1: Why Should We Trust the Word of God?

Today we launch a 5-week series called “Trusting the Word of God”.

First, we to clarify what we mean when we refer to “The Word of God”.

Today, most of us hear “The Word of God” and immediately think of the Bible. But the biblical language “The Word of God” referred to:

the message God gave directly to people, like His PROPHETS who then spoke/wrote on His behalf (Gen 15:1; 1 Sam 3:1, 15:10; 2 Sam 7:4; 1 Kgs 6:11, 18:1; Is 28:14; Ez 6:1-3; Rev 1:9).

The Word of God is also the language used by John to refer not to the written word but the LIVING WORD of God - Jesus (more on that in a moment). (Jn 1:1-4; Rev 19:13).

Finally, the word of God/Lord is referring to the good news about Jesus (Lk 11:28; Acts 4:31; Acts 6:7; Acts 11:1; Acts 12:24; Acts 13:49; Acts 15:35; Acts 16:32; 1 Thes 2:13; Rev 20:4).

And today, you and I have the great privilege of having all that ancient information compiled in a collection we call “The Bible” = meaning “Book”. This BOOK is a LIBRARY telling us about WHO God is and WHAT God says. From that perspective, we CAN say that what is in HERE is the WORD of GOD.

Over the next 5 weeks I plan on us answering these questions:

Why Should We Trust the Word of God? (that’s today)

Is what we have NOW, what they had THEN? Has the Bible been corrupted or changed OR is it trustworthy?

What are the Recognized Writings & Trustworthy Translations? How did some writings make it into the Bible and others not? Which English translation/s should we be reading/studying from?

How do we Read it Right? How can we make sure we aren’t making the Scriptures say something they never really meant?

How should we RESPOND to the WORD of GOD? Will we obey OR turn away from God’s Word?

So, today we embark on this journey and answer this question:

Why Should We Trust the Word of God?

So many in our culture say we shouldn’t trust the Word of God...because they deny that God exists. They would be called “Atheists”:

A = no + Theos = God. Definition of Atheists: One who says there is NO GOD.

Also, as a Twitter jokester by the name of “Chet Churchpain” tells us...

If someone is only 12.5% convinced God exists, they would be an EIGTHIEST. (although I think he spelled it wrong)

And while that’s funny, what’s NOT funny is the indoctrination that is taking place in our culture.

Several years ago I was listening to a podcast of Dr. William Lain Craig in which he shared audio clips from a philosophy professor who at that time was at Portland State University by the name of Dr. Peter Boghossian - has written a book entitled A Manual for Creating Atheists. Listen to his plan to impact our culture.

AUDIO: A Manual for Creating Atheists

He wants an army of at least 10,000 people to engage 5-15 people a day to ‘inoculate’ them, talk them out of their faith & superstition, and into “reason.”

While some believe God doesn’t exist, many who DO believe in God’s existence doubt that we can really KNOW if God has spoken to people so they can know WHO He is and WHAT He expects.

They would be called AGNOSTICS.

A = no + GNOSIS = Knowledge

So, many think that - at best - no one has the full truth, but everyone has a small parts of it.

The classic example is that of the blind man who are examining an Elephant. Tusks = spears, Ear = fan, Trunk = snake, Legs = tree, Torso = wall, Tail = rope

But...Jesus didn’t teach His followers that everybody has a little piece of truth, but no one has it all. Jesus taught that we can really know WHO God is and WHAT God says.

Why do we teach from the Bible every week?

Why do we view it as more than just another book written by men?

Who’s to say that it’s any more authoritative than other religious writings?

Why do YOU believe the words in this book to be the WORDs of GOD? (How would YOU answer that?)

I could refer to OT prophecies that were fulfilled.

I could refer to moments that God has spoken to my specific need through the Scriptures. I could give lots of reasons and have done so before.

But today I want to answer that question in the most concise way I know how. So…here it is. I’m a follower of Jesus, and...

Jesus taught His disciples to trust the WORD of GOD…which are KNOWN through the Scriptures.

This was certainly the understanding of the disciples of Jesus. The apostle of Jesus whom Jesus nicknamed “Peter”, shares their view:

2 Peter 1:20–21 (CSB)

Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The disciples of Jesus believed that the words written in Scripture were words from God given by the Holy Spirit.

They believed that God spoke TO people THROUGH people, imperfect people with limited knowledge.

But now SOMEONE GREATER had showed up to reveal the WORD OF GOD to us!

Hebrews 1:1–2a (CSB)

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by his Son.

Before the gospel writer ever mentions the name of Jesus, he writes these words:

John 1:1–4 (CSB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Just a few pen strokes later John writes these words:

John 1:14, 18 (CSB)

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth...No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side—He has revealed Him.

This is not just another prophet speaking the Words of God. This is not God speaking into a mind, through a dream-like vision, or by a immaterial voice from the air.

