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by Steve DuPlessie*

The story of how God delivered the Hebrews slaves, after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, is old, its powerful, and its very personal. Do you remember the story?

God told Moses to instruct every family to take a healthy, perfect, unblemished lamb, to kill it and paint some of that blood on the door posts of the family home. Let me read it to you, I’m in Exodus chapter 12, verse 12: God said, “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over (that’s where we get the name for the annual Jewish feast, Passover) When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

What a strange command; what an eerie night. The Hebrews who lived in the neighborhood of Egypt called Goshen where the roads were muddy and the houses were small, the Hebrews slaughtered the lambs, and the leader of each house, took the bowl full of blood and a brush and dipped that brush into the blood and streaked that blood in a slash of bright red on the sides and the top of front doorway.

And then at midnight, at the dark of midnight—about 80 years after the Egyptians had slaughtered all the firstborn Hebrew boys—that night, the firstborn sons all over Egypt — where there was no splash of blood painted around the door — that’s when the Egyptian firstborns took their final breath as the angel of God’s judgment flew over the land. Fathers heard their firstborn sons gasp. Wives heard their husbands, if they were a firstborn, gasp their last breath. What an eerie, bone chilling night of tragic and deep sorrow in every home. Only the blood-covered homes were spared.

Why exactly were the Hebrews spared?
So why were the Hebrew people spared? Why? The ones the angel of death passed over? Why were they spared? Was it because they were Hebrews? Was it because they knew Moses? No. It had nothing to do with who they were. It had nothing to do with who they knew. It had everything to do with where they were. They were … underneath the blood of the lamb. They had taken shelter, refuge, positioned themselves under the blood of the lamb.

A question: if you were there, if you were one of those Hebrew families, would you have obeyed that command? Would you have sacrificed an innocent lamb, taken the blood and painted it around your front door. Would you have done it? Or would you have said, “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!” See, no one had ever done anything like that before. As far as I can see, it’s the first time, and the last time, that command was ever given in Scripture. Would you have done it?

It’s more than a rhetorical question. See, you and I have the same problem that those Hebrews had in Egypt. We’re slaves; we’re slaves. Not to Pharaoh, but to sin. We do the very things we keep saying we don’t want to do (Romans 7:18-25). And the things we know we should do, we can’t do. We try to run our world ourselves. We keep climbing up on the throne, telling God to get lost. Maybe not with our words, but certainly with our independent actions and our rebellious thoughts. We’re slaves to sin, in our habits, our hang-ups, our heart.

We don’t just need somebody to help us. We need someone to deliver us. Somebody to lead us out of slavery. We need somebody to redeem us, buy our freedom. So, as far back as even the story of Moses we see God’s grand plan for redeeming us.  It involves the shedding of blood, and the arrival of a lamb.

Do you remember what John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus Christ. He said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Do you remember how the apostle Paul described the role of Jesus Christ? He called Jesus Christ “our Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18, 19).

See, you and I need exactly what the Hebrew slaves needed. We need someone to rescue us, deliver us. And so God gives us a perfect lamb, Jesus Christ. And we take shelter, we position ourselves, not under a blood covered doorway of a house in Egypt but under the blood covered cross of Jesus in Jerusalem. And we stand there. And we trust in the ability of the Yeh-weh, I AM, God, to save us, to rescue us, to deliver us out of slavery.

A long Red Thread…
Isn’t it amazing how the story of the good news of the gospel is appearing all the way back in the days of Abraham with Isaac on Mt Moriah, and Joseph graciously forgiving and providing for his brothers, and now Moses and the Passover Lamb, and that long red thread of redemption that begins in the Garden of Eden — when God provided Eve and Adam with the skins of animals (Gen 3:21) to cover their shame — is running all the way through the bible from Genesis to Revelation. Every story works together to tell us that we need somebody to deliver us. We don’t need a Moses, but we need a Jesus.

So the question is more than rhetorical so I’ll ask you again.

If you were invited to position yourself under the blood of the lamb chosen by God, would you do it? Have you already done it? The vast majority of the people in this world think that’s the most ridiculous thing they ever heard. They say “I don’t need somebody to die for my sin because I’m not really all that bad. I’m a pretty good person. I’ve got a degree. I don’t rob banks. I’m not as bad as some…” But when Jesus Christ came onto the planet as the only perfect person who ever lived, we all realize that compared to him, we all fall short.

