Why God gave us His Word

I like a good plot twist.

Have you ever watched a movie where you get to the end, there’s a huge plot twist, and suddenly the whole movie makes sense differently?

One of my favorite examples is The Book of Eli.

It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where much of civilization has been destroyed and most books have disappeared. Eli is traveling across the country carrying something incredibly valuable—the last known copy of the Bible.

And Eli is not somebody you want to mess with.

Throughout the movie, people try to stop him, rob him, kill him—and Eli just keeps going. His mission is to get this Bible somewhere it can be protected and preserved.

Eventually, though, the villain gets it.

And this man doesn't want the Bible because he wants to know God. He wants it because he understands the power of its words, and he believes he can use them to control people.

So after spending the whole movie trying to get this Bible, he finally has it.

He opens it up...

And it's written in Braille.

Then comes the twist:

Eli has been blind the entire time.

And suddenly you start replaying the whole movie in your head.

Wait a minute...

That's why he did that.

That's why that happened.

That's what that little detail meant.

All these things you saw earlier in the movie suddenly make sense because now you understand what the story was really telling you.

And I think sometimes we need one of those moments with the Bible.

Because if we're not careful, we can read this book and completely miss the story.

We see Noah and the flood. Abraham and Isaac. Moses and the Red Sea. David and Goliath. Daniel and the lions' den.

We see commandments we're supposed to obey.

We see God's people mess up and God discipline them.

Then we get to the New Testament and find even more commands about how we're supposed to live, and we can walk away thinking:

“I guess the Bible is a book about God telling people to straighten up, stop sinning, and try harder.”

But that's not the story.

The Bible isn't just a collection of stories.

The Bible is one story.

And from beginning to end, it is the story of a God who desires to be with us.

It's the story of the God who created us to know Him and walk with Him.

It's the story of how our sin separated us from Him.

It's the story of a God who refused to give up on His creation.

It's the story of God working through generation after generation, promise after promise, covenant after covenant, because He already had a plan to bring us home.

And ultimately, it's the story of Jesus.

When you understand that, suddenly you start looking back through the Bible differently.

You don't just see a frustrated God waiting for people to mess up.

You see a God pursuing people who continually wander away.

You don't just see rules.

You see a God teaching His people what it looks like to walk with Him.

You don't just see judgment.

You see the seriousness of the sin that separates us from Him—and a God who keeps making a way for sinners to come near.

You don't just see disconnected stories about Noah and Abraham and Moses and David.

You begin to see little pieces of a much bigger story.

A story that was always leading to Jesus.

And that's exactly what happens in Luke 24.

Two disciples are walking down a road absolutely devastated because Jesus has died.

Luke 24:13-32

My hope today is that you see why God gave us His Word and what we’re supposed to do with it.

Luke 24:13–32 ESV

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

“The Bible isn't just God's instructions for our lives; it's God's invitation to know Him.”

Two disciples are walking down a road absolutely devastated because Jesus has died.

They knew the Scriptures.

They knew the stories.

They knew the promises.

But they had completely missed the point.

And Jesus comes alongside them and essentially says:

“Let me show you what this whole story has been about.”

God wants you to know Him and walk with Him.

All throughout the Bible you will see this theme. Adam and Eve sin, God makes away for them to still know Him.

Almost all of humanity is corrupt and sinful, but God doesn’t ball up the whole thing and throw it away. He saves Noah and his family. He gives a reboot for people to know Him.

When God creates the tabernacle/temple and the ark of the covenant. There’s all these rules and things, but the mostly exist to protect the people from the effects of God’s holy presence on their sinfulness.

And what was the point then, God dwelt in their midst.

The temple, God was with them.

The exile, God was with them.

The NT, Jesus came and God literally and physically walked among them.

Jesus died and rose again, now we can walk with God with no sin separating us from Him.

When the end comes, Heaven will come down on a new earth and God will always be with His people.

God walked with us in the Garden in Genesis. He will walk with us again at the end of Revelation. And He walks with us now through the Holy Spirit and through His Word.

God wants you to spend enough time in His Word that you begin discovering His heart for yourself.

Notice that Jesus disguises Himself somehow. The disciples don’t know they’re walking with Jesus and then Boom they realize it and it explains so much about what they were experiencing.

