Dear brothers and sisters,
As you go through and contemplate this week’s reading, I would
also like to ask you to get your Bible, open it, and read it with much
joy.
WEEK VII: LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- The
Bible
- The
Authority of the Bible
- The
Bible has withstood the Test of Time
- Life
Journey Map
- Read
and Live
THE BIBLE
First, let us look at the meaning of the word Bible. The word
“Bible” is from Late Medieval Latin biblia "the Bible",
derives from the Greek word Biblia,
meaning “books.” So the Bible basically means the Books. The
same Greek word also means “scroll” or “parchment.” The first words of the
scripture would have been written on parchments, and then copied to scrolls and
distributed, and so on. When the movable printing press was invented by
Johannes Gutenberg, he completed printing the Bible about 1455 working at
Mainz, Germany.
Like every book has an author (s), who wrote his or her thoughts,
what in his mind, his views, and so on, the Bible also has an author who is
God. However, God used various people (his servants) to write the Bible. God
inspired his servants to write the Bible. The servants of God received God’s
words and instructions in various ways and wrote the Bible. Some of them heard
the voice of God, some were shown vision, and some through their inner voice
and experience, and still others were given revelation. God inspired his
servants to write the Bible in their own styles, using their own languages
(Hebrews, Aramaic/Greek), and in different situations, places, and histories.
“All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The books of the Bible were written at
different times by different authors over a period of approximately 1,500 years. About
40 servants of God wrote the Bible.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE
The next vital truth we need
to know as disciples of Jesus is the authority of the Bible. Without fully
trusting, acknowledging, and relying on the authority of the Bible we cannot
stand our ground in our walk and journey of faith.
I have read some books in the past that I don’t know the authors
well. I am also not sure what they have written was based on rigorous studies
and researches and universal truth. I am not even certain what was written in
those books were reliable, trustworthy, or flawless? The Bible on the other
hand is entirely different. The God of the universe is the author of the
Bible, and He did it by using his servants to write His Words. The omniscient (knowing
everything), the omnipotent (all-powerful), and the omnipresent God (present
everywhere at the same time) is the source of the Bible; consequently, every
word in the Bible is true, perfect, and flawless.
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take
refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5); “the words of the Lord are flawless, like
silver purified in a crucible like gold refined seven times” (Psalm
12:6). “All scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Authority comes from the author and the author of the Bible is God
therefore the authority of the Bible comes from God himself. Behind every word
and command in the Bible is the mind of God. The Bible is God’s Words and God’s
Thoughts. The Bible reveals God’s Will and Ways and they are flawless,
reliable, and universal.
As disciples of Jesus, we rest our lives on the authority of the
Bible
WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF TIME
The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. It is the only book
that has changed and completely transformed countless lives down history,
and it will remain the same in the age to come. “Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). But at
the same time, countless people have been killed because of the Bible, and so
in that sense, the Bible is also the most hated book that has ever been
written. Satan and demons hate the Bible, and the people of this world (those
who love the world, those who follow the works of Satan) hate the Bible.
We learned from history that many people have tried their best
to destroy the Bible. Many have burned the Bible, many have tried to distort
the Bible, many have spoken against and tried to disprove the reliability of
the Bible, and still many are trying their best to destroy the Bible in various
ways even today in and around the world. However, the Bible has withstood the
test of time.
Many who have tried to destroy the Bible are dead and gone, but
the Bible is still available and alive. I know a certain atheist (a person who
doesn’t believe in God or the Bible), a well-known British thinker- Christopher
Hitchens. I have listened to his talks and debates with Christians a few times
and have bought and read a little bit of his famous book, God is not
great. It was a bitter book I should say. He insults God; he laughs and
mocks at the thing of God and the Bible. He did his best to destroy the
credibility of the Bible, but he didn’t succeed. I know also several people
like Hitchens who are trying their best to destroy the Bible. Hitchens died in
2011. He is dead and gone, but the Bible is still credible, and it is still the
bestselling book in the world. “The scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
THE JOURNEY MAP OF LIFE
I assume some of you might have read the famous allegorical book, “The Pilgrim Progress” by John Bunyan.
If you haven’t read that book, I highly recommend you to read it, not one time,
but several times. In his book, Bunyan tells a story of a man named Christian,
living in a city of destruction with his wife, children, and friends, and he
later journeyed his way from the city of destruction to the celestial city.
Life is indeed a journey. We are all pilgrims, and we are
traveling in this world toward a destination, either to hell, a place of God’s
wrath or to heaven where God dwells. In this life’s journey, God has given all
of us a map to read and follow. For example, we are instructed to follow the
narrow path; we are counseled to run away from lust and sexual immorality and
flee from idolatry (Matthew 7:13; 1 Cor. 10:14). We are to be careful in all
our ways as we travel. The map of life God has given us is the Bible, His Word.
“Beloved, I beg you as
sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”
(1 Peter 2:11); “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly
wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body
that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by
which he is able even to subdue all things to himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
READ AND LIVE
If the God of the Universe
is the author of the Bible; if the Bible is supremely authoritative; if the
Bible has changed and transformed the lives of countless people; if the Bible
has withstood the test of time; and if the Bible is the map of life that God
has given to us, then we are the most fortunate people alive on earth to have
the Bible in our hands and homes today. On the other hand, we are the most
pitied or unwise people if we don’t take it, read it, or live accordingly
knowing that the Bible is God’s Eternal Word.
As the disciples of Jesus, we have no other books but the Bible;
we have no other authority but the authority of God’s Word; we have no other
map of life but the Bible. Let us read the Bible, apply our minds, humble
before the Lord, and may God in His grace come and make us understand His word,
so that we may live as his true disciples here on earth. Amen.
Prayer points:
1. Give thanks to God for the
Bible in our hands and homes
2. Prayer of commitment to reading the Bible
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