Sunday, January 12, 2014
am
BACK TO BASICS
January – A Study of God
Why the God of the Bible?
Last week, as we began discussing the subject of God, we noted
some reasons why we should believe in God.
We very briefly discussed how science and laws of nature
demonstrate that something outside of the natural realm had to create
this world. There is such
design in this universe that to deny a designer is foolish.
Furthermore, there is evidence that it all had a beginning – WHO
(or what) started it? Add to
that the concept of life, our sense of morality and thoughts of eternity
we find a compelling case for a creator.
David said in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There
is no God.’” Romans 1:20
tells us that His invisible attributes are clearly seen in the things
that are made. We briefly
noted that the Bible does address each of these subjects attributing it
to God.
But having established that this world was created by an
intelligent being still does not answer WHO He is.
About 1/3 of the world’s population professes to believe in the
God of the Bible (which includes belief in Jesus and the NT).
And while that is the largest block of believers (and it is all
inclusive – Catholic, protestant, JWs, Mormons, etc.), 2/3 of the world
believe something else (21% Islam, 16% - nonreligious, 14% Hindu, 16% -
other beliefs – Eastern religions, indigenous, etc.).
So why should we accept the God of the Bible? Can the case be
made for accepting the Bible over all worldviews and religions?
In our lesson this morning we are going to briefly make the
case for why we should accept the God of the Bible.
In this I include the New Testament as part of the Bible (Muslims
accept SOME of the Bible, Jews accept the Old Testament, etc. but they
reject part or all of the New Testament).
I.
What the World believes
about God
a.
There are 7 major world
views, with many divergent views beyond these
i.
Atheism – there is no
god. In this group we
include those who question whether He exists (agnostics) and those who
will not commit.
ii.
Pantheism – God is
everything. Espoused by some
eastern religions
iii.
Panentheism – God is IN
everything. Also known as
process theology, this teaches that God is evolving along with the
universe.
iv.
Deism – God exists and
created the universe, but he is not involved in it.
v.
Polytheism – there are
many gods
vi.
Finite godism – God
created the world but he is limited by his own nature.
Either he is not everywhere or not all powerful or not all
knowing.
vii.
Monetheism, theism –
there is ONE God (entity) who created the world and is involved in it –
espoused by “Christianity”, Islam and Judaism.
b.
Which of these concepts
is true? Can we know who God
is? There are at least 2
approaches to answering that question.
i.
You can seek to disprove
all views that are NOT true
ii.
Or you can present the
case for what IS true and that will of necessity eliminate other
contradictory views.
c.
OUR approach in this
lesson is to present the case for WHY we should accept the God of the
Bible (though very brief and elementary).
With this, we have something to compare other worldviews with.
a.
Revelation is how we
know who God is. HE reveals
Himself to us. Romans 1:20,
Psalm 19:1-2 - tells us He reveals Himself through creation.
Heb. 1:1-2 and other passages tells us He reveals Himself to us
through the words of His prophets and His Son.
Dealing with nations that followed Idols, the Lord through Isaiah said,
“For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who
formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create
it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord, and there is no
other. I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I
did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the Lord, speak
righteousness, I declare things that are right. “Assemble yourselves and
come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And
pray to a god that cannot save. Tell and bring forth your case; Yes,
let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just
God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.” (Isaiah 45:18–21)
The point is He has revealed Himself and it is through His word.
b.
The character of the Bible
reveals that it is from God.
In our last lesson we discussed how the design of the world makes
a case for a creator that is outside of the natural realm.
Similarly, the Bible because of its character demonstrates that
it is the product of God.
i.
It claims to be from God – 2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, etc.
Continually. Within its pages it speaks with authority in
expressions such as, “the Lord said” or “the word of the Lord”.
In fact, such expressions are found some 2700 times in the Bible.
ii.
The unity of the Bible demonstrates that there was a divine designer
behind it.
Consider how it was written over a period of 1600 years on 3
different continents, in 3 languages by some 40 authors who came from a
variety of background (from kings, to shepherds, to government
officials, scribes, physicians, fishermen, etc.)