Have I ever told you how my mother used to tell me to clean up my room. And I’d always point to my sister’s room and say “But look at Nomie’s room!” And she’d say, “It’s not her room. Come and look at my room.” She’d point to her room – everything was picked up, a place for everything and everything in its place. Not a single wrinkle on the bedspread. She said, “This is what I call neat!”

When the King of kings sent his Son to live the perfect life on earth, gone forever is the excuse that says “Compared to him, compared to her, I think I’m pretty good!” God points at Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb, and says “Now this is what I call perfection!” And wise is the person who says “Then I need help. I need deliverance.”

You know, as far as we know, every Hebrew family accepted God’s offer for deliverance. As far as we know. And they allowed God to lead them out, lead them through the Red Sea out of Egypt to freedom.

Will you?
So the question for you as you read this post today is, will you let God redeem you? Let him forgive you? Will you stand under the blood stained cross of Jesus who died for you and accept his free offer of forgiveness for all your sin?

Max Lucado tells the story of the night he was out to dinner with his wife, Denalyn, at a nice restaurant. They were almost done with their meal and the waiter brought their check and put it on the table. A few minutes later a man came over to say hello, a member of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas where Max is the lead pastor. They chatted for a few moments, and as he turned back to his table, the man picked up the check and he stuck it in his pocket. He said, “I’ll take that.”

So you know what Lucado did when the man took his dinner check? He ordered more dessert! He didn’t argue. He let the man take the check. He let him take it. So when the waiter came by a few minutes later to take the check with the credit card, Lucado said, “He took it,” pointing across the dining room to the man who waved his hand.

You know the bible says that one day we’re all going to stand before the judgment throne of Jesus and we’re going to give an account for the way we used our lives. Every thought, every deed, every word. We’re going to have to answer for all of it. And there is eternity at stake on that judgment day, eternity in one of two places, a very real heaven or a very real hell.

Now if it weren’t for Jesus Christ, that thought would terrify me.  If you knew my thoughts, my words, my deeds, you’d never let me preach, you wouldn’t, because my heart is desperately wicked. You wouldn’t and I wouldn’t blame you. But, because of Jesus Christ, I have absolutely, absolutely no fear of that moment standing before Jesus.

In fact, I can’t wait for that moment. Because when they read the list of all my sins, you know what I’m going to say? I’m going to point at Jesus and say “He took it!” Because he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Have you let him take your sin? Have you asked Jesus to take your sins and give you all his goodness and righteousness in exchange? That’s the good news of the gospel. Forgiveness, redemption is possible! “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Now here’s the thing about the gospel. While the gospel is free it is never forced. While it’s free, it’s never forced. What the gospel requires from you is the same thing required of the Hebrew people. They could have said No to God…

“No, I’m not going to position myself under the blood of the lamb.” They could have. But they didn’t. They didn’t. So they were delivered. May you make the same decision they did. While it’s free, deliverance is never forced. May you put yourself under the blood of the Lamb today and be delivered from the slavery and the sentence of sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

 

* The text of this blog is a portion taken from the sermon I preached on September 23, 2018 at GNBC. The text of that sermon is largely — with some few edits, liberties, and personal notes added by me — taken verbatim from a sermon preached by Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, Texas, October 1-2, 2016. Lucado gets the credit. May God get the glory.

by Steve DuPlessie

You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime, don’t be foolish or naïve. But don’t despair either. With God’s help, you’ll get through this.”

The story of Joseph gives us such a powerful portrayal of how God can take that which is evil and he can use it to accomplish the Upper Story, to accomplish something good. You remember what happened? Joseph was sold by his jealous brothers into slavery in Egypt. He actually flourished as a slave, becoming the head butler in the house of the Commander of the Pharaoh’s Guard Unit.

But Pharaoh’s wife falsely accused Joseph of sexual assault. Unfortunately the accusation was as good as a conviction and he was sent to prison. But he flourished there and was made head Trustee over all the prison. When he correctly interpreted the dream of a fellow prisoner. And when that guy was released back to his old job as Pharaoh’s cup bearer, he promised to put in a good word for Joe.

