STUDY THEME: THE BIBLE: GOD’S BOOK OF GRACE. 2-02-03

THE BIBLE: ITS ORIGIN. HEBREWS 1:1-2, 2 PETER 1:12-21

HEBREWS 1:1-2; 2 PETER 1: 12-15, 16-18, 19, 20-21.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO HEBREWS 1.

Today we begin a new series consisting of four significant topics, all related to truths about the Bible; THE BIBLE; ITS ORIGIN; THE BIBLE; ITS VALUE; THE BIBLE; ITS PURPOSE; AND THE BIBLE; ITS TESTIMONY.

The theme of today’s lesson is that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to humanity. THE LIFE QUESTION is "How did we get the Bible? The answer is that the Bible originated from God. We must affirm that the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God.

All of us need to be sure of our convictions about what the Bible really is. If you think you might have difficulty convincing someone else that it is God’s Word, this lesson should give you help and deepen your conviction about the Word that so effectively reveals Jesus as the one and only Savior.

The Bible contains the Word of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the travelers map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilots compass, the soldiers sword and the Christian’s charter.

Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed. Christ is its good subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment and remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

The Book of Hebrews begins like Genesis, with God as the subject of the first sentence. However, revelation is the emphasis here, and not creation. Both of these accomplishments of course, are the work of God. Creation was necessarily a divine act. God’s self-revelation was no less so. If He had not revealed Himself and His purposes, no one could have ever discovered them.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews began with a most profound statement. God spoke in many ways and times through the prophets, but He spoke His clearest word in His Son. The apostles as eye witnesses were the human instruments of God in writing the N.T. Prophets did not speak their own views, but they declared God’s Word as the Holy Spirit moved them. The focal passage just read outlines the points that affirm that God is the source of the Bible.

The term Bible according to its original derivation means "the books". In the fourth century Jerome spoke of the Bible as the "Divine library." Although we possess it as one volume, there are sixty-six "books", varying in length from a brief personal letter to great volumes, comprising a great library of sacred writings. It cannot be read in a day; it cannot be fully known in a lifetime. Among Christians it is the Book of Books, and it is the greatest Book in the world. Year after year it continues to be the best seller. This Divine Library, the Book of books is the Sunday School’s textbook.

The Catholic Bible recognizes 73 books, the Protestants 66 books, and the Jews 39 books. In broadest outline the Bible has two great divisions: the O.T., which is composed of 39 books (Genesis to Malachi); The N.T., which has 27 books (Matthew to Revelation). The word Testament means in this usage "covenant."

No original writings of any author in either the O.T. or N.T. are known to be in existence today; Accurate copies were handed down by Scribes. The two Testaments form two volumes of one work. The first is incomplete without the second; and the second cannot be understood without the first. Together they are God’s revelation to man of the provision He has made for his salvation. The whole Bible is the Word of God and to get the whole Word of God we must study the whole Bible.

About 1,000 years lapsed from the writings of Moses in 1425 BC to Malachi in 430 BC. At first, after Christ ascension, the Apostles seem to have no intention of writing. They had their Bible, the O.T.—and to add to it was as foreign to their thoughts as additions to our Bible are from ours. Christ had not written. Nor had He commanded them to write. Only a few had been companions of Jesus, but all wanted His words and the full story of His wonderful works. They wanted the record for their own satisfaction, and they needed it for witnessing.

Many skeptics claim that God—if there is a God—remains silent in the face of human suffering and injustice. This is a totally different view from the one affirmed in Heb.1:1-2. The main verb in Vs. 1-2a is hath…spoken. Contrary to the claims that God is silent, these verses strongly affirm that God has not been silent. Vs. 1 refers to God’s speaking that is now in written form in the O.T. Vs. 2 refers to His speaking that is now in written form in the N.T. Notice the differences in……………….. these two stages of revelation, but keep in mind that the same God was speaking in each stage.

The same God spoke in the revelations of both the O.T. and the N.T. This is what binds the two together into what Christians define as the Holy Scriptures. Vs. 2a contrasts the revelation in God’s Son with the revelation through the prophets, but shows a reverent respect for both.

