“How Does It Read to You?”

Scripture:            Romans 15:4-5

C.I.:                How to Read the Bible (Part 1)

We’ve been studying (importance in understanding, inspired). – Yet the Bible is not one book but a beautiful mosaic of different 66 books. - Today we look at the glue that holds all the pieces of this mosaic together.

I. Understanding & Reading the Narrative Texts

A. The Nature & Purpose of the Old Testament Narratives

1. There are different types of Narratives

a. (Slide) – Show the types of narratives: Law & books named,  History & books named.

b. Every other O.T. book finds its place in the pages of one of these narratives.

2. Thus, the narratives are the books that tell OUR STORY – the story of the people of God!

a. Indeed, over and over again – God commands that this story be told and retold.

b. God established memorials to guarantee the story is told.

1) (Ex. 12:24, 26-27), “You shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. – And it will come about when your children will say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ – that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’”

2) (Josh. 4:3, 20-22), “‘Take up for yourselves 12 stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm.’ …Those 12 stones which they had taken up Joshua set at Gilgal.  And he said, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What are these stones?’ you shall say, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’”

c. We don’t even need a memorial - (Deut. 6:4-7), “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God, the Lord is one!  And these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your hearts, and you….”

B. How to Read the Old Testament Narratives (they should be read with these purposes in mind)

1. They describe the nature & character of God

a. God is Omnipotent (All-Powerful) – Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God created….”

b. God is Eternal – Ex. 3:14, “I AM THAT I AM” (Jehovah)

c. God is Holy – Lev. 11:45, “…you shall be holy for I am holy.”

d. Important for us to know today – Heb. 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and….”

2. The examples from the O.T. are used to illustrate eternal principles found in the N.T.

a. Faith – (Hebrews 11:4, 7, 6), “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain [Gen. 4], - By Faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household [Gen. 6-9], - Without faith it is impossible to please God, for those who come to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

b. Marriage - (Matt. 19:3-5), “‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any…?’”

c. Family – (Eph. 6:1-2), “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. – Honor….”

3. Through the O.T. Laws of God – we learn the nature of sin

a. Ex. 20; Deut. 5, God gave the 10 Commandments. – Only by these can we learn of sin.

1) (Rom. 3:20), “…through law comes the knowledge of sin.”

2) (Rom. 4:15),  “… where there is no law there is no violation.”

3) (Rom. 7:7), “I would not have come to know sin except through the law - for I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’”

b. Steps into Sin - (I Cor. 10:6-11 – reverse order), “Now these things happened to them as an EXAMPLE, and they were written for OUR instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. – Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. – Nor let us try the Lord as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. – Nor let us act immorally as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. – And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and stood up to play. – Now these things happened to them as EXAMPLES for us, that we should not crave evil things as they also craved.”

4. Read to Learn of a Coming Savior

a. (Gen. 3:15), “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

b. (Gen. 12:3), “And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

c.  (Gal. 3:16), “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. – He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is Christ.”

d. There are over 300 prophecies about the Messiah in the O.T. – Of these Jesus said, “These are MY words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that ALL THINGS written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms MUST BE FULFILLED,” (Lk. 24:44).

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The narratives of the Bible tell the story of God and His people.

2. In this story we learn about: God’s Nature, Eternal Truths, Nature of Sin, and the coming Messiah.

3. Today, because of our sins, we must come to a holy God through faith in the living Messiah to receive Faith.