God Made Known in Revelation

7/29/2019 God Made Known in Revelation

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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: 2 Peter 1:1921; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17;Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 11:6; Exodus 3:114.

MEMORY VERSE: In the past, God spoke to our people through theprophets [special messengers]. He spoke at many times. He spoke in dif-ferent ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.He is the one whom God appointed [chose] to receive all things. God madeeverything through him (Hebrews 1:1, 2, NIrV).

KEY (IMPORTANT) THOUGHT: It is important to understand how Bibleinspiration1 works. But it is more important to know that God gave Hismessages to us through that inspiration.

THE HEAVENS TELL ABOUT THE GLORY OF GOD. The skies show thathis hands created them (Psalm 19:1, NIrV) That is so true But what this versedoes not say is that our God loves us and died for us He is busy saving us fromthe results of our sinful choices

We may learn about God from other books But the important book has tobe the Bible There are great truths about the nature of God (who God is) and

His work in this world that we would know nothing about if God had not told usMaybe people can sense the battle going on between good and evil But howelse would they know of the great controversy (war) if they had not learnedabout it from the Bible?

This week we will focus (place our attention on) on two things First, we willstudy what the Bible says about itself and the way it was inspired (given by God)Next, we will learn what it teaches us about the God who inspired (gave) it

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God Made Known in Revelation

1 inspirationhow Bible writers were led by God to write down His messages


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Lesson 2 GOD MADE KNOWN IN REVELATION

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THE DOCTRINE (BELIEF;TEACHING) OF THE BIBLE(2 Peter 1:1921)

Read 2 Peter 1:1921. What dothese verses tell us about what theNew Testament writers thought ofthe Holy Bible?

Peter supports the idea that theprophecies (special messages fromGod) of the Old Testament did not beginwith the human mind His argumentis that the prophets spoke becausethey were moved by the Holy Spirit(NKJV) The wording moved by theHoly Spirit means that the writing ofthe Bible came through the Holy Spiritsleading In short, the Bible writers wereinspired (led) by the Lord Himself

Read 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. What dothese verses tell us about the Bibleand what we should use it for?

It is very clear that Paul wantedTimothy to understand one importantfact: that the Bible comes from GodFor this reason the Bible is dependableand valuable for the building up of thebeliever Paul leaves no doubt aboutthe Bibles truthfulness, authority, andcreation Notice, too, that Paul is talkingabout all Scripture [the Bible] Paulleaves no room for picking or choos-ing which parts we think are inspired(given by God) and which parts arenot There are some things in the Bible

(such as the ceremonial laws2) that weno longer need to observe or practice

But understanding this is very differentfrom saying that there are some partsof the Bible that are inspired (given byGod) and others that are not, or thatsome parts are not as inspired asother parts are

Read Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; Matthew22:4146; and John 10:34, 35. Whatimportant truth about the Bible andits authority can we learn from theseverses?

No matter what we believe, we needa foundation upon which we can basethat belief For Seventh-day AdventistChristians, that foundation is the Bible,which is the most perfect standard oftruth

How much time do you spendstudying the Bible? How much ofyour life follows what it teaches?Think back on the past 24 hours.What have you done or not done inthat time period that followed theBibles authority?

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2 ceremonial lawslaws that were given to Moses by God These laws governed how the system of sacrificesand offerings was to be carried out in the sanctuary (house of God) services After Christ died on the cross,these laws were no longer needed

The Bible is the foundation of our beliefs.


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WHAT INSPIRATION IS (Acts 1:18)

It is not the words of the Biblethat are inspired. Instead, it is thewriters who were inspired [led byGod]. Inspiration acts not on thewriters words. Instead, it workson the writer himself. Led by thepower of the Holy Spirit, the writeris given thoughts from God. Butthe prophet writes down thesethoughts in his own words. Godsmind and will are joined with thehuman mind and will. In this way,the written words of the writer arethe word of God.Adapted fromEllen G. White, Selected Messages,book 1, page 21. How do thesewords help us to understand howBible inspiration works?