But Joseph languished in prison for two more years. two years. He could have become bitter and angry. He could have stopped believing God cared about him. But two years later his buddy finally remembered he was supposed to put in a good word for Joseph with Pharaoh.

Does anybody remember what prompted him to remember Joseph? Pharaoh had a dream! A dream! He came in one day with a dream hangover.  It bothered him. He said, “Somebody tell me what this dream means.” Nobody could. Finally, Joseph’s buddy remembered Joseph, the dreamer and dream interpreter. He said, “I know a guy, he’s in prison…”

And as fast as you can say divine providence Joseph went from prison to palace. They cleaned him up, got him smelling good, and brought him into the throne room to meet Pharaoh. Joseph heard the dream. He said, “I get it. That’s first grade math. We’re heading for some tough times. Seven years of good, but then there’s going to be seven years of famine. Pharaoh, you’d be wise to prepare.”

Pharaoh was wise and said “You’re in charge now, Joe.” And suddenly the ex-prisoner was the Prime Minister of Egypt.  And the story of Joseph is now about Joe navigating a nation through a crisis. It’s not hyperbole to say Joseph saved the world, because other nations, neighboring nations, came to Egypt during the famine asking for help. And because Egypt had saved up during the seven years of plenty, when the seven years of famine came, guess who had full grain silos?

And guess who showed up, needing help? The same brothers who had thrown him into a pit. Did they recognize Joseph? No. Joseph now speaking perfect Egyptian. Now dressed as a ruler. Head shaved. Wearing a regal robe. They didn’t recognize Joseph. But boy he could smell them, sheep herders, he recognized them, he understood everything they were saying in Hebrew. Right in front of him, his brothers. He had to step out of the room to weep, overwhelmed with emotion.

And he had to wrestle with what his response was going to be, now that their future was in his hands. And Joseph, rather than get bitter, rather than get even, rather than hold onto a grudge, and rather than hold their past bad decisions against them now, he did something wonderful and gracious, didn’t he. He chose to filter their betrayal … through the divine providence of God.  What they did was evil. He called it evil. He didn’t minimize it or excuse it. He didn’t sugar coat it. It was wrong. It was evil. But when he revealed his identity to his brothers, he said…

Genesis 50: 20, 21 – ‘As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

Notice how the word intend shows up twice here. You intended but God intended. You came with your intent, but God took your intent and else turned it into something else. The Hebrew word translated as “intended” here means “to weave;” to carefully and intentionally weave together multiple threads. “You came weaving a tapestry of heartache and hurt, you came and you wanted to weave evil and destruction into my life. But God—but God who is not sometimes sovereign but he’s always sovereign; who did not ordain your evil but can use your evil—God took those very same threads that you meant for evil, and he rewove those threads into something beautiful and good.”

I’m sorry. I’m really sorry that evil has come into your world. Evil exists. I don’t know anyone who has entirely escaped it. Every family. And every individual. And some of you have had what seems to be more than your share. I know. It’s like life dealt you cards from the bottom of the deck. Always got the short straw.

Like life came weaving evil. The dad who promised to be a dad just disappeared. The one who said “I do” on your wedding day said “I don’t” every day after. Health and strength, once assumed, taken for granted, were suddenly gone. The one you trusted, disappointed you. People can be cruel. Or just thoughtless and uncaring.

But if the story of Joseph teaches us anything, it teaches us this. Every day, we can either choose to clothe ourselves in our hurt, or we can choose to clothe ourselves in our hope. That’s our choice. We can either cave in to the pandemonium and the pain, or we can stand firm on the peace and the promise of divine providence that God is somehow at work.

It seems to me that whenever there is a life that has become a train wreck, you can trace it back to the belief that nobody’s in charge. It seems to me that whenever you find a person whose life is not pain free, but is victorious in the pain, you can trace it back to the belief that there is a good God, whose ways I don’t understand, but…

…every day I choose, everyday I’m going to trust his heart, even when I can’t see his hand. I trust God will take my mess and make it a message, a testimony of his power, love, and grace.

by Steve DuPlessie

Twenty-five years after God had promised them a son, Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham. But God was still not done with Abraham, the man of faith. In a difficult chapter, God would tell him, Genesis chapter 22, to sacrifice this long-promised son—“his only son” the text says—Isaac. And … Abraham would obey.

