Sermon Tone Analysis

Thoughts to begin with as we study the Bible:

How do we approach the Bible?

1.

We come to the Bible knowing there is a God.

a.

The Bible does not make elaborate arguments for the existence of God.

However, it does tell us how we can know God exists.

b.

The Bible tells us we can know God exists because of what we see in creation.

i. (Psalm 19:1-4)

ii.

(Romans 1:20)

c.

Though many seek to deny the effectiveness of the teleological argument for the existence of God (the understanding that there must be a purposeful intelligence Who created this world), it still remains unanswered by the atheist or the agnostic.

2. We come to the Bible believing it is the place where God has spoken to man, perfectly and comprehensively.

a.

We believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

i.

We can study God, but we can't put Him under a microscope.

We can only confidently know about Him what He chooses to reveal to us.

What He chooses to tell us is profitable and useful for us.

b.

We believe the Bible must be understood literally, that is, as straightforward and true according to its literary context.

i.

The Bible is much more than a book; it is a library of books, and books written in different literary forms.

Some give a historical account

Others are poetic

Some are prophetic.

ii.

We must understand the Bible literally according to its literary context.

For example, consider what David wrote in Psalm 6:6

David used a poetic literary form.

We understand he didn't literally mean he cried so much that he flooded his room and set his bed afloat.

What what he trying to convey?

iii.

But when the Bible speaks in a historical narrative, we understand it as literal history, not as make-believe fables and myths meant only to tell a spiritual story.

Much of it is historical

History of Creation

History of Covenant People

Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, His sons which became 12 tribes of a nation

Deliverance from Slavery to the promised land

Story of Judges

Kingdom to Captivity

iv.

If we don't approach the Bible this way, then how will we approach it?

Then it is all up to how anyone "feels" about the text.

Though the teachings of Scripture may have infinite applications, they only have one true interpretation.

v. "The only proper way to interpret Genesis 1 is not to 'interpret' it at all.

That is, we accept the fact that it was meant to say exactly what it says."

(Morris)

c.

We believe the Bible is not a book of science; yet where it touches science, it speaks the truth.

After all, if the Bible is false in regard to science or other things that we can prove, then we cannot regard it as reliable in regard to spiritual matters that we cannot prove.

3. We come to the Bible knowing the copies we have in our hands are reliable duplicates (though not perfect duplicates) of the exact writings, which God perfectly inspired.

a.

We can know this about the Old Testament by seeing the incredible care and reliability of the ancient Jewish scribes, demonstrated by the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries.

They knew the number of lines per page

They knew the number of words and letters.

They copied and then counted

If it didn’t tally correctly, they set it aside to never be circulated.

Many of the manuscripts we have discovered are from such repositories.

1 manuscript will read differently in one passage (that was the scribal error) everything else is identical.

b.

We can know this about the New Testament by knowing that because of earlier manuscripts, and a greater number of ancient manuscripts, the New Testament is by far the most reliable and exhaustively crosschecked ancient document we possess.

Really, no more than one one-thousandth of the New Testament text is in question.

More evidence verifies NT than any other book.

If you just used letters written between believers which quote scripture, you get most of the NT.

4. We come to the Bible knowing the unique importance of the Book of Genesis.

a.

The Bible would be incomplete and perhaps incomprehensible without the Book of Genesis.

It sets the stage for the entire drama of redemption, which unfolds in the rest of the book.

It tells our origin as a species

It documents the origin of sin

It sets in motion redemption’s story.

b.

Almost all important doctrines and teachings have their foundation in the Book of Genesis:

the doctrines of:

sin

redemption

justification

Jesus Christ

the personality and personhood of God

the kingdom of God

the fall of man

Israel

The promise of the Messiah

Many more.

i. Genesis shows us the origins of the universe, order and complexity, the solar system, the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the origin of life, man, marriage, evil, language, government, culture, nations, religion.

It is precisely because people have abandoned the truth of Genesis that society is in such disarray.

If we are mere cosmic accidents no different than any other form of life, our purpose changes.

We are created for fellowship with and to glorify God

We have been given stewardship of this planet.

Apart from that, we are the top animal for now and have no more right to earth’s resources.

Why should we be able to eat other living things?

Why is it right for us to change the environment by building and heating and cooling.

c.

Genesis is important to the New Testament.

There are at least 165 passages in Genesis either directly quoted or clearly referred to in the New Testament; many of these are quoted more than once, so there are at least 200 quotations or allusions to Genesis in the New Testament.

i. Jesus declared the importance of believing what Moses wrote:

(John 5:46-47)

We can't say we believe in Jesus if we don't believe in the Book of Genesis.