Notice the contrast between in time past and in these last days. Jesus divided history. The events recorded in the four Gospels marked the end of the days of promise and the beginning of the age of fulfillment. The author of Hebrews looked forward to the future coming of Christ, but the decisive event was Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Christians could live in confident hope because they already had "tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the word to come.

The second contrast is between those who received each revelation. The earlier revelation was unto the fathers, the latter revelation is unto us. This refers to Christians. Since the completed work of Christ, believers have been privileged to live in the noontime of the age of fulfillment

The third contrast is between the prophets and the Son. There were many prophets, but only one Son. God’s clearest revelation is in the coming, ministry, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The fourth contrast is between a revelation at sundry times and in divers manners and the full revelation in Christ. The revelations to the prophets came at various stages in the history of God’s dealings with humanity before the coming of Christ. Sometimes God spoke in fire from heaven and sometimes in a still small voice.

God speaks to people through people. These men who proclaimed and recorded what God made know to them knew they were not the originators but the communicators of truth. The commonly used prophetic phrase "thus says the Lord" is a clear indication by the prophets of their status as messengers of the Lord.

Just think of the prolonged persistence of God’s efforts to revel His messages throughout the O.T. record. Many different individuals were involved. They lived in varied locations, at different times in history and received God’s Word in various ways. For example, God spoke directly to Adam and Eve and their sons. Joseph received messages through dreams. God chose to speak through visions and angels to Abraham. Moses heard the Lord at a burning bush, at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and on Mount Sinai. A still small voice was God’s way to communicate with Elijah. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel saw visions that revealed God’s Word to them. All these, and many more, were chosen by God to receive, record, and transmit God’s messages---messages that continue to reveal truth to readers today.

James T. Draper Jr. wrote: "In the past, God spoke to the prophets in fragments, and they did not understand all of the truth of God. In the past, the prophets revealed incomplete portions of the mind of God as He revealed it to them in fragments. But now He comes to lay bare before the world the totality of His truth. Jesus Christ is the very revelation of God himself." The movement from partial to full revelation is sometimes called "progressive revelation." The progression is from promise to fulfillment.

Because the Bible is the full and final revelation of God, no other book contains the true revelation of God. Other religions have their own sacred books, some of which contain some wisdom and truth but mixed with much error. No other writings will ever be added to this final revelation.

PLEASE TURN TO 2 PETER 1.

Peter wrote this letter to Christians who needed encouragement in hard days of persecution and doctrinal challenge. He told them that God had given them all they needed to be able to turn their backs on the world’s moral corruption. He had learned the value of reminding people of truths they could not recall when they most needed to remember them. One of those truths concerned the adequacy of God’s self-revelation completed in the ministry of their "Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter wanted his readers to be certain of the trustworthiness of God’s written Word. This reminder from Peter also became a part of that trustworthy Word.

We are not told whether the apostles knew they were writing what became part of the inspired Scriptures of the new covenant. Yet in 2 Peter 3:15-16 Peter referred to Paul’s letters as taking their place among the other Scriptures. Apparently the churches saved letters from the apostles and shared them with other churches. Peter wrote in the hope that God would continue to use his words to remind his readers of the basic truths of the faith.

This second letter was written to believers to warn them about false teachers and to assure them of the return of Christ, a truth denied by the false teachers. Peter began in Vs. 3-4 by reminding his readers of God’s faithfulness to supply all the resources needed for living the authentic Christian life. Then in Vs. 5-9 he called them to "make every effort" to develop the qualities of a godly character. In Vs. 10-11 he assured believers of "a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of Christ as they diligently sought to demonstrate the reality of their faith.

Notice the words in VS. 12-15; remind…refresh your memory…remember. Peter believed that an important role of his ministry was to help Christians remember truths that can easily be forgotten. Perhaps he felt strongly about this because of his own tendency in the past to forget to trust God for the strength to be faithful and to depend rather on his own inadequacy. When Peter commended his audience for being firmly established in the truth, he used a word for established that is closely related to Jesus word in Luke 22:32 calling him to "strengthen" his fellow disciples.

Peter learned from experience about the importance of being well grounded in truth. One reason for Peter’s sense of urgency was that he felt that his life was about to end. This is why he said, "I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body". The verb translated "refresh" literally means "to rouse, to stir up, to awaken from sleep." Peter was determined to help believers stay alert. He compared his physical body to a tent, just as Paul did in 1 Cor. 5:1,4, because he knew his body was a fragile, temporary dwelling place.