Look at Genesis, chapter 22, verse 1: “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’”

Verse 3, “Early the next morning…” I like that. Abraham obeyed immediately. No hesitation, no excuses, no delay, just obedience … that comes out of faith in God’s character, trusting God’s goodness and God’s power. Listen, faith in God always means obeying God. Don’t say you have faith in God if you’re not willing to obey God.

“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’”

Did you catch that! Abraham said, “We will worship … and then we will come back to you!” He was headed off to sacrifice his son, but he fully expected that they would both come back and meet up with the servants later. That’s called … faith!

Verse 6, “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’”

Obviously Abraham had taught his son about worshipping God with sacrifices and offerings. Kids learn more from what they see us doing than from our well-intended lectures! Abraham answered, verse 8, “‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.”

“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac…” (To this day, Jewish people call this story, “The binding of Isaac,” or just “The binding”), “he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’”

Verse 13, “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh, ‘The Lord Will Provide.’ And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’”

So Isaac didn’t die that day. God rescued Isaac—just like he had rescued Noah and his family from judgment. God rescued Isaac … by providing a substitute, a ram that would take the place of the one who was doomed to die. Listen, God always provides; Jehovah Jireh always provides a way of escape from judgment.

For Noah it was the ark. For Isaac it was the ram. For the first-born son on the night of the Passover it was the spotless lamb. And some 2000 years later, God would sacrifice his only son, who carried the wood for his sacrifice, up the mountainside of the very same mountain. That deeply loved son, Jesus, was both the sacrifice, and a substitute for those doomed to die – you and me.

And this time no one would come to the rescue. God would honor the ancient blood covenant he made with Abraham. Through his descendant, Jesus, God would cut a new blood covenant promise — “This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you…” – Luke 22:20 — so all the world, not just one family or one nation, can be blessed.

And like Abraham, we receive all the promised blessings of this new covenant through … faith. Want faith like Abraham? Then you must do what he did. He trusted God, and because he trusted God, he obeyed God. And Abraham’s faith in God counted as righteousness. And perhaps the best news of all…you can trust God too.

September 11, 2018

By Timothy C. Tennent, PhD  |  Adapted from The ESV Study Bible

The Revelations of the Qur’an

There is no more widely recognized utterance of the Islamic faith than the declaration known as the shahadah: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.” Islam is about Allah and his prophet, Muhammad. The Qur’an teaches that Muhammad was an ordinary man (43:31). Yet, according to Muslims, Allah sovereignly chose Muhammad to receive a series of revelations through the intermediary presence of the angel Gabriel. While Muhammad was praying and fasting in the hills outside of Mecca in A.D. 610, Gabriel appeared to him.

Many Muslims believe the first revelation to Muhammad was the command to “Recite in the Name of Thy Lord” (96:1). These revelations continued until Muhammad’s death in A.D. 632 (17:82). According to Islamic traditions, approximately 20 years after Muhammad’s death his “recitations” were written down and codified into a collection of 114 chapters (called surahs) known as the Qur’an. The word “Qur’an” is Arabic for “recitation.” The Qur’an, containing 6,346 verses (known as aya), is approximately the same size as the NT. The first chapter of the Qur’an is known as “The Opening” and is widely regarded as the greatest summary of the Islamic message. The remaining chapters are arranged by length from the longest to the shortest.

The Qur’an and the OT

The emergence of Islam and the Qur’an can be properly understood only within the larger context of the Bible and the monotheism of Islam’s two main predecessors, Judaism and Christianity. The dozens of superficial similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible are striking. For example, in the Qur’an, Allah creates the earth in six days (25:59), culminating in the creation of the first man, Adam. Adam and his wife eat of the forbidden fruit and become aware of their nakedness (20:115–122). Allah sends Moses to confront Pharaoh, inflict the plagues on Egypt, and lead the Israelites out of Egypt through the parting of the Red Sea (26:9–75). Allah gives Moses the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets, which are subsequently broken (7:143–150).

The emergence of Islam and the Qur’an can be properly understood only within the larger context of the Bible and the monotheism of Islam’s two main predecessors, Judaism and Christianity.