When you come to God’s Word, God is going to reveal something about Himself. Not a new thing necessarily, but something we didn’t know yet, or something we had forgotten.

God doesn’t just spoon feed it to us or download it into our brain. He leads us to discover the truth He has for us.

We need to start looking at God’s Word like that. Not just instructions, but an invitation to know God.

Not just information but inspiration. Not a transfer of information but a transformation of our lives.

Sometimes we struggle to see God clearly because we've already decided what He's supposed to look like.

These disciples were stuck because, like everyone else, they thought the Messiah was going to come in on a white horse and kick Rome out.

They thought the Messiah was going to conquer the world and rule from Israel once more.

They were looking for a military leader to make their life on earth easier. They were not looking for a Sacrifice to save them from their sins.

There are going to be moments where you are reading God’s Word and Who you think God is will not match up with Who God says He is. And in that moment, you have to make sure first of all that you read that right. Then if you did read it right, you need to figure out why you believe what you thought was true about God.

Maybe you think life should be easy since you are following Christ. Maybe you believe you should be free from sickness and heartache because you come to church and you give money to God. Maybe you think God just loves everybody and He’s just going to let everyone into heaven one day.

Maybe you think that God wants you to be happy instead of holy.

We need to come to the Bible with the understanding that if we disagree than we are the one who is wrong.

When you meet God in His Word, you will be inspired to live for Him.

After Jesus finally revealed Himself, the two disciples said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

There’s two things here. Number one, in that moment they were set on fire by the truth of the Gospel in God’s Word. Jesus was literally sharing the Gospel with them from Genesis to Malachi.

But the second thing is I wonder if this was the first time this happened or if they were saying “We should’ve recognized Him. No one made our hearts burn like that but Jesus when He was teaching us.”

Regardless, if you will sit with Jesus in His Word, He will teach you. He will set your heart ablaze with desire to follow Him and life for Him.

The more you discover God’s heart, the more you will desire to follow Him.

Again the whole Bible is about Jesus coming to save us so we could know God and walk with God.

God spoke to us. He didn’t have to but He did.

God revealed His plan and set the stage for Jesus to come and save us. He didn’t have to, but He did.

Jesus came and died for our sins so we could be forgiven and know God and walk wiht Him. He didn’t have to do that, but He did.

There is no one else in all the world that will ever love you, think about you, and genuinely care about your well-being like God.

No one else has you on their heart and mind like God does.

Are you walking with God in His Word?

This is why we have God’s Word. It’s not meant to be something we check out on Sunday during church like a follow along guide with the pastor. This is one of your lives of direct communication with God.

I saw a video the other day on what would it be like if we treated our Bibles like we treat our phones. Think about that for just a second. All the people that we’re connected to on these things (Phone), and the one person we need to be connected to speaks to us here (Bible).

Think about how much stress your phone brings you. You open your phone and there’s a chance something good came in a text. There’s a chance you got a nice comment or tag on facebook or whatever social media platform you’re using.

But have you ever opened your phone and got a text and you didn’t even have to open it and you knew, ugh, I do not want to read this. or you get a phone call and you really don’t want to talk to whoever is on the other line. Some of you might be perfect, but alot of you are like me.

Now the Bible. Granted, there are some passages that you’re going to open to and not like, but if you’re honest, it ain’t wrong. You’re going to open to some parts that aren’t as interesting as others. But as a whole, there is alot more in here that is good for you and good to you than anything you will ever open and find on your Phone, unless it is the Bible app.

Maybe you’re not walking with God at all.

I want you to know that God gave us His Word and has kept and preserved for all this time to make sure that everyone, INCLUDING YOU, can know that God cares about you. God loves you. God has a plan and a purpose for you. God wants to walk with you. God, the Creator of all things wants to walk and be with you.

And you can walk with Him because of what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus came and died in your place for all the wrong you have ever done. All you have to do is trust in Jesus. You confess to Him that you have sinned and that you believe He died on the cross for you. And then you surrender yourself to Him. You’re not going to live your way anymore, but His. You are going to live for Him. You’re going to trust Him enough to say that you will do whatever He says. And you’ll find all of that in His Word.