COURS 2
LESSON 1
THE WORD OF GOD
BUILD YOUR LIFE ON THE FOUNDATION
OF GOD'S PURE WORD.
THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD.
THE WORD
You have in your hand the first brick that you need to lay a good strong
foundation in building a good, strong spiritual home constructed to biblical
pattern. The Bible says," faith comes through hearing the word of God" that is
the Bible.
"Therefore says the Lord of hosts, see I lay in Sion a foundation stone, a stone
which has been put to the test, a precious corner stone for a sure foundation"
Isaiah 28:16
The foundation for a New Testament Christian life is not a creed, not a liturgy,
not a church, but the Lord Jesus himself! The only reliable foundation is the Lord
Jesus - no-one can lay any other foundation. The Bible says of Him that He is the
foundation and the corner stone.
"For no-one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, that is
Jesus Christ " 1 Corinthians 3:11
" For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ
Jesus " 1 Timothy 2:5.
"Therefore it is written: see I lay in Sion a chosen and precious corner stone and
whoever puts his trust in Him will never be put to shame" 1 Peter 2:6
A first requirement is a personal encounter and relationship with Jesus Christ.
" God is trustworthy, through whom you have been called to fellowship with
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord".
THE WORD
Jesus is the Word become flesh. Jesus is identified with His word the Bible.
That is why He also says that if anyone loves Him he will keep His word.
" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was
God" see John 1:1,2,3,14.
" And He was dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of
God" Revelation 19:13. "Jesus answered and said to them : If someone loves Me
he will keep My word, and My Father will love him and We will come to him and
abide with him" John 14:23 You cannot love the Lord more than His Word! "And
this is how we know we really know Him :
if we keep His commandments. Whoever says "I know Him" and he does not keep
His commandments is a liar and there is no truth in him; but he who keeps His
word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. And this is how we can know
that we are in Him " 1John 2:3 - 5.
You cannot obey God more than His word!
"This is how we know that we love the Lord's children, when we love God and do
what He commands us.
Because loving God is keeping His commandments" 1 John 5:2,3
If Jesus is our foundation, that means that the Bible is also our foundation.
WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS THE BIBLE?
The Bible is a remarkable book. It contains 66 books and was written over a period
of approximately 1400 years by 40 different writers who wrote under various
circumstances.
And yet a constant theme runs through the whole Bible. This is because all these
writers were inspired by the same Spirit - the Holy Spirit- and they wrote at His
command. The Bible is not just a history book, a collection of stories, a law book
or a set of writings on how to live a good Christian life. NO, the Bible is inspired
by the Spirit of God.
We cannot read the Bible as an ordinary book. We need God's leading to
understand the meaning of the word fully. And we are not concerned here with
simply increasing our knowledge but rather with improving our RELATIONSHIP
with the word. We must learn to be one with the word and to really LIVE it!
We must agree on a number of points:
- The Bible is God's word. " All your words are true; all your righteous laws are
eternal." Psalm 119:160
- It is written by men under the inspiration of God. "...when you received the word
of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as
it actually is, the word of God..." 1Thessalonians 2:13
- Therefore it has absolute authority. " I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the
plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book
of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book." Revelation 22:18,19.
- And it is completely reliable. " Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path." Psalm 119:105
" So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty but
will achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11
THE TESTAMENTS
The Bible consists of the "old testament" and the "new testament.
The former is concerned with the beginning of time and the Jewish people, and
contains the prophecies about Jesus Christ which began to be fulfilled in the New
Testament. The second part (New Testament) is about Jesus and Christianity.
The Old deals with the law, the New with grace.
In both testaments we see that Jesus Christ is centrally placed. " For the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17.
" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was
said in all the scriptures concerning himself." Luke 24:27.
The visible world of the Old Testament runs parallel with the spiritual world of the
New Testament. The Old Testament can be viewed as foreshadowing the New
Testament and therefore should always be read in the light of the New Testament
revelation.
" They serve as a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven."
Hebrews 8:5
" For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through
endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope."
Romans 15:4.
"These things happened to them as an example (to us) and were written down
as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."
1 Corinthians 10:11. "But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil
remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in
Christ is it taken away..." 2 Corinthians 3:14-18
HEARING AND DOING
In Luke's gospel there is a story about two men who built houses.
Both men heard the word of Christ (they read it), but the foolish man didn't put
the word into action ( with all the consequences of that refusal).
The wise man, on the other hand, did obey the word.
So we see it is a question of two things:
A. Listen to God's word, and
B. Apply it to your own life.
Read Luke 6:46-49 about these two fundamentals. "Do not merely listen to the
word, and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says" James 1:22-25 "As for the person who hears my words, but
does not keep them I do not judge him. For I (Jesus) did not come to judge the
world but to save it.
There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that
very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day." John 12:47,48.
TRADITION
One problem which people with a church background have is that they don't
operate on the basis of God's word so much as on the basis of tradition and what
they have inherited.
The Bible warns us against this. It is important to allow the Bible to speak to us
afresh, and for this we need to set all our prejudices to one side.
That is not to say that you have to accept unthinkingly everything that you are taught!
Let us be like the people in Berea, who:
A. Willingly accepted the word, and
B. Searched the scriptures daily to see whether what they had been told really
was the truth (Acts 17:10,11) See also Psalm 1:1,2 - " Blessed is the
man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His
law he meditates day and night."
Proverbs 4:20-22 -" My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to
those that find them and health to a man's whole body."
CONCLUSION
You have learned here how to be built up.
Every building begins at the foundation.
It is important to lay the foundation properly. God's word gives clear guidance
about the elements which go to make up our foundation.
" Repent of dead works - believe in God - the doctrine of baptism - and of laying-on
of hands - the resurrection of the dead - and eternal judgement..." Hebrews 6:1-3.
" All scripture is God - breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16
The Bible teaches us clearly that our relationship with the Lord doesn't simply
depend on the amount we know about God's word, but on the measure to which
we live the word, that is "Do what the word says."
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show
myself to him." John 14:21
INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS TO THE BASIC COURSE
In this series you will find several questions at the end of each lesson.
You may use the following ques-tions as a guide:
A. Your personal study of the lesson.
B. You can use these questions if you pass on the lessons to your Bible study
group.
It is in that case necessary that you first prepare your own answers.
Bear in mind that various questions could be raised by members of the group.
It is then your task as a Bible teacher to first listen carefully to the questions
to see what is really being asked and then to give an answer firmly based on
scripture.
Study is more than just passing on lessons. It is the renewing of your mind
about the topic of the study; bringing yourself into line with God’s Word, so
that it can be lived out practically in every day life. Compare Eph 4:20-24
(use these instructions also for the following lessons).
Questions:
1. From which words of Jesus can we be sure of the authority of “the
word/scriptures”? John 10:35; Matt 5:17-20
2. Which symbolic terms are used for the Bible? James 1:22-25; Ps 119:105;
Heb 4:12; 1 Pet 2:2; Matt 4:4
3. Write down FOUR functions which show why the scriptures are necessary for
the Christian. 2 Tim 3:16
4. How does a Christian let others see that he/she loves Jesus Christ? Jn 14:21
5. What can God’s word do in our lives? (Name at least FIVE things).
Rev 12:11; Rom 10:17,18; 1 Pet 1:23; 2 Tim 3:16,17
Cours 2 lesson 2