Throughout the Qur’an several of the Ten Commandments are repeated, including the commands to “serve no other gods” (24:55), refrain from making idols (4:116), not covet (4:32), not murder (6:151), and honor one’s father and mother (6:151). In the Qur’an one can read about such familiar OT stories as Noah building the ark and preaching judgment to his generation (11:25–49; 23:23–32); Joseph being betrayed by his brothers, sold to a caravan of travelers, and brought to Egypt (12:7–21); King David’s adultery with Bathsheba (28:21–25); the queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon (27:22–44); and Jonah being swallowed by the great fish (37:139–148). There are times, however, when the Qur’anic version has surprising departures, historically and theologically, from the biblical account. For example, Abraham is asked to sacrifice Ishmael rather than Isaac (cf. 37:100–111), and Jesus Christ is not accorded his full status.

The Qur’an and Christian Theology…

Islamic View of God and the Trinity

Islam teaches a doctrine of absolute monotheism known as tawhid. Absolute monotheism is distinct from the Trinitarian monotheism of Christianity in that the Qur’an permits no distinctions within God. Christianity teaches that there is one God, known in three eternal persons. While Muslims welcome the Christian affirmation of one God, they maintain that belief in the three persons compromises the unity of God and makes Christianity functionally tritheistic (i.e., believing in three gods; see 4:171).

Islamic View of Jesus Christ

The Qur’an has dozens of references to Jesus (Isa in Arabic), found in 15 different surahs of the Qur’an. Jesus is often called ibn Maryam (“son of Mary”), a phrase that appears only once in the NT (Mark 6:3). The Qur’an also refers to him as “servant of Allah” (19:30), “messiah” (5:75), and “messenger/prophet” (61:6). The Qur’an even gives Jesus several honorific titles, including a “Word from Him” (3:45; 4:171), a “Spirit from God” (4:171), and a “Sign for all peoples” (19:21; 21:91).

Several of these titles appear consistent with Christian claims about Jesus. Indeed, the Qur’an often speaks positively about him: Jesus was born without sin to the Virgin Mary (3:47; 19:19, 20; 21:91; 66:12) and was a miracle worker (2:253; 3:49; 5:110; 43:63; 61:6) whose ministry was foretold by John the Baptist (3:39). Yet, several surahs denounce any view of Christ that would elevate him beyond the status of a human prophet. Indeed, some passages in the Qur’an seem to deliberately contradict the biblical proclamation about Jesus Christ. For example, “Those who say: ‘The Lord of Mercy has begotten a son,’ preach a monstrous falsehood, at which the very heavens might crack, the earth break asunder, and the mountains crumble to dust … that they should ascribe a son to the Merciful, when it does not become Him to beget one!” (19:88–91). In Surah 61, Jesus is pictured as a prophet heralding the way for the coming of Muhammad (61:6). Surah 4 teaches that Jesus was not crucified on the cross (4:155–159). Thus, while respecting Jesus as a prophet of God, the Qur’an does not affirm the deity of Jesus Christ or his death as a substitute payment for sins.

Islamic View of Sin and Humanity

Traditional Islamic teaching does not accept that humans were created in the image of God. Islam has no doctrine of a sin nature and therefore does not believe that humanity is either depraved or fallen. Instead, men and women have the innate capacity to believe and submit to the Islamic revelation. Islam classifies the entire human race into four categories. The first is jahiliyyah, meaning those in a “state of ignorance” (5:50) who do not have a monotheistic revelation and have not yet heard Muhammad’s message. The second are the ahl al-kitab, or “People of the Book.” These are monotheistic people who have not received the Qur’an but who have a book of revelation, such as Christians and Jews (see, e.g., 2:105; 3:64–199; 4:123; 5:15; 29:46; 33:26; 57:29; 59:11; 98:1–6). The third category is Muslim, an Arabic word meaning “those who submit”; it refers to monotheists who have submitted to Allah and regard the Qur’an as Allah’s greatest (some say, eternal) revelation and Muhammad as the final “seal” of the prophets (33:40). The fourth category refers to those peoples who have heard the message of Islam but rejected it, the kafir (meaning “unbeliever” or “infidel”).

