The Word

 

The Word

2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

     Second Timothy was written about 65 AD.  The first gospel of Mark was written at the same time.  Many other writings of Paul fall around this same time.  Did he know he was penning the sacred writings of Christianity?  Back up one verse:

2 Timothy 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

     The picture here is Timothy had a Jewish mother and grandmother who taught him the holy scriptures.  What scriptures did they have?  The Old Testament.  Somewhere in that Testament, they found evidences of Jesus as savior and taught little Timothy such.  Hence, the scripture Paul is referring to is what we call the Old Testament.

      How necessary it is that we dive into the Old Testament!  With help of the Holy Spirit, the writings would convince us that Jesus was the Messiah.  Moreover, even without the New Testament aid, we would understand Him as Savior also.  Timothy did.

      Imagine a house with its treasures stored in the basement.  Having not room enough on the main floor to display them all at once, pictures and items are brought up periodically.  So is the Old Testament.  Its stories fill the basement in boxes.  They are labelled then categorized.  Neatly arranged, access is easy.  However, knowing the system takes some learning.

     “What box to look in?”  Familiarization is key.  Suddenly we find ourselves with a flashlight getting snuggly with contents.  And that is not bad.

     Following our marriage in 1990, my wife and I dedicated our time to reading before bed.  I remember times awake in West Germany, reading while Anne would occasionally fall asleep on my shoulder.  Good memories.  Also, a good foundation.  I think we made it into first or second Chronicles before we stopped.  That gave us a terrific springboard to our faith.  Genesis made the cross make sense.  Israel’s history told of Jesus ancestral descent.  He didn’t just pop out on the scene.  Prophecies foretold His coming.

     Timothy knew these scriptures thanks to his grandma and mother.  With help of the Holy Spirit, the veil was lifted and he beheld the savior.  He was prepared to accept Jesus as the One when He appeared to him so to say.  That is the power of the Old Testament.  It is our foundation in which we build upon.

     God commands us to know Him.  Before and after the cross, our God is the same.  He deserves investigation.  The history of Man from Adam to Abraham.  The call of a nation from Abraham to Joseph.  His delivering power in Egypt.  A forming of a people with Moses and a giving of the law to refine His requirements.  God’s interaction with faithful and faithless Israel as they struggled with oppression.  Kings, conquering, and defeat.

     In these scriptures, Timothy found hope.  What he needed for perfection and every good work, the Word supplied.  Jesus, as revealed in the New Testament, is icing on the cake.  But just as icing without cake makes no sense, Jesus is spread over a historical account. Please be encouraged today to eat the whole disregarding none.  Paul said, “all scripture…”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's Successive Revelations

  God’s Successive Revelations Search Me diligently, and I will reveal Myself to you.      Yah, that sound like something God would say.   I understand He revealed the Trinity to us.   I plead ignorance in Church history.   Some theologians, perhaps 400 A.D. came upon this gem that we hold true today.   The idea of the rapture is new on the Church radar.   Late 1800’s?      What if God revealed His truth to His people in time?   Surely, Solomon was the wisest man in his day, but did he know about Pentecost?   Daniel, the far seer, was only shown glimpses.   What did he know of Peter and miracles in the temple?   A certain king discovered God’s truth again and that made for a reformation, but what did he know of the beast standing in the sea?   God gives insight in His time.      I have trained seven children.   As young  children, I did not flood them with...
Read more

She Doesn't Tell You That You Are A Loser

She Doesn’t Tell You That You Are Loser Grace:  The incredible pink cushion between your screwed up decisions and the ramifications wrought by them. Mercy:  withholds the rod.  Grace says, “Now what?  Given you’ve gotten yourself into a marijuana muddied bowl of slime, would you like a hand up?”  She gets her hands dirty. “That’s ok, its just something I have to work through.”  And she does.  Her incredible prayer power burns a hole through overhanging clouds of gloom. My ears pierce in my usual confronting atmosphere.  An auto E.Q. does its job to focus the vibrations to the rear-view mirror.  Anger aligns my head to look straight into traffic.  Twenty minutes of a sub-woofer gets my energy out of the windshield. “Hey, you’re messing with my woman!”  We have an understanding.  She is to be under my wing.  I have violated before, running in a tangent to the graph.  I’ve learned not to overreact.  I conc...
Read more

Perhaps You Don't Know

  Perhaps You Don’t Know      Those present sat in the first pew, on the left and on the right.   The ring bearer was my faithful dorm mate.   Nearly my age and goofier to catch my sister-in-law’s eye, his antics spiced the military wedding.   We, known as a couple since high-school, were definitely going ‘steady’.   Mother-in-law held up the Panasonic cassette player to march the bride.   Proud Papa did say, “Her mother and I.”      It was a humble wedding.   A few were invited.   Even fewer braved the September roads.   The medium-sized First Christian Church of Aurora, Colorado let in the light.   Lack of air flow brought sweat under my suited armpits.   Finally, drops found their place to my forehead and I dropped to one knee.   Grandma thought I had already proposed previously.   A bit of confusion hung in the air until I stripped off my outerwear and got comfortable in the ...
Read more