The Bible
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The Bible
Lord willing we are going to be studying the whole Bible this year. The Bible in its entirety. I can think of no better way to inaugurate my official pastorate than biting off way more than I can chew. It’s an ambitious goal and pretty unrealistic if we study the text as we are generally used to word by word and verse by verse. That isn’t going to get us there. That is like studying the shapes of snowflakes when we are standing in the midst of the Himalayas. No we need to look the overall picture so we are going to cover at a shallow level - lets call it the 250,000 foot level. We will see the mighty peaks of major biblical events and discover their importance in relation to our life and faith. In this way I hope to expose us to some of the darker, dustier portions of our text - like Joel or Obadiah. If I am not mistaken most of us would have a bit of difficulty finding Habakkuk in our Bibles and struggle even more to tell anyone why these books are included in the Canon.
My goal today is to lay out this 250,000 foot map so we can see the point of it. We need to determine for ourselves that this map is trustworthy. That it is accurate. We want to know if it is correct in showing where we are and where we are going.
If you don’t know where you are or where you are going any old road will take you there. This journey in 2021 is taking us through biblical history beyond today and into the prophesied future. In the text we discover God’s plan of redemption. In the text we will see foreshadowing’s of Christ.
I personally believe the Bible because of who has attempted to discredit it. Way back in 2004, I was a dust covered corporal in the United States Marine Corp’s 1st Marine Division. Our slogan was “No better friend, No worse enemy.” We tried to live it out by being very generous to informants and those that helped the coalition and ruthlessly killing Al-Quieda. But those opportunities to hunt and kill were rare and few and far between. Most of the time we just watched and waited and cleaned our weapons. Killing time in Iraq and waiting to come home. I read voraciously. I read the Bible from a sense of duty and because its familiarity was a source of comfort. I was the only believer and coming from an upbringing where I spent 6 out of every 7 days at the church building I needed those comforting words. I also read everything else I could get my hands on. I once picked up a book that was incredibly dangerous. This book made audacious claims one of which shook me to my core, “Jesus never claimed to be God.” I thought could it be true? For several years I pondered on that until ultimately I discovered that was not true at all. Jesus did claim to be God… multiple times, John 10:30 for example. I was rudely awakened by this fact. I had been lied to! Well the tables turned so they say. I realized I was in a spiritual warzone and the enemies propaganda had jeopardized my effectiveness. I was angry. Really angry. “No better friend, no worse enemy.” The liar had made an enemy for life. I am here now as a result of that miscalculation.
Why believe the Bible
The Bible says it is true
The Bible claims to speak for God
The Bible is inerrant, infallible, inspired truth
Why do I believe the Bible
I believe the Bible because I have witnessed its truth in my life.
Why study the Bible?
The Bible tells us about our sin and our need of a Savior
The Bible tells us about our Savior
The Bible describes how to live as God desires 2 Peter 1:3
What is the Bible
What does “Bible” mean?
The word Bible comes from Biblia or “the books”
What does the Bible say?
What is the point?
Jesus is the focus and the point of the Bible
In the Old Testament Jesus is foretold
In the Gospels Jesus is revealed
In Acts Jesus is preached
In the Epistles Jesus is explained
In Revelation Jesus is expected
Who wrote the Bible?
Authors
Emphasis on the Holy Spirit
What criteria was used in creating the Biblical Canon
Canon=rule or law
The 66 books of the canon were ratified with the following criteria
Written by a recognized prophet or apostle
Written by those associated with a recognized prophet or apostle
Truthfulness
Faithfulness in previously accepted canonical writings
Confirmed by Christ, prophet, apostle (e.g. Luke 24:44, 2 Peter 3:16)
Church usage
Council of Carthage AD 397 ratified the full 66 books of the Canon
When was it written?
A brief history
How the Bible came into being
Various Facts regarding the Bible
Biblia means “Books”
There are 66 books in the Bible - the Catholic Bible has 80
Of the 66 books
39 are in the Old Testament
Old Covenant
27 are in the New Testament
New Covenant - Jeremiah 31:31-34 / Hebrews 8:6
Methodologies for translations of the Bible
Dynamic (NIV/Amplified)=”Thought for thought”
Formal equivalence (NASB/KJV/ESV)=”Word for word”
Ultimately, it matters what Bible you actually read.
Goal for 2021
Cover the breadth of the Bible in 2021
Exceptions noted for very recently studied, or currently studied books of the Bible
Bring out major themes of the BIble
Jesus Christ
Savior
Lord
Covenants
Redemption