Today's post is by guest writer Joanne Beckley.
May the following help you in reaching out to the lost with the gospel.
What does mankind have that can help him gain knowledge? Only through his ability to reason and learn from
what he does – experience. but it is not enough. We cannot look inside ourselves and learn the answers to questions like: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Is there any reason for my being here? Unless there is a third source of knowledge these very important questions cannot be answered! We can look around us and see our world and know there is an all-powerful Being who created the world and that He is eternal. (He was never born and He never died – He has always been!) Romans 1:20" For since the creation
of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being
understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
Just looking at His power around us cannot answer our all questions, but we can know that this powerful Being
(God) CAN choose to answer our necessary questions. Without God there is nothing. With God there is everything
– including His words, the Bible. God is spirit – so how did He write the Bible? He told certain men what words to
speak to the people and these words were written down. 2Peter 1:20 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” We have the Bible because God, the creator, loves us, his creation. In His own words, God tells us how we came into being. He tells us why we were created. He tells us what He wants us to do with our lives. He tells us what is going to happen in the future. He tells us He is not controlled by his creation. He tells us WE NEED HIM! We learn in the Bible of THE PLAN God had in His mind before He created the heavens and the earth. His plan was made in order to keep us close to Him. Therefore, we learn of God’s justice and God’s everlasting kindness. By reading the Bible we can learn that God is our Creator and our Redeemer through Jesus Christ, His son. Hebrews 1:1 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in [His] Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
The Bible is not just a collection of stories, letters, and poems. They are all tied together perfectly. There is
agreement between them all – even though they were written throughout 1,500 years! Most of the time each writer didn’t even know what another writer had already written.and sometimes they didn’t even understand all of what they were writing! These forty writers were kings, prophets, teachers, musicians, farmers, a tax collector, a doctor, a tentmaker, two fishermen and two carpenters! Some of the writers had a lot of education, some had very little. The book from God is a divine library that is tightly woven and it is complete.
Acts 20:26 "Therefore I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I did not shrink
from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” Jude 1:3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” The Bible is still the same book today that it was 2000 years ago! The words have not been changed. We still have the Bible, even though evil men have tried to keep everyone from reading the Bible. Some have even burned all the Bibles they could find! Through God’s providence the Bible is forever. It is the only book that STILL has theanswers to all our questions. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” But the Bible is a book that demands we LISTEN to it. Not only must we listen, but God’s words demands we DO what God wants us to do. It will change our lives but not by ways we might devise. Jer 10:23 “I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself; Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
When we first read the Bible we do not learn right away all about God and his plan for mankind. God chose to
reveal Himself gradually and we see truth unfolding more and more as we read and study the Bible. It is an exciting journey to discover why we existence and the mystery of how we can be saved from ourselves and walk with God. There are many ways to study the Bible. One of the best ways to study the Bible is to prepare a foundation for future study. We want to try and understand what each section in the Bible is about and then tie the section together with other sections of the Bible. In this way we can understand why the Bible is so important to us. It will also help us to see that the Bible is the living Word of God. We want to see God in a way that will cause us to love Him, and trust Him, and OBEY Him–all that He expects from us.
The Old Testament
LAW - The first 5 books were written by Moses, the man God chose to lead a special group of people out of
bondage to become God’s chosen nation, Israel. This nation would bring all men to God.
HISTORY - The next 12 books that were written about God’s chosen nation, how they served him and how they
tried to ignore God. It didn’t work, because God punished the Israelite nation by letting other countries conquer
them. After 70 years God allowed them to return to their land.
POETRY - The 5 books of poetry are of a personal nature and they deal with problems of the heart.
PROPHECY - The last 12 books of the Old Testament are prophecies which were first spoken in warning to
God’s special nation and to nations around them. These prophecies were then written down so that everyone could
know there was hope. A perfect man (God in the flesh) was going to come from heaven to save all men and rule a
kingdom that will never end.
The New Testament
GOSPELS - Again, there is order and unity in the books of the New Testament. The first four books tell about the
perfect man. These four books are the foundation for knowing Jesus Christ and how he was crucified without
cause, and then resurrected for all mankind.
ACTS OF APOSTLES - The book of Acts tells the history of how the kingdom of God (the church) began and
what the men did who were sent by Jesus Christ to preach the good news. They were called Apostles. This book
tells us how you and I can enter the kingdom of God.
LETTERS TO CHRISTIANS - Next comes a group of letters (books) that were written by men guided by the
Holy Spirit. Some of these letters were addressed to different churches and some were written to certain preachers.
There are 21 letters in the New Testament.
PROPHECY - The last letter (book) in the New Testament was written by the apostle John. The Holy Spirit
guided him to tell the Christians not to give up hope. God is still in control of nations and events. His hand is upon
His own people. We live in hope of eternal life with Him.
Colossians 1:10 “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please [Him] in all respects, bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously.”
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