Jesus is the living WORD OF GOD, speaking the very Words of God! This is the eternal WORD OF GOD stepping into skin & using the vibration of human vocal chords that HE INVENTED & CREATED…to speak the Words of God to His creation!

And during His earthly life, Jesus refers to the WORD OF GOD as written in the Hebrew Scriptures as God’s authority over all people over 50 times. [F1]

Jesus taught His disciples to [follow His example &] trust the WORD of GOD

Let me show you 12 of those occasions.

Mark 12:35–37 (CSB)

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ [Ps 110:1] David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Offering salvation to all who would listen, Jesus said:

John 7:38 (CSB)

The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him. (Ex 17:1–6; Ps 78:15–16; 105:40–41; Pr 18:4; Is 12:3; Ezk 47:1–11; Zec 14:8; Rv 22:1–2)

Speaking to His enemies Jesus said these words:

John 5:38–40 (CSB)

You don’t have His Word residing in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent. You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

When Jesus gave a parable about what was coming - how they would REJECT Him and KILL Him, Jesus ends the story with this.

Mark 12:10 (CSB)

Haven’t you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. [Ps 118:22]

When the Sadducees - who don’t believe in angels, demons, nor an afterlife - tried to put Jesus into a theological headlock by asking about marriage after death (woman had married 7 different men), Jesus countered with these words:

Mark 12:24–27 (CSB)

Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob [Ex 3:6,15–16]? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”

Answering a question about marriage and divorce, Jesus responded...

Matthew 19:4–6 (CSB)

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female [Gn 1:27; 5:2], and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” [Gn 2:24]

Speaking to His disciples just before He was arrested, beaten, & crucified, Jesus talked about what was coming as revealed long before in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Luke 18:31–33 (CSB)

Then He took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and He will be mocked, insulted, spit on; and after they flog Him, they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day.” (Ps 22; Is 50:6; 53; Dan 9:26; Zec 13:7)

During the Passover meal Jesus shared this news that devastated them.

Matthew 26:23–24 (CSB)

He replied, “The one who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl—he will betray Me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”

Just moments later during the meal, Jesus told them

Matthew 26:31 (CSB)

Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. (Zec 13:7)

After going to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, the enemies of Jesus approached and...

Mark 14:48–49 (CSB)

Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me? Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

After His resurrection, Jesus explained how His death and resurrecting was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Luke 24:27 (CSB)

Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

John 2:19–22 (CSB)

Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His Body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.

So, WHY should we trust the WORD OF GOD as revealed in the Scriptures.

Jesus taught His disciples to [follow His example &] trust the WORD of GOD

That’s exactly what Adam & Eve DID NOT do, as we will look at later in this study. When tempted, they questioned the WORD OF GOD instead of trusting the WORD OF GOD.

But Jesus, fully God but also FULLY MAN, did the opposite.

Matthew 4:3–4 (CSB)

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” [Dt 8:3]

Jesus taught His disciples to [follow His example &] trust the WORD of GOD

In order to TRUST the WORD OF GOD, I must KNOW the WORD OF GOD.

In order to KNOW the WORD OF GOD, we must READ the WORD OF GOD, so here’s the FEET2FAITH challenge I want to give you for this week:

READ IT Take the 10-minute challenge: Read 1 chapter of Scripture each day. (choose 1 gospel)

WRITE IT Write down INSIGHTS you gain and the QUESTIONS you have.

SHARE IT SHARE what you READ with another CHRISTIAN.

LIVE IT Obey what God says.

I hope you’ll join us for next 4 Sundays as we dive deeper as we learn about

TRUSTING THE WORD OF GOD.

If you need to talk, we want to talk too!

STAFF

DEACONS

PRAY What do you want me to do, with what I heard today?

______________

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https://bit.ly/3CzL9Vv

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? You might need to look back in your notes to help explain your answer.

Based on what we studied today, what was Jesus’ view of the Scriptures?

Read John 1:1-4, 14-18. Based on the author’s claims about WHO Jesus is, why should JESUS’ view of the Scriptures influence OUR view of the Scriptures?

According to 2 Peter 1:20-21 & Mark 12:35-37, how did men receive the Words of GOD?

Scan back through the 12 passages in your notes where Jesus refers to the Scriptures. Share which passages are most powerful to you and WHY.

Read Matthew 4:3-4. How does it encourage you to know that Jesus felt what we felt (e.g. hunger, pain), yet was able to live without sin. When being tempted by the devil, what was Jesus’ consistent response and what can we learn from that?

Where do you plan on reading from Scripture this week? Who are you going to share your insights & questions with (e.g. spouse and/or specific friend)?

If you were asked, “Why do you believe the Bible?” How would you respond? (Consider our BIG TRUTH from today.)

What other questions has this teaching or discussion prompted for us to talk about?

Share prayer needs and pray for one another.