Better Bible Study #3

Last Time

We Talk About How We Need to Recognize Our Biases…

And Follow the Text Wherever it Leads

We Started Looking at Giving to the Contribution as an Example

But We Didn’t Get Finished, So I Thought We’d Finish That…

And Then Look at Something New

The 2 Biases Many Christians Hold to Concerning the Contribution Are:

Every Christian is Commanded to Give on the First Day of the Week (The Motivation to Give)

The Primary Goal of the Contribution is to Support Preachers/Missionaries (The Purpose/Reason We Give)

We Looked at 1 Corinthians 16 and 2 Corinthians 8-9 Last Time

Paul Commanded the Corinthians to Give On the First Day of the Week

But Then He Tells Them They are Not Commanded to Give

What We Learn From That is That the Commandment of 1 Cor. 16 Was About When They Were to Give

Now, Let’s Look at Some Texts that Reveal the Reason For the Contribution

Let’s Start with the Very First Contribution

Right After 3,000 People Joined the Kingdom on Pentecost, We Read:

Acts 2:44–45 (NASB)

And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

They Immediately Started Selling Their Own Possessions in Order to Take Care of Those Who Were in Need

Acts 4:32–37 (NASB)

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Again We See the Early Church Taking Care of Each Other

But Here We See the Money Collected By the Apostles, and Then Distributed to the Needy Among Them

Acts 11:27–30 (NASB)

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.

And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

Now, for the First Time, We are Seeing One Church Put Together a Mission Effort to Help Another Church

The Christians at Antioch Decided to Put a Contribution Together to Send to the Christians in Jerusalem

Any Christians Who Were Able and Willing Were to Help in This

Then Saul and Barnabas Would Take it to the Elders in Jerusalem

The Money Was to Help Their Siblings in Jerusalem During a Famine

Romans 15:24–27 (NASB)

whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while— but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.

For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.

Paul Tells the Romans He Wants to See Them

He Tells Them He Would Like to Be Helped By Them

He Was Probably Asking for Their Financial Support in His Mission Work to Spain

But at the Moment, He Was Going to Deliver the Contribution to Help the Jerusalem Christians From Macedonia and Achaia

We See 2 Reasons For the Contribution in this Passage

To Help Needy Christians (Like All of the Previous Passages)

And to Help Spread the Gospel

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul Talks About How Christians Should Support Those Who Preach the Gospel

And in 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul Talks to the Corinthians About Their Contribution in the Support of the Needy Christians in Jerusalem

When We Lay Our Biases Aside and Just Follow the Text Wherever it Leads, We Find:

The Contribution Was Never a Command

It Was to Be a Voluntary and Cheerful Sacrifice Made Out of Love

The Contribution Had 2 Primary Purposes

The First of Which Was to Help Needy Christians

I’ve Spoken Many Times On How We Need to Get Back to Making That the Primary Use of Our Contribution

Second, it is to Support Those Who Preach the Gospel

That’s Not to Say Anything Else the Contribution is Used for is Wrong

But We Need Recognize the Biblical Motivation and Purpose

We Can Only Do That When We Set Aside Our Biases and Follow the Scriptures

Better Bible Study #3

I’ve Discovered That I Know Much Less About the Bible and Christianity Now Than I Did 3 Years Ago

I Believed the Bible to Be an Easy, Cut and Dry, Black and White Book

I Confused Arrogance With Confidence When it Came to Understanding the Bible

I’ve Been Blessed to Study the Bible For a Living the Past 3.5 Years

And in My Deep Studying, I’ve Discovered Just How Much I Don’t Know About the Bible

I Didn’t and Still Don’t Know the Bible or Christianity as Well as I Thought I Did

But I Do Understand it So Much Better Than I Did

And That is Due in Large Part to Understanding Our Next Tip:

Recognize the Bible as a Unified Story

I Think We All Understand to Some Extent that the Bible is a Unified Book

We Know it is One Book That Consists of 66 Books

We Know Each of These 66 Books Were Inspired By God

We Know Each of These 66 Books are Infallible (Absolutely True)

We Know These 66 Books Don’t Contradict Each Other

We Know and Understand That the Bible is Unified in These Sorts of Ways

But I Think Many of Us Miss the Fact That the Bible is:

Not Just a Large Unified Book of Rules

Or a Large Unified Book of Facts

But a Large Unified Story/Narrative

Each Book, Though Written By Different People, at Different Times, and From Different Places…

Is Like a Chapter in a Book or a Puzzle Piece That Helps Make Up the Full Picture

We Can Recognize the Bible as a Continuous Story Best By:

Recognizing the Major Themes of the Bible

Theme = A Central Topic, Subject, or Message Within a Narrative/Story

They Continue to Pop Up and Play an Important Part in the Story

There are a Lot of Themes in the Bible

The More You Read the Bible, the More Themes You’ll Begin to Recognize

And the More You Recognize, the Better You Will Understand the Unified Story of the Bible

As With Any Good Story, Themes Appear in the Beginning of the Story

And They are Developed Throughout…

Taking On Different and Deeper Meanings Along the Way…

Until We Reach the Climax of the Story, Where the Theme is Made Apparent

In the Bible, That Climax is the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus

All Biblical Themes Come to Their Climax in Jesus

We are Going to Spend the Next Few Weeks Looking at Several Biblical Themes

Recognizing These Themes Will Help Us Recognize the Bible as a Unified Story That Leads to Jesus

And When We Recognize That, We Will Understand the Bible’s Intended Message For Us

And When We Understand That, We Will:

Love God More

Love People More

Have Greater Faith

Have a More Solid Hope

And Live More Obediently

Theme #1: The Tree of Life

Genesis 2:8–9 (NASB)

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the Beginning, God Planted a Garden in a Place Called Eden

In That Garden Were Every Tree That is Pretty and Had Good Fruit to Eat

In the Middle of the Garden Were 2 Special Trees

We’ll Read More About Them in a Second

Genesis 2:10 (NASB)

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.

Water Flowed Out of Eden to Water the Garden

But it Also Divided into 4 Rivers and Continued Flowing to Other Regions

That Tells Us Something Without Telling Us Something

Eden Was at the Top of a Mountain or Hill

Because Water Always Flows Down

Genesis 2:15–17 (NASB)

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Humans Were Supposed to Work and Preserve the Garden

They Could Eat of Any Tree They Wanted…

Except For One

If They Ate of it, They Would Die

After They Ate the Forbidden Fruit…

Genesis 3:22 (NASB)

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

Before Eating the Fruit, Humans Didn’t Know Good and Evil

They Only Relied Completely On the Guidance of God

Like a Child, Adam and Eve Were to Learn What is Good and Evil From God

But When They Ate the Fruit, They Chose to Decide What is Good From What is Evil Themselves

They Had Been Spiritually Corrupted By Evil

This Brought About the Physical Corruption of Their Bodies and This World

Now God Had to Protect Them

He Moved Them Away From the Tree of Life…

That Would Cause Them to Live Forever in Their Spiritual and Physical Corrupted State

He Wants Humans to Live Forever, But Not in Corruption

Here’s What We’ve Learned From These Verses:

The Garden Was Located in a Place Called Eden

Eden Was Located On a Mountain/Hill

The Tree of Life Was Located in the Garden

It Gives Those Who Eat From it Everlasting Life

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is Also in the Garden

Eating of it Represents Deciding For Yourself What is Right or Wrong

Doing What is Right in Your Own Eyes

It Brings Death to Those Who Eat From it

After Humanity Corrupted Themselves and the World…

God Had to Separate Us From the Tree of Life So That We Wouldn’t Live Forever in Corruption

Humans Were Now Separated From God’s Presence

Over Time, We See Humanity Continues to Decide Good and Evil For Themselves

But Then We See a Man Named Moses On a Mountain Called Horeb

Exodus 3:2–5 (NASB)

The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Moses is On a Mountain and Sees Vegetation That is Alive and Won’t Die

God’s Presence is in the Bush

The Space Around God’s Presence is Considered Holy

He Will Be Told to Bring the Children of Israel to This Mountain to Serve and Worship God

When They Get There, They Are Given God’s Standard of Right and Wrong

After the Law is Delivered to the People, Moses Said:

Deuteronomy 30:15–20 (NASB)

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Just as it Was in the Garden, They Were Given a Choice

To Live By God’s Standard of Good and Evil

This Would Grant Them Life

Or to Live By Their Own Standard of Good and Evil

This Would Grant Them Death

We Know the Choice They Made

Twice We Read in the Book of Judges:

“Every Man Did What Was Right in His Own Eyes”

But Then a Man Named Jesus Comes…

Offering the Same Choice That Has Always Been Offered By God

Follow My Standard of Good and Evil and You Will Live

Follow Your Own Standard of Good and Evil and You Will Die

Like it Has Been Since the Beginning…

They Continued to Follow Their Own Standard of Good and Evil

And, Again, We See Similarities to the Beginning

On the Mountain of Jerusalem…

Jesus, the Life-Giver, Was in a Garden

Humanity Decided to Follow Their Own Standard of Good and Evil

They Took God Up On a Hill and Nailed Him to a Cross…

Which, Several Times in the New Testament, is Called a Tree

But This Time, God in His Brilliance, Had Prepared a Plan

Whenever Humans Once Again Ate From the Forbidden Tree By Killing Jesus…

God Would Turn Death into Life By Resurrecting Jesus

Jesus Turned the Tree That Brought Death into the Tree That Brings Life

Now, All Who Choose to Die With Him (Repentance and Baptism)…

Are Those Who Are Choosing to Finally Follow His Standard Instead of Our Own

And That Leads Us to Eternal Life

And Look at What John Saw in His Vision of Eternity:

Revelation 22:1–2 (NASB)

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:14 (NASB)

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

Application

The Bible Begins and Ends in a Garden With the Tree of Life

God Has Always Offered Life to Humanity

It Was Always Available to Those Who Live According to His Standard of Good and Evil

But We’ve Always Chosen Our Own Standard

This Resulted in Sin, Corruption, and Death

So Jesus Came to Defeat Sin, Corruption, and Death For Us

And, in Doing So, He Brings Us:

Back to God’s Presence

Back to the Garden

Back to the Tree of Life

Revelation 2:7 (NASB)

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’