When thinking about inspiration,people sometimes get too worriedabout verses that seem to create prob-lems Take, for example, the wordingabove Jesus cross as described in theGospels According to Matthew 27:37,it says, THIS IS JESUS THE KINGOF THE JEWS But Mark 15:26 says,THE KING OF THE JEWS And Luke23:38 says, THIS IS THE KING OFTHE JEWS How are we to under-stand these differences?

As the Bible says, all Scripture[Bible] is given by inspiration of God(2 Timothy 3:16), and all Scripture istrustworthy But we are given differentrecords of the wording on Jesus crossUnderstanding these two points cangive us a better idea of how inspiration

works This case shows that inspira-tion uses different words for an idea

or event in order to explain it betterWhen the wording explains an ideawell enough, inspiration allows for itOn the other hand, when a specialexplanation is needed (1 Kings 6:1,for example), inspiration gives it, and itshould be accepted as such

Compare Acts 1:18 and Matthew27:5. In what ways do these storiesof Judas death seem to disagree?

For a long time, critics of the Bibleclaimed that these verses gave differ-ent stories of Judas death But recentresearch has shown that the wordtranslated as falling headlong in Acts1:18 also means swelling up So, itis possible that, after hanging himself,Judas was not discovered until his bodyhad swelled up If true, this would havecaused his intestines to burst open So,what at first seemed to be different isnow shown not to be different

But most of the Bible does not causeproblems In the few places wherethere seem to be problems, the wisething to do would be to show a humblespirit Who knows how many peoplehave made a shipwreck of faith byfocusing on problem verses We havenot been called to stand in judgmentover the Bible Instead, we have beencalled to obey it

THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE-IN-ONE GOD (Genesis 1:26)

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Inspiration is important But under-standing how it works is only a way

of reaching a goal And that goal isto know God For example, a deepunderstanding of how the Bible waswritten, or even of its truths, meansnothing if we do not know the Lord forourselves (John 17:3)

And one thing the Bible clearlyteaches us about the Lord is His one-ness

Read Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark12:29. What important truth isfound in these verses?

The Bibles stand on the idea thatGod is One does not encourage theidea that there are many gods Thereis only one God But the total picturewe get from the Bible suggests thatthere are several sides or parts ofGod, even though He is One

Read Genesis 1:26; Genesis3:22; Genesis 11:7; John 1:13, 18;John 20:28; 2 Corinthians 13:14;and Matthew 28:19. How do theseverses begin to make clear theidea that the One God has severalsides or parts?

The Old Testament suggests that ourGod is a Three-in-One Godor ThreePersons who are One in thought,feeling, and will For example, theword us (Genesis 1:26) suggestsmore than one There is also the NewTestaments statement about JesusChrist and the Holy Spirit Becauseof these examples, we start to realizethat there is a lot about Gods nature

that we do not fully understand andprobably never will The three-in-one

part of God is one mystery which wewill have to learn to acceptThe information that the Bible gives

about Gods three-part nature does notmean that we can make wild guessesabout who He is But it is given so thatwe may understand more fully Hissaving work for us within the theme ofthe great controversy

Who does not have a lot of ques-tions that only God can answer?How can we learn to trust Him untilthe time comes when answers willbe given?

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THE CREATORS CHARACTER(WHO GOD IS) IN THE BIBLE

(Hebrews 11:6)The Bible teaches us truths about

God that we are not going to findanywhere else Among those truths is

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Understanding how the Bible was written,or even its truths, is nothing if we do not

know Jesus.


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that He is the Creator In fact, that isthe first thing the Bible tells us about

God He created the heavens andthe earth (Genesis 1:1)One of the many interesting things

about this verse is that the Bible sim-ply tells us that God exists (is around;lives) without trying to prove it or showit The Bible spends a lot of time teach-ing us about what God is like The Biblealso shows Gods character (who Godis) through His work with fallen (sin-ful) humanity But the Bible does nottry hard to prove that He exists It justshows God as a fact in the Bible

Read Hebrews 11:6 and Romans10:17. What do these verses sayabout God and how His Wordmakes us realize that He lives?