YET, the story of the Bible is united and deals with the theme
of man’s sin and God’s salvation.
Every book has its place and purpose in revealing this plan of
man’s redemption. And it
does so without contradiction. That type of design demands a designer
who transcends time (i.e. He is immortal and omnipotent).
iii.
It’s relevance – though written thousands of years ago, its teachings are just as
relevant today as they were when it was written.
Its teachings on morality (though society doesn’t like it), the
need for truth, honesty, family, and the nature of man remains the same.
It is a book that gives hope and gives man purpose.
(1 Pet. 1:25)
c.
Prophecy
– the idea of prophecy is to reveal the message of God, often times
before it occurs. In fact,
one of the ways to prove that a prophet is from God is by telling
something before it happens with such surety that a divine source cannot
be denied. (cf. Prov. 18:22)
When you consider the impact of prophecy in the Bible, you find a strong
case for God.
Isaiah 41:21-23 says, “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring
forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let
them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the
former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the
latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come.
Show the things that are to come
hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do
evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together.”
Consider some of the prophecies in the Bible
i.
The book of Isaiah is
filled with prophecies.
Second only to the psalms in the number of times it is quoted in the New
Testament, it also presents some remarkable prophecies about the
circumstance of Israel and Judah as it was written.
Isaiah is a prophet that wrote as Northern Israel fell to Assyria
in the year 722 BC. He prophesied
that it would happen and continued to prophesy to Judah for about
another 25-30 years.
1.
To Hezekiah,
he prophesied how God would deliver him from the Assyrian army.
The deliverance was miraculous as in 1 night some 185,000
Assyrian soldiers fell. (Isa. 36-37)
2.
To both Judah and Israel
he prophesied of the rising of Babylon to defeat Assyria
(which happened around 612-610 BC) AND the fall of Babylon (ca. 636 BC)
to the Medo Persian empire (Isa. 13:17-19).
In fact, Isaiah even named Cyrus as the one who would do this
(Isaiah 44:28-45:1). This
prophecy is so spectacular that critics of the Bible say the book of
Isaiah had to have been written much later than its inspired date.
3.
Of Jesus we find some of
the most detailed prophecies of His life and death.
His kingdom is
described throughout the book.
His person is described.
In Isaiah 52:13-53:12 describes in the detail the suffering He
would endure including our Lord’s resurrection (vs. 10), His death with
the wicked and burial with the rich (vs. 9), etc.
All of these details can be confirmed in Jesus Christ in
the 1st century AD.
ii.
The Psalms also
continually make reference to Jesus and its fulfillment in the New
Testament. One example is
psalm 22 which describes our suffering Savior, again with precise
details. IT was written
around 1000 BC.
iii.
Daniel, who experienced
the fall of Jerusalem in 606 BC and was carried away to Babylon, also
witnessed the fall of Babylon and the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire
(and Cyrus). Throughout his
prophecies he foretold of world history leading up to the time of our
Lord and the Kingdom He would establish (Dan. 2:44).
He gave details of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Macedonia (Greece) and
Rome and various events that would unfold.
iv.
There has to be
something to a book that professes to be from God and BACKS IT UP with
such remarkable prophecies.
d.
Miracles –
miracles by definition are actions that transcend the laws of nature.
While we do not experience miracles today like we read about in
the Bible, a compelling case could be made for their authenticity during
the time of Jesus and the apostles, AND during various time periods of
the Old Testament. For
miracles to exist (ever) presents a case for the God who fashioned them.
The Bible makes the case for miracles coming from God.
ONE occasion is found in Matthew 9:1-8 where Jesus heals a
paralytic. But in the
process He forgives the man’s sins as well and uses the miracles as
PROOF that God was with Him.
Miracles served to verify (and distinguish) the true messenger of God
from frauds.
e.
Scientific accuracy – while the Bible is NOT (nor does it claim to be) a book of science or
medicine, yet it reveals remarkable details that are ahead of their
verification through scientific procedure.
