Bible
CHAPTER FIVE
GOD AND THE BIBLE
What you believe about God and the Bible will influence tremendously your determination and enthusiasm in Christian living. What you believe about God and the Bible will determine your conduct as a steward. If your faith is to be effective, you must believe that God now exists and that he rewards those who really seek Him (Read Heb. 11:6). I suggest you commit this verse to memory. It has helped me many times when I was a little down or challenged by events to the day. In fact it is my screen saver on my personal laptop.
You must have faith in the Bible! In today’s world there are many who doubt its truth. Evolutionists try to convince us that science teaches that we exist because of a long slow process that turn us from a rock to humans. The “science” they say proves all this has been shown to be not true and in many case fabricated by those seeking to destroy Christianity. True science points to both a young earth and a common design. Earth science points to a world-wide flood. There are some excellent books on this, and I suggest that once you have completed our three part program, you do some study about Creation vs. evolution.
You must believe that the Bible is, indeed, God’s Word sent to guide you in living (Read II Timothy 3:16). Let’s put these two truths down in two statements so that you can memorize them for your future use.
1. There is but one true, living, eternal God and in the Godhead they are Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. The Scriptures are the Old and New Testaments, the inspired Word of God, and therein is found the infallible guide for human faith and conduct.
I pray that you will grow to understand that when the world, your friends and even current circumstances seem to dictate otherwise, the Bible will always prove to be true.
1. The Mystery of God
Oh yes, God is a mystery! What kind of a God would He be if we humans knew all about Him? God must far surpass our limited ability to grasp Him or He would not be God. The One who made and rules the universe must be more powerful, more wise and capable than any man, and God is all that (Read I Tim. 1:17; Rev. 19:6). But of course, when He is all these things, then He becomes a mystery to us, even the wisest of us (Read I Tim. 3:16).
II. Our Source of Information
We can believe and know many things about this mysterious God. We can see His work in nature (Read Psalm 19:1). He has been trying to reveal Himself to man for thousands of years (Read Heb. 1:1-2). We have three major sources from which we can learn some thing about Him. One of these is Jesus Christ; another is the Bible; the third is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Read John 3:16-18). He has the same divine nature (Godhead) as the Father (Read Col. 2:8-9). He wants us to understand that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him so that anyone who knows Jesus knows the Father (Read John 14: 7-9). He came to show us what the Father is like so that we, by knowing this, might have eternal life (Read John 17:1-3).
The Scriptures form God’s message to man. He inspired holy men to write His message (Read II Peter 1:20-21; Rev. 1:11; Isaiah 8:1; Jeremiah 1:9). He strictly warns us not to tamper with this message He has caused to be written (Read Rev. 22:19). All the inspired men who wrote our Bible shared one idea from God as they wrote (Read John 20:31; Psalm 119:9; Rom. 10:17; II Tim. 3:15).
The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to make the Word of God effective in our lives (Read John 14:26). The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts about the things that offend God. He lets us know when we displease God (Read John 16:7-13). When we do right and please God, the Holy Spirit tells us that we are children of God (Read Rom. 8:16). Thus, the Holy Spirit becomes a source of information about God.
III. Your Infallible Guide
The word “infallible” means something that will never fail, something that will always be true. God cannot lie (Read Titus 1:2). Thus what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit say will always be dependable, always true. The Scripture cannot lie to you.
Sometimes we find things in Scripture that we do not understand. They seem to contradict themselves. But remember this, The Scriptures cannot be broken (Read John 10:35). You are not the first person to find themselves in this situation. You do not have all the facts or you do not understand what you read. You must spend more time in prayer and study. Be careful not to be dogmatic about something you don’t understand. Ask your pastor, Sunday School teacher or another Christian for advice. One of the wonderful blessings of Bible studies with others is this learning process. Searching the Scriptures does not produce doubt, but provides a more complete understanding. Don’t shy away from seeking knowledge about things that are unclear to you. Even after all the years of study, hundreds of sermons and Bible studies, the Scriptures continue to teach me and I love it! I pray that you will too.
God’s Word will never pass away (Read Luke 21:33). Everything else around us changes, but God’s Word will never pass away; it will never change. We may ignore it, but that won’t change it. We may ignore Jesus, but His Word will remain the same. We may ignore warnings of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, but that will not change what He tells us.
In this world of slippery slopes, aren’t you grateful for something that doesn’t change. Aren’t you glad that God’s love for you does not change; aren’t you glad that you can know where He stands today and are assured that He will be standing in the same place tomorrow, the next day and the next? Trust in God and in His Word and in the direction of the Holy Spirit!
