What is the Bible? | 2 Tim. 3:16-17
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever heard of the question, “What came first? The chicken or the egg?” What is your vote?
What came first? The Church or the Bible?
{allow time for students to think and share ideas}
Church around AD 33-35 (just short of 2000 years old
Bible (fully completed after the church) (OT was read in the Temples before the church was established) (John 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” )
Does the Word exist because of the church
or does the church exist because of the Word?
This question may sound tricky like the last but there is a correct option. The church exists because of the Word. We know what we read in John 1:1. Therefore, the Word has always been because it is Jesus. Christ is the One who established the church on the Day of Pentecost. THE CHURCH EXISTS BECAUSE OF THE WORD!
Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3:16–17
I want to share a few minutes from this passage and then you will have an opportunity to go to a Small Group and talk personally about the passage.
“16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
BIBLE FACTS
40 writers — 1 AUTHOR
Written over 1500 years
Best selling book (over 5 billion copies sold)
First book to be printed on the Gutenberg Printing Press
Archaeological Proof of Scripture
100+ prophecies fulfilled about Jesus
Detailed copying of the Bible has proven to be very accurate
The Bible is FROM GOD
The Bible is FROM GOD
Do you see the first phrase in verse 16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God….” What does this sentence mean? Did God take a heavenly mint and breath on the writers, and they were suddenly able to write?
The idea the term presents is that God has breathed his character into Scripture so that it is inherently inspired. There are different views to inspiration. We believe the one called “VERBAL PLENARY” the end result is that the whole (PLENARY) is inspired. God used the personalities, experiences, learning, and interest of human writers, but the result is that every Word is from God!
What you find in this book is not from group of teachers. It’s not from kings and government leaders. It’s not from fisherman. It’s not from any tax collector or doctor. It’s not from any revolutionist. THE BIBLE IS FROM GOD! Other books have been written by people who had to imagine or do research to write. The Bible is purely from God, we just see it through the lenses of different people.
I’ve heard Christians share doubt that the Bible is not the complete Word of God. They question if something is missing or something is there that shouldn’t be there. My response is,”Do you believe in creation? YES. Do you believe in the Resurrection? YES. If you believe in those 2 miraculous events, you doubt if God can put a book together?”
The book before you is FROM GOD and its also ABOUT GOD.
The Bible is ABOUT GOD
The Bible is ABOUT GOD
Look at vers 16 “…and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ….” The Bible is about God.
Who was the ultimate teacher? JESUS
Who rebuke sins? JESUS
Who corrected people’s lives? JESUS
Who transforms someone and trains them into righteousness? JESUS.
The Bible is about Jesus. Every story, every promise, every truth, every word is about GOD! He is the hero of the Bible! All throughout the Bible, God was teaching His people. All throughout the Bible, God was rebuking sin in people’s lives and correcting them. This led to forgiveness for those who repented and judgement for those who didn’t. All throughout the Bible, God transformed lives from pure sinfulness to redeemed in righteousness of Christ. God is the hero of the Bible! No one else is mentioned in perform these actions in every book except JESUS!
Not only does every book talk about God, but every book talks about the work of God in other books in the Bible. Some smart and dedicated people with a smart computer compiled ALL of the cross references in the Bible and drew a visual for people. CHECK THIS OUT ——— 63,779 cross references. Each book of the Bible does not only reference the work of God in its own book but it references the work of God in other books of the Bible.
The book before you is FROM GOD, its ABOUT GOD, and the Bible is FOR YOU
The Bible is FOR YOU
The Bible is FOR YOU
Look at verse 16 & 17 “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The Bible is for us so that we may be COMPLETE & EQUIPPED.
Like the crimson dye in cloth, the tint of Scripture is not to be got out of the soul when once fixed there. It is dyed ingrain; it enters into the very nature of the person.
If the Bible makes us complete, that tells me we are missing something to accomplish the work of God. If the Bible equips us, that tells me we are not personally able to accomplish the work of God.
Closing
Closing
Do you see what the Bible is and appreciate the DIVINE COMPLEXITY of it?
Think about this: try to organize 40 different writers over 1500 years and write a unified story around Jesus. This kind of organization is DIVINE work, it’s HEAVENLY work, its GOD”S WORK>