Some examples of this include:
i.
Heb. 11:3 “By
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so
that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
As we examine this text we note that it speaks of God, being
Spirit, created this world from nothing.
But here is another consideration: Because of scientific
advancements we know that everything is made up of atoms, which are so
tiny that they cannot be seen with the naked eye.
ii.
Isaiah 40:22 speaks of
the “circle of the earth that God sits above.
Recall how even in the time of Columbus, man thought the world
was flat.
iii.
Gen. 15:5 where
Abraham’s descendants are to be as the stars of the heavens innumerable.
Up until the invention of powerful telescopes, man thought that
the stars could be numbered, (somewhere around 1000).
Now we know better!
iv.
Acts 17:26 speaks of all
nations being made of one blood.
We now know that human blood is of a specific characteristic that
is indistinguishable based on race, nationality, and gender. While there
are different types of blood, they have nothing to do with such factors.
v.
Psalm 8: 8 speaks of
fish passing through the paths of the sea.
These paths (we call them currents)
f.
The impact of the Bible
– that Jesus lived cannot be denied.
That the Bible is a product of His disciples cannot be denied.
The impact that the Bible has had on the world is incredible.
Man has tried to destroy without success.
It is still the #1 best seller of all times and consistently on a
yearly basis more Bibles are sold than even the strongest best seller on
the New York Times list.
No book has influenced civilizations like the Bible.
The laws have transformed nations and even more.
Its power to change lives is powerful.
It can take a hardened sinner and transform him into a godly
person. It has saved
marriages, made societies better, given hope to the hopeless and
accomplished many other things.
One final observation about its impact: I find it interesting how the
Bible is resisted by so many.
Christians are despised by the godless and worldly.
Our views are assaulted and often we are maligned.
This within itself describes the impact of the Bible in this
world. If its enemies
see the need to destroy it and remove ANY mention of God from their
lives it is obviously a testimony to the power of this book and its
potential to impact our lives.
That alone should cause us to consider it.
And the Bible warned that this would happen:
1 Peter 4:4
notes that those of this world who “think
it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of
dissipation, speaking evil of you.” (cf.
1 Pet. 2:12,
2 Pet. 2:12,
John 17:14,
etc.).
a.
Cares about us personally – John 3:16 tells us He loved the world.
Gods of other religions are inadequate in this.
Many leave you guessing and see God as impersonal.
b.
The God of the Bible has
revealed Himself to us
–
i.
WE have already noted
how God revealed Himself through His word.
ii.
HE revealed Himself
through by sending Jesus,
iii.
Many other religions
fall short in this.
1.
Atheism is mere silence
with NO hope and no revelation.
2.
Much of eastern thought,
which is ancient and even predates the New Testament (but not the Old
Testament) is simply guessing at who they think God is.
3.
Others find a god with
flaws and weaknesses. Such
cannot be a sure source of hope.
4.
The God of Judaism has
revealed Himself and is the same God as the New Testament.
BUT, Jesus fulfilled the work of the Old Law (another lesson
later on).
5.
The God of Islam is NOT
the God of the Bible. Though
he is a theistic god, a study of the Qur’an reveals a different god
(Allah) than the Bible (though Islam claims he is the same god).
They are incompatible.
A study of the methods of revelation of Muhammad, his life and
the book will reveal its inadequacy.
Time will not permit this discussion at this time.
c.
The Bible emphasizes that there is only ONE
True God (Exodus 20:3,
Isa 43:10-11,
Eph. 4:4,
1 Cor. 8:6).
Therefore, if the Bible be true (and it is), then we must reject
all other gods and religions which are contrary to it.
Conclusion: This
is a brief summary of some reasons why I believe that God, who created
this world and universe, IS the God of the Bible.
There is so much more that could be said, about each point that
has been made, and many other points.
When you consider all these facts about the Bible, it becomes clear that
the Bible is a product of God and therefore it is to be respected as
such.
Do you believe in the God of the Bible?
Do you believe God?
If so, Let us respect it as
the word of God, study it and respect what it says.
Think about these things.