The Word Of God

In the Bible we read that God has spoken to our world through the prophets in the Old Testament scriptures and through Jesus Christ and His Apostles in the New Testament scriptures. For many today this may be an astonishing claim, but a claim so significant that it most certainly deserves further investigation!

THE OLD TESTAMENT – GOD SPEAKS

In the Old Testament God first speaks to the man and woman He created, explaining His plan and purpose for them and setting the boundaries that would govern their lives. He later speaks to Abraham calling him out to become a great nation, the nation of Israel; and to Moses telling him to lead that nation out of bondage in the land of Egypt and to give them His covenant and law. Finally, we read about God speaking through the centuries to His people by the prophets, guiding, teaching and correcting them as needed.[1] But is what we read of God Speaking in these various ways in the Old Testament scriptures true? To answer that question and learn more about how God has spoken to our world we must first turn our attention to the New Testament.

THE NEW TESTAMENT – UNIQUE FIRST CENTURY DOCUMENTS

When we examine the New Testament we initially view it as nothing more than a unique collection of historical documents carefully copied and passed down to us from the first century. The authors claim to be eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus Christ or contemporaries of the eyewitnesses from whom these authors received their information. We also find that the documents give evidence of being historically, geographically and culturally authentic and true to the time period in which Jesus lived. Knowing these things the New Testament now becomes a reliable source of information for learning about all the things that Jesus Christ said and did and the events surrounding His life! [2]

JESUS – SENT BY GOD

In the New Testament we learn that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, sent by God to bear witness to the truth and to speak the words that God had given Him.[3] Jesus told the people to believe His claims because of the miraculous signs which he performed by God’s power, including His own resurrection from the dead.[4] Some of the writers of the New Testament also report that they personally witnessed these miracles and encountered Jesus alive after His death by crucifixion and burial.[5] Based on what they heard, saw, and experienced firsthand, these New Testament authors believed what Jesus claimed about Himself and encouraged others to do likewise.[6]

THE NEW TESTAMENT – THE WORD OF GOD

What is reported in the New Testament about Jesus is trustworthy, and we can believe that what Jesus said about himself is true. Therefore, what we have in the New Testament is more than just a fascinating account of a larger than life man who lived in the first century. What we have is a written record of the Son of God who came to testify to the truth and speak the words which God had given Him. We have in the words of Jesus Christ the “Word of God”![7] But can we be sure that Jesus words have not been lost over time? On one occasion Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”[8]

THE APOSTLES – JESUS WITNESSES

So that His words would not pass away, Jesus chose the Apostles to be His disciples then sent them out into the world after His resurrection from the dead to be his witnesses.[9] He promised them that the Spirit of God would bring to their remembrance all that He had taught them and would also guide them even further into the truth.[10] Through the ministry of the Apostles the teaching of Jesus was widely proclaimed and put into writing, then it was very carefully copied and passed down to us today. Additionally, it is important to understand that God has also spoken through the Apostles as well, guiding them in their preaching and teaching, just as Jesus had promised. Because of all this, we can be sure that in the New Testament God has spoken to our world through both Jesus and the Apostles!

THE OLD TESTAMENT – THE WORD OF GOD

We started this topic by asking how we might know that God has spoken to our world in the Old Testament. The primary reason we believe this to be true is because that is what Jesus and the Apostles believed and what they taught others. When Jesus quoted the Old Testament, as He often did, He referred to it as God’s word, which conveyed God’s commandments and through which God spoke to the people.[11] The apostle Peter wrote that the prophets were men moved by the Holy Spirit who spoke from God. And the apostle Paul, when describing the Old Testament scriptures, used the word “inspired”, which literally means “God-Breathed”.[12]

Jesus is the cornerstone of our conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. Through Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets we believe that God is still speaking to our world today, making known His love for us, explaining His will for our lives and warning of the judgement to come.[13]

We have just scratched the surface regarding this topic. There is additional information in the “Library” and other resources available on the “Resources” page where you can learn more.

To discover what the Bible declares about the powerful way that God has demonstrated His love for this world by providing for our salvation from sin continue reading more on the next page!

NOTES:

[1] Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-17; Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 3:1-8; Exodus 19:1-6; Hebrews 1:1

[2] II Peter 1:16-18; Luke 1:1-4; Hebrews 2:3-4

[3] Luke 22:66-71; John 18:33-38; John 12:44-50

[4] John 5:36; John 9:1-7; John 10:37-38; Matthew 12:38-40;17:22-23

[5] Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

[6] 1 John 1:1-3; John 20:30-31

[7] John 3:34; John 18:37; Hebrews 1:1-2; Revelation 19:11-13; John 1:1-5

[8] Luke 21:33

[9] Mark 3:13-14; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:6-8

[10] John 14:25-27; John 16:12-13

[11] Matthew 15:1-6; 22:29-33

[12] 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Timothy 3:16-17

[13] Ephesians 2: 19-20; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:1-2