Belief that God is real cannot comefrom reason or arguments alone TheBible teaches that a person believesthat God lives and is real through per-sonal experience with Him Meanwhile,the Holy Spirit influences the personto believe that God is real In manycases, people may come to believein God first Then, they start to build astrong foundation in their hearts andminds for faith in a God whom theycannot see

Read Malachi 3:6; James 1:17;1 John 4:8, 16; and 2 Chronicles6:18. What do these verses tell usabout several sides of Gods char-acter? What other sides of Godscharacter are shown in the Word(the Bible)?

Think about the sides of Godscharacter that are shown in the

Bible. How many of them could youknow from other sources (placesto go for more of something)?(For example, from nature or frompersonal experience.) What doesyour answer teach you about howimportant the Bible is to our under-standing of who God really is?

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THE ACTIONS OF GOD(Genesis 11:9)

Even the shortest reading of theBible shows that God is hard atwork with people and with what hap-pens here on earth He is not as faraway as some Greeks in Bible timestaught, or even as some Christianthinkers try to describe Him God isvery different from what He createdBut the Lord has tied Himself closelyto His creation

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The Bible teaches that God is Creator.


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As we saw yesterday, the Bibleshows the Lord as our Creator.

This shows just how closely tiedto this world He really is. Whatdo Genesis 11:9; Genesis 19:24;Exodus 3:114; John 3:16; and1 Thessalonians 4:17 tell us aboutGods other actions here on earth,especially with the theme of thegreat controversy in mind?

Without doubt, the Bible shows aGod who is greatly (very) involvedwith people The whole theme of thegreat controversy is that the Lord isworking to save people from sin andSatans traps The Bible (from theearths creation [Genesis 1:1], to thecross [John 19:18], and to the earthsre-creation [2 Peter 3:12, 13]) showsus very clearly how the Lord workswith people

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In what ways have you experi-enced the actions of God? In what

ways have you seen Him work inyour life and in the lives of others?

How can you learn to receive com-fort from knowing Gods close-ness to us?

ADDITIONAL STUDY: Read EllenG White, Danger in Speculative[Uncertain] Knowledge, pages 427438, in The Ministry [Work Done forGod] of Healing; The Word MadeFlesh, pages 746749, inTestimonies[Messages] for the Church, volume 5;Preface and Introduction, pages57, in The Great Controversy.

God has been pleased to give Histruth to the world through humansHe Himself, by His Holy Spirit, mademen able to do this work God guidedthe mind in what to speak and whatto write The treasure was entrustedto human servants But still, it isfrom Heaven The testimony is giventhrough human language, which isimperfect [not perfect] But it is thetestimony of God And the obedient,believing child of God understandsthrough it the glory [great beauty] ofGods power, full of grace and truth

In His word [the Bible], God hasgiven men the knowledge necessaryfor salvation The Holy Bible is to beaccepted as the perfect will of GodIt is the standard of character, theteacher of doctrines, and the test ofexperience God has breathed lifeinto all of Scripture [the Bible] It isuseful for teaching us what is true Itis useful for correcting our mistakes

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The whole theme of the great controversyis that God works to save us from Satans

traps.


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It is useful for making our lives wholeagain It is useful for training us to

do what is right By using Scripture,a man of God can be completelyprepared to do every good thing(2 Timothy 3:16, 17, NIrV)Adaptedfrom Ellen G White, The GreatControversy, pages 8, 9

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

How much trust can we place inthe opinions and thoughts about Godthat we form on our own without theBibles help to guide us? Is there anyroom at all for an understanding ofGod from other books and places? Ifso, what are they? And how can webe sure that the information they giveus is correct?

Why does any worldly opinionthat denies God mean death for us?

Science and technology have, inmany ways, been a great blessing topeople In some ways, too, sciencehas helped us to better understandthe power of God (For example, lookat what it has shown us about howdeep a mystery life is!) But what arethe limits to what science can teachus about God? When, too, can sci-ence work against a true understand-ing of God?

Why is the doctrine of a Three-in-One God (no matter how difficultto understand) so important to us asSeventh-day Adventists? Think whatit would mean, for example, if Christwere not fully God

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God Made Known in Revelation

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