When temptation comes, and they will come, you will have help (Read I Cor. 10:13). You will have a reliable guide on your path (Read Psalm 119:105). You will find comfort and hope in the Scriptures (Read Romans 15:4).
IV. Now What to Do?
If God and His Word are all these things, we should get to know both better. To know more about God calls for more prayer. Think of it as talking to your most intimate friend, a person with whom you can talk to about everything. The Person to whom you can call on in times of great joy, concern and confusion. My, how many times we are told to pray! That is because God wants to talk to us. He wants that personal and intimate relationship with you. Jesus gave us a model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Read it now.
This passage shows us how to pray. We recognize God for what He is and where He is. We ask for the physical and spiritual things we need. We place ourselves in the hand of Him who has all power and all glory.
We let God talk to us. We read the Scriptures, knowing that they accomplish the purposes for which he sent them (Read Isaiah 55:11). As we read, we stop, close our eyes, and pray. “What do you want to tell me in this verse?” While we sit very still and wait, the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and we begin to hear what God want us to know. Isn’t that wonderful?
V. Living With God and the Bible
1. Wise unto Salvation (Read II Timothy 3:15 and write it below)
Explain it in your own words
You read the Bible to gain spiritual truth, to become wise unto salvation. The Bible is not a book of science, though there are science truths in it. Scientists are always changing theories; the Bible has both scientific and spiritual truths that do not change. The Bible is not history or geography, though it contains a great deal of information about both. The Bible was written to show us how to be saved and how to live a good and useful life. Whatever contradicts the Scripture is false, for they were written so that you could be right (Read Psalm 119:11).
2. Practice His Presence (Read Matt. 28:19-20; Psalm 139:7)
God is always with you. Remember that. Think about it. Through the Holy Spirit, He accompanies you each day everywhere you go. If you walk down the street with someone you love and respect, you are careful never to do anything which will make that person ashamed of you. Since the Holy Spirit is with you at all times and you love and respect Him, let your language and your conduct be such that Jesus will never be ashamed of you.
3. Recover your Balance
Let’s face it; you are not God. You are a weak human being. We all are. You will do your best at all times, I am sure. But sometimes doubts hit you. Situations come upon you unaware. Sometimes you sin (Read I John 1:8). This throws you off balance. You get discouraged. Your unsaved friends may needle you. How do you get back your balance? When you sin, you have an advocate with the Father (Read I John 2:1). That is the way we clear up our sins after we are saved. Ask for forgiveness and repent.
4. You Can Grow (Read II Peter 3:18; I Peter 2:2) As you read and heed your Bible, you grow stronger. Your life takes on more and more of the characteristics God wants you to develop. You begin with faith, or course. Then you grow and add other graces (Read II Peter 1:5-8). Remember though, that this requires Bible reading, study, and practice of the presence of God. If you neglect these, you will stay weak, and you will often fall prey to the efforts of Satan to trip you.
5. Be A Good Steward (Read I Cor. 4:2)
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work for you. The Bible works for you. Heaven is doing all it can for you to be a happy, successful Christian. But faithful management of your life is required on your part. NO ONE CAN DO IT FOR YOU! This is the first requirement of a good steward. You always put God’s work in first place (Read Matt. 6:33). You will be loyal. You know something! I believe you are going to succeed as a Christian. Just remember always that what you believe about God and the Bible is the key to your happiness and success as a Christian.
HOMEWORK
(Things with which you have problems in this homework may be discussed with your teacher and the class. Sharing questions and concerns is a healthy part of the growing process)
1. Memorize the two truths in this lesson. Stay with it until you can write them on a separate sheet of paper without looking in your book.
2. Have you been puzzled by the plural pronoun in Genesis 1:26? Read Gen. 1:2 and John 1:1. To whom was the Creator speaking when He said Us?
3. From I Timothy 1:17 and Revelation 19:6, write those attributes of God revealed there.
4. From I Timothy 3:16, list some of the mysteries of God.
5. How can we see the Father? (John 14:7-9)
6. What will this do for us? (John 17:2-3)
7. Why did holy men of God write the Bible? (John 20:31)
8. How did they know what to write? (Jeremiah 1:9)
9. How do we know we are children of God? (Rom. 8:16)
10. Of what did the Holy Spirit come to convict (reprove) us? (John 16:8)
11. What wisdom is given us by the holy Scriptures? (II Timothy 3:15)
12. In what things does the inspired Word help us? (II Timothy 3:16)
13. For what purpose does a Christian study the Bible? (Psalm 119:11)
14. How do we know the God’s Word is true? (Titus 1:2)
15. What characteristics are we to add to our faith? (II Peter 1:5-8)
16. How can we do this? (I Peter 2:2)