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Thirty-Five Things Worth Knowing
About the Bible
by Greg Williamson (c) 2008
COPYRIGHT RELATED INFO
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations are
from the
New English Translation (NET).
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21
If, as the Bible teaches, humanity started
out perfectly, what went wrong?
As recorded in the first book of the Bible
(Genesis), when God created the earth, he planted a garden
and placed within it the first human pair. Adam and Eve's world was filled
with beauty, peace, and purpose. With only one exception, they could have
and do anything their hearts desired. Because God made Adam and Eve to be
fully human beings and not mere robots, he gave them the opportunity to
respond to his love by choosing to trust in and obey him. By choosing to
abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first human
pair would prove that they loved God and were willing to trust him for
their every legitimate need.
Adam and Eve chose to
disobey God by eating of the forbidden fruit. In so doing, they rebelled
against God's rightful rule over their lives. Moreover, that single,
decisive act of disobedience opened the door to the immeasurable pain and
suffering that has been the lot of the human race ever since.
Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, and each one of us is born
into this world tainted by that same sin -- and thus separated from
a pure and holy God.
While God certainly had the
right to give up on us, he refused to do so. The OT tells how he chose a
nation set apart to know, love, and serve him -- the nation of Israel. While Israel ultimately failed to obey God completely, she was the one
through whom came God's Son, Jesus Christ. The NT tells how personal,
saving faith in Christ brings a spiritual rebirth that includes a deep and
abiding desire to obey God.
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SCRIPTURE SAYS
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans
3:23)
Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one
transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness
leading to life for all people. For just as through the disobedience
of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience
of one man many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of
a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. And because
you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who
calls "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:4-6) |
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What is so special about Jesus?
Jesus Christ is the single most influential person who ever lived. Why?
What was so special about Jesus? Jesus claimed to be both man and God.
While his humanity was apparent for all to see, his deity had to be
revealed through his words and works. One significant proof for Jesus'
deity is the way in which what was said of God in the OT is now said of
Jesus in the NT. To give just a few examples:
[REF]
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Old
Testament |
New
Testament |
Commentary |
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God said to Moses, "I
AM that I
AM." And he said, "You must say this
to the Israelites, 'I AM
has sent me to you.'"
Exodus 3:14 |
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the
solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!"
John 8:58 |
"I am! is an explicit claim to deity. Although each occurrence
of the phrase “I am” in the Fourth Gospel needs to be examined
individually in context to see if an association with Exod 3:14 is
present, it seems clear that this is the case here (as the response of
the Jewish authorities in the following verse shows)."
[REF] |
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For God
will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good
or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 |
For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back
according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.
2 Corinthians 5:10 |
(The subject here is the judgment of
works. It has to do with our motives, and it awaits everyone -- saved
and unsaved alike.) |
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... I saw the sovereign
master seated on a high, elevated throne. ... Seraphs stood over him
... They called out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who
commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!"
Isaiah 6:1-3 |
Isaiah said these things
because he saw Christ’s glory, and spoke about him.
John 12:41 |
"It is clear that [John] presents Isaiah as having seen the
preincarnate glory of Christ, which was the very revelation of the
Father (see John 1:18; John 14:9)."
[REF] |
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[The LORD]
will become ... a stone that makes a person trip, and a rock that
makes one stumble ...
Isaiah 8:14 |
[Jesus Christ has become] ... a
stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over
1 Peter 2:8 |
"A quotation from Isa 8:14."
[REF] |
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"I am the
Lord! That is my name! I will not share
my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols."
Isaiah 42:8 |
"And now, Father, glorify me at
your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created."
John 17:5 |
"Whatever else may be said, the statement in 17:5 strongly asserts the
preexistence of Jesus Christ.
"It is important to note that although Jesus prayed for a return to
the glory he had at the Father’s side before the world was created,
he was not praying for a "de-incarnation." His humanity which he took
on at the incarnation (John 1:14) remains, though now glorified."
[REF] |
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This is
what the LORD,
Israel’s king, says, their protector, the LORD
who commands armies: "I am the first and I am the last, there is no
God but me."
Isaiah 44:6 |
... "Do not be afraid! I
am the first and the last" ... "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the end!"
