Wisdom, the Bible and the Gospel of John

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/25ee5696/wisdom-the-bib...

Hello!

Recently a young man asked, 'Hey, so if I was going to start reading the Bible, what would be the best spot? I mean I read Genesis, but like Exodus is tough! What should I read?'

'Hmmm, I believe you should start in the gospels,' I said. The stakes were really high for this man to connect with what he read right out of the gate, so I suggested the gospel of John where he would encounter our Lord, up close and personal.

In our next conversation, he said, 'so it feels like I started in the middle of the story, so maybe I should go back a couple of chapters to get my bearings.'

Hmmm, in a different sort of book, ordered chronologically, that might be true......but friends, hear me now: the Bible is not ordered chronologically.

In my last Morning Briefing, I tried to inspire you to foster a love for wisdom in your life: wisdom that finds its roots in God, wisdom that God promises if we ask him, wisdom that is found in the pages of Scripture.

But as my young friend indicated, it is oft difficult to understand, including its layout. No, he could not just flip back a couple pages as he would be at the end of Luke's gospel, the end of Jesus' earthly life. So, how is the Bible set up? How can we tackle it with just a wee bit of understanding and why should we go to the trouble? Simply, of all the things you could give your attention, one stands alone - the Bible. 

->"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God stands forever."1

-The Bible was God-inspired, or rather 'God breathed', the Greek word that Paul used.2

One of the ways we know that the Bible is true is that even though it was written by 40 different authors, there are no contradictions. That is nothing short of amazing.

When you hold a Bible in your hands, what do you have?  

The following is a short explanation of what the Bible contains. If clasping your Bible, your left hand would grasp the Old Testament, and your right hand, the New Testament.  The Old Testament spanned more than a thousand years, while the New Testament just 80 – 90 years, with 400 years of silence in between, in which God did not speak.

Old Testament

-It is a written record of the history of mankind and Israel specifically, penned in Hebrew, spanning about 1440 b.c. to 400 b.c. It is not ordered chronologically.

-There are 39 books in the Old Testament which can be classified as:

--The Law of Moses – first five books – also called the Torah or Pentateuch

--The Prophets – Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel +          

--12 minor prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,

             Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

--The Writings – Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations,          Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles

-The Protestant church accepts identically the same Old Testament books the Jewish people did, and as Jesus and the apostles accepted.  The Roman Catholic Church, since the Council of Trent in 1546, added 14 books of the Apocrypha

What is in the New Testament?

-Written in Greek, containing 27 books

-->finished before 100 A.D. (Knowledge of this dating is critical to supporting the veracity of Scripture)

--The Gospels – the four gospels record the birth, life, death, resurrection of Jesus Christ, and His training of the disciples. They are written by four different men, slightly different 'takes'

--History - the establishment of the early church and its spread through Mediterranean lands

--Letters – After Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road in Acts 9, we are able to read his letters to the churches—also called the ‘epistles’; there are 13 of them. They are loaded with our Christian doctrine and the right way to live.

--The book of Revelation, written by the apostle John when he was on the Isle of Patmos, apocalyptic.    

The NT was written by the apostles of Jesus Christ or companions of the apostles.  This means that the authors were either eyewitnesses of the events they described or they recorded eyewitness firsthand accounts (want more? take a look at: 2 Peter 1.16; 1 John 1.1-3; 1 Corinthians 15.6-8; John 20.30,31; Acts 10.39-42; 1 Peter 5.1; Acts 1.9; Acts 2.22; Acts 26.24-28)

It is valuable to know that the first three gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) were written when many were alive who could remember the things Jesus said and did . . . and many would still be alive when the fourth one was written as well (John).  The writings would have been refuted and the writers discredited if they recounted or represented falsehoods.

     Note to self:  Scripture. is. defensible.

Remember—the gospels were written when people who were alive could have refuted them--their claims about Jesus’ life, death, miracles, resurrection—they didn’t, that is because they were true. 

I think of the psalmist—the ‘man after God’s own heart’-who said,

“Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Psalm 119.89

The Bible alone answers the big questions of life: how we got here, why we are here and what happens to us after death. 

People read the Bible for information, direction and inspiration, and find it filled with more than they can ever fully comprehend. Simply, there is nothing more worthwhile to read than the wisdom in the pages of the Word of God.

The main thing to know is that the Bible is what it purports to be . . . TRUTH.  

It is the Word of God, regardless of how a person regards it.  It is supported by archaeological evidence, fulfilled prophecy, historical and scientific evidence. And here is something I have noticed - those who read the Bible, seek to understand and apply it, are radically changed by it. Their lives are transformed.

Why does it have the power to change us? As our friend Paul wrote to young Timothy, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work."² 

Yes, Sir, the Bible is worth our time and effort to understand its content.

The Bible tells it like it is. Now if I were writing the Bible, I would leave out the mess-ups and sins of our would-be heroes -- but not God, he did not. Take David, who we all loved as a shepherd/ then anointed king who commits adultery and kills his lover's husband! Seriously?! But do not miss that after all of that, God still refers to him as 'a man after his own heart'.3 Fact is, we are all sinners, and so were our Bible heroes.

We will soon return to the book of Acts where Paul blows the doors of the gospel wide open. Paul, who wrote 13 out of the 27 books in the New Testament, each one a letter to Christ followers in different towns or regions. Unbelievably, his ancient writings have application to us in our modern day. Because why? the Word of God stands forever! And when I get to Heaven one day, after I see and hug my mother, the next person I'll be looking for is Paul. Brilliant mind, creative, tenacious, a gifted communicator, sold-out Christ-follower who did whatever it took to show and convince people of the truth and reasonableness of the gospel--Paul. Did I say humble? Yeah, that too.

O, Word which is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.4 Amen.

podcast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig&list=RDa6LC8cu03Ig&a...

Christine!

PastorWoman.net

^{1 - Isaiah 40.8}

^{2 - 2 Timothy 3.16-17}

^{3 - 1 Samuel 13.14; Acts 13.22}

^{4 - Psalm 119.105}