Peter’s knowledge of his imminent death may have come as the result of a special revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ or be a reference to Jesus words to him found in John 21:18. How did Peter intend to help his readers remember these things after his death or departure? The most obvious way was by writing this letter—a document still refreshing the memory of believers hundreds of years after Peter left the earth. Here is a clear example of the purpose and value of Scripture. God inspired His chosen messengers to write the words He wanted their generation to hear, but also to preserve for succeeding generations.

Peter’s words help us understand some of the process by which God inspired the apostles to write. The apostles wrote letters to address specific needs in their day as they were led by the Spirit to interpret and apply the mind of Christ to a variety of issues.

Peter denied that what he said and wrote were cleverly invented stories. The word fables carried a disparaging flavor in the religious language of the time: it stood for mythical stories about gods, the creator of the world, miraculous happenings, etc. Peter strongly denied that the apostles were speaking such obviously false teachings when they made known to their hearers the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke and wrote as eyewitnesses of His majesty.

How do we know the N.T. contains the truth about Jesus? We know because the apostles were eyewitnesses of the things of which they spoke and wrote. Peter gave an example of one of the events from the life of Jesus that he had witnessed. V. 17-18 refer to the transfiguration of Jesus which Peter, James and John had seen. Shortly after Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi and Jesus first prediction of His death and resurrection, Jesus took these three disciples unto the mountain where He was transfigured with the brightness of the glory of God.

The point of Vs. 16-18 to this study on the Bible is that people who were eyewitnesses of God’s revelation wrote the Bible. The N.T. consists of the inspired words of those who were eyewitnesses of what they wrote. We know the Bible is true for two basic reasons. For one thing, the writers were inspired by God’s Spirit to write the truth. Second, they wrote as people who had witnessed God’s revelation. The O.T. is the prophetic witness to the words and act of God in their day.

The N.T. is the inspired witness of the apostles to what they had seen and heard. We have the testimony of the original apostles whom Jesus called, trained, and commissioned as His witnesses. Peter was the first to be chosen by Jesus. He was with Jesus throughout the years of His earthly ministry. Peter, James, and John formed the inner circle of apostles who had the most intimate relationship with Jesus. This final revelation is the N.T.

These verses, along with 2 Tim. 3:15-17, give us the strongest N.T. statement regarding the divine origin of Scripture. Peter spoke of priority when he used the word above all, meaning "knowing this first." In other words, here is a doctrinal truth of highest importance. A believer must begin with a clear understanding of the authority of Scripture. All Christian teachings gain their significance from the divine origin of Scripture. Thus Peter insisted that his readers understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

The prophets, including all O.T. writers, were not the ultimate source of what they wrote. Their messages came from God—"thus says the Lord." Peter affirmed the divine origin of the Scriptures—no prophet gave his own explanation of happenings or of God’s message: he simply declared the truth as God revealed it to him.

This position is strengthened further by the statement prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. The O.T. (and N.T. too) is not the product of human design. How then did this literary masterpiece come about? Peter gave the answer: Men spoke for God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The words carried along convey the idea of the prophets "borne along" or "impelled" by God’s Spirit. These writers were not merely expressing their own thoughts: they were expressing the mind of God. There is a dual authorship of Scripture. God gave the inspiration of truth: He used men to give the communication in words. God’s Spirit carried along these human authors so their words declare the truths given to them by the Spirit of truth.

Likewise, the N.T. writers, including Peter, were expressing messages whose source was the Holy Spirit. Both testaments are the result of the same process of divine inspiration and human declaration. The entire process owes its origin and completion to God’s initiative and preservation. This book we hold in our hands is literally God’s special unique gift of divine revelation: it is totally true, completely reliable, fully trustworthy, and without error in its original form. No other material possession begins to compare in value and significance to the Bible.

NEXT SUNDAY’S LESSON FROM PS. 119 AND JEREMIAH 36 WILL LEAD US TO CONSIDER THE IMMENSE VALUE OF SCRIPTURE TO OUR LIVES AS A PERFECT TREASURE OF DIVINE INSTRUCTION. A.V. DAUGHERTY SS02-02-03

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