Revelation 1:17; 22:13 |
"Revelation ... attributes to Jesus Christ titles uniquely attributed
to the Lord in the Old Testament. This data is death to any theology
that withholds full deity from Jesus Christ; it illustrates why
Revelation is said to present a 'high Christology.'"
[REF] |
It is also highly significant that Jesus:
[REF]
-
claimed
the authority to forgive sins -- something only God can do
-
claimed
the power to raise and judge the dead
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requested
prayer in his name
-
accepted
worship
-
equated
his words with the Law of God
-
performed
many mighty miracles
-
fulfilled
the numerous OT prophecies regarding God's Messiah
-
lived a
sinless life
-
and rose
from the dead
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23 |
WHO SAID WHAT
No one
ever graduates from Bible study until he meets the author face to
face.
-- E. T. HARRIS
[REF] |
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What was Jesus' message?
Jesus' basic message was the arrival of God's kingdom,
which is God's sovereign rule over the hearts and lives of those who place
their faith in Jesus Christ and are spiritually born again.
[REF] Jesus
personifies God's kingdom, and the Bible tells of a time when he will
establish his literal rule over all the earth. That will be the ultimate
fulfillment of the kingdom. In the meantime, we enter into God's kingdom
in a spiritual sense by committing our lives to Jesus Christ. As Jesus
taught, such a commitment means turning from our old life of sin and
taking up the challenge of living a new life in obedience to God's will as
expressed in his Word, the Bible.
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SCRIPTURE SAYS
From that time Jesus began to preach this
message: "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17)
Jesus replied,
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me."
(John 14:6)
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"If anyone wants to become my follower, he must
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it. For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole
world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for
his life?" (Matthew 16:24-26)
God treats everyone alike. He accepts
people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:22,
CEV) |
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What does Jesus have to do with me?
The Bible teaches that God offers everyone
everywhere the same opportunity he gave Adam and Eve: a personal
relationship based on trust and obedience. But because we are sinful
beings, we cannot enter into that relationship on our own. And so God, out
of his incredible love and mercy, took upon himself the punishment our
sins deserve. He did so by coming to earth in the form of Jesus Christ,
who died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. By confessing
our sinful condition and our need for God's forgiveness available only
through personal faith in Jesus Christ, we are brought into a real,
lasting, personal relationship with God.
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SCRIPTURE SAYS
For this is the way God loved
the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
So you will be saved, if you
honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart
that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if
you truly believe this and tell it to others. The Scriptures say that
no one who has faith will be disappointed, no matter if that person is
a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to
everyone who asks for his help. All who call out to the Lord will be
saved. (Romans
10:9–13,
CEV)
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What is the key to understanding the Bible?
On one level, the Bible is a simple story of God's interaction with human
beings. And so we can open it up and begin reading at virtually any point,
and before long we will see God working in the lives of people. There are
heroes and villains, kings and peasants, angels and demons, and all of
them can teach us valuable lessons both about God and ourselves. If we
stop there, however, we will miss most of what God wants us to know.
In a word, the key to understanding and
applying the Bible is proper interpretation.
To "interpret" is "to explain or tell the meaning of; present
in understandable terms."
[REF] In one
respect, our English language Bibles come to us already interpreted, since
the translators explain the meaning of the Bible's original languages
(Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). However, a full understanding of any book,
including the Bible, calls for much more than simply knowing what the
words mean.
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APOLOGETICS 101
The
Bible is so complicated. How can I understand it?
The
Bible is actually much simpler than many people realize. It is
made up of several types of literature (narrative, poetry, prophecy,
etc.) that tells a unified story of God's plan and purpose for the
human race. The first part of the Bible (the Old Testament) centers
on God's dealings with the nation of Israel. The second part of the
Bible (the New Testament) centers on the coming of Jesus Christ and
the establishment of his Church.
At the
heart of Scripture is the story of the gracious and loving God who
mercifully extends salvation to us rebellious and undeserving
sinners. In a word, it's about reconciliation.
Today as never before,
there exists a wide array of helps for understanding the Bible. For
example, Bible dictionaries, commentaries, introductions, and word
study aids offer a wealth of knowledge. (Click
here for some suggested titles.)
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