The Bible-Written By God

Jan 9, 2000 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16

The Bible – written by God

Main teaching: the Bible was recorded by man, but it was authored by God.

That means that:

1. You can believe the stories in the Bible actually happened.

In the year and a half that I have been the pastor of this church, I have said a lot of things. Most of those things, you have forgotten. That’s to be expected since we only retain 10% of what we hear. But I am encouraged to know that at least one thing that I said, one of you remembers. Mike remembers something that I said on a Wednesday night while we were still meeting at his house. I know that he remembers because he made mention of it this past Wednesday night. Many months ago, I said that I do not like to refer to the events recorded in the Bible as stories. To me, the word “stories” carries with it the idea of myths, fiction, nursery rhymes, and fables. We even use the word to refer to telling lies – “Johnny told a story.” I much prefer to speak of “events” or “historical accounts” when we talk about the happenings of the Bible. Now, I’m not going to get mad at you if you continue to use the word “stories” when referring to the Bible. There may even be times that you catch me using that word. But just remember that the stories recorded in the Bible are unlike any other story in the libraries of the world. You can be 100% sure that they are true to the smallest detail.

I must admit though that if I did not know that the Bible was God’s Word, I would have a hard time believing some of the events that are recorded in it. The Bible records that the whole universe was created in a period of 6 days, and that it was created with nothing but the words of God. It also says that God got so disgusted with the people in His world that He sent a great world-wide flood to destroy it. It says that the water was so deep that it rose 20 feet higher than the tallest mountain. Floating on top of that water was a boat that contained the last 8 people on the face of earth and at least 2 of every kind of land animal on the planet.

The pastor of another church announced that on the following Sunday, he was going to be speaking on Noah and the ark. A couple of mischievous boys noticed something interesting about the passage and decided to play a prank on their pastor. They glued two pages of the pastor’s Bible together. The next Sunday morning, the pastor got up to read his text, but because two pages were glued together, it read a little bit different than he expected. It went something like this: “And Noah took a wife, and she was” – page turn – “450 long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall.” The old pastor stood there stunned for a minute, and then he said, “I have been reading this Bible for 50 years, and there are still some things that I read that are hard to believe.”

The Bible is full of things that are hard to believe: the 10 plagues on Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the fall of the walls of Jericho, the day the sun stood still, the strength of Samson, Jonah and the great fish – all things that would fit well into a science fiction movie except for the fact that God said that they happened and that they happened just the way that they are recorded in the Bible. But the hardest story of all to believe is the story of Jesus because it is the one that is the most ridiculous. To think that Jesus, who is Almighty God, would leave behind the splendor of heaven, be born of a virgin, live as fully God and fully man, heal the sick, raise the dead, walk on water, feed the hungry, teach those who would listen, be rejected by those He created, die on a cross as payment for the sins of people who lived 2000 years later, rise from the dead the third day, and be taken back up into heaven – that’s foolishness! (1 Cor 1:23-25 NIV) but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Whether the pages of the Bible sound foolish to you or not, they are true. You can believe them. You MUST believe them for they are your only hope.