How do I read the Bible? Natural or SuperNatural

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time, were dedicated to the law and their whole life was scripture and tradition or customs

How insulting that Jesus would question them

John 5:37–40 ESV

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

John 5:37-

John 5:37–39 ESV

What was lacking wasn’t a head issue

it wasn’t an intellectual matter or a lack of skill

But it was a heart issue

1 Corinthians 2:6–16 ESV

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Wisdom of this age/ rulers of this age

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 41.38 κόσμος, ου; αἰών, ῶνος

the system of practices and standards associated with secular society

These systems and their practices are doomed

Vladimir Lenin “Under socialism all will govern in turn and will soon become accustomed to no one governing.”

In our minds that sounds great

This same man would go on to say-

“The goal of socialism is communism.”

With communism comes the people being accustomed to one ruling and He is called a dictator.

all empires with all their power, political structure, and economic structure evenly come crashing down

Why The wisdom of this world doesn’t bring freedom

What men establish as good as it can be never compares to what the Author of Eternity establish’s

John 3:19 ESV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

The only hope is God

Ephesians 4:17–18 ESV

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Hardness is the cause and also our deepest problem

not ignorance - it is sinful nature

Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies

more than 40 messianic prophecies

Even the crucifixion

Psalm 22:16–18 ESV

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Psalm 22:16–18 ESV

Some Bible scholars suggest there are more than 300 prophetic Scriptures completed in the life of Jesus. Circumstances such as his birthplace, lineage, and method of execution were beyond his control and could not have been accidentally or deliberately fulfilled.

In the book Science Speaks, Peter Stoner and Robert Newman discuss the statistical improbability of one man, whether accidentally or deliberately, fulfilling just eight of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled.

The chance of this happening, they say, is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Stoner gives an illustration that helps visualize the magnitude of such odds:

Suppose that we take 10 to the 17th power silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.

The mathematical improbability of 300, or 44, or even just eight fulfilled prophesies of Jesus stands as evidence to his messiahship.

Yet the religious leaders missed it

Mt 16:13-17

Matthew 16:13–17 ESV

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

When we come to the word of God it is a supernatural thing

it is God who reveals to us

it is His spirit that Guides us

and gives us a heart of flesh that isn’t hardened to the glory of God

1 cor 2:10-

1 Corinthians 2:10–14 ESV

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Spiritual-

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 12.20 πνευματικός, οῦ

one who has received God’s Spirit and presumably lives in accordance with this relationship—‘one who is spiritual, one who has received the Spirit.’

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 142). New York: United Bible Societies.

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