Islamic View of Other Religions

Muslims universally affirm that Islam is the highest and only non-corrupted religion. Christianity and Judaism are accorded some respect as monotheistic religions flowing from the Abrahamic tradition (29:46). All other religions are generally regarded as expressions of human ignorance and an unwillingness to submit to Allah.

Islamic View of Salvation

Since Muslims do not accept the doctrine of the fall or of a subsequent sin nature, there is no need of redemption. Islamic “salvation” is understood almost wholly as future deliverance from final judgment. Many Muslims maintain that whoever believes in the oneness of God (tawhid) and the prophethood of Muhammad will be saved from the fire of judgment. Other Muslims insist on submission to Allah through adherence to the five pillars of Islam: confession of faith (shahadah), daily ritual prayer (salat), the giving of alms (zakat), fasting during Ramadan (sawm), and a pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Based on revered Islamic traditions known as Hadith, some Muslims believe that Allah grants Muhammad the honor of interceding for the entire Islamic community at the final judgment, allowing all Muslims to be saved.

Since Muslims do not accept the doctrine of the fall or of a subsequent sin nature, there is no need of redemption.

Islamic View of the Bible

Muslims universally regard the Bible as a corrupted text. The doctrine of corruption (tahrif) asserts that the transmission of Jewish and Christian texts was unreliable (5:13–14), or Christians and Jews willfully altered the biblical texts because of enmity or jealously (2:109). On the other hand, the Qur’an does affirm Allah’s sending revelation in the Torah and the Gospels (Injil) (5:46, 67, 69, 71). Furthermore, the Qur’an says that Jesus’ words should be “believed” (4:171; 5:78), and even commands the Muslims to listen to those who had the Torah/Injil before the Qur’an, calling it a “Truth come to thee from Thy Lord” (10:94).

__________________
In this article adapted from the ESV Study Bible, Timothy C. Tennent—president of Asbury Theological Seminary and professor of world Christianity—explains how the Islamic faith approaches various theological topics, including the Old and New Testaments, sin, Jesus, salvation, violence, and civil government.

by Steve DuPlessie

So first, Why are we doing this 31-week project using The Story as a Bible study tool together? Actually there are four answers to that question, Why?. Answer number one: We’re doing this to learn more about God; to learn more about God and his grand narrative that’s written out for us in the stories of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

The second goal is unity.  By doing this study together on every level at GNBC—with the children in GNKids, with the students in Youth Ministry, with adults in mid-week Life Groups, and here in the Sunday sermon series—we’re including everyone, unifying the whole church family, moving in the same direction together; literally everyone’s on the same page at the same time.

Third, we’re doing this because every level is focused on the same part of the story each week, adults can easily engage their kids, their teens, and each other: “So what did you learn from that?” And use that as an opportunity to engage whole families in a conversation about God, and his word, the Bible, week by week during this series.

Fourth, to do this project together, we’re going to use a tool to help make the Bible accessible to everyone, including seasoned saints who in fact may never have read the whole Bible, and … total neophytes, just beginning to figure out what the Bible is all about.

USING THE STORY AS A BIBLE STUDY TOOL…
So the tool we’re using in this project is called The Story—it’s an abridged, chronological Bible in the NIV version that reads like a novel. There are no chapter-and-verse references, and the Scripture segments are seamlessly woven together with some transition text into a single grand narrative in 31 chapters; each chapter around a particular story in the Bible. For those intimidated or overwhelmed by the un-abridged Bible, The Story helps people understand God’s Word more fully and engage with it more easily, leaves them hungry to read the whole thing.

See, many people have never read the Bible. It seems intimidating: Qhere do I start? If I start in Genesis 1, it starts out interesting but then it seems to bog down and I can’t really figure out what’s going on. If I start in the NT, Matthew 1, I immediately get buried in a long list of genealogies with some names I can’t pronounce, and it doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Face it, the Bible can be intimidating, even to those who want to read and understand it. I won’t embarrass you by asking who has actually read the whole thing. Most people read, and then they re-read, their favorite Psalms, or maybe Romans or Ephesians or Philippians, or a favorite chapter or some favorite verses, or whatever their daily devotional tells them to read today, most of us don’t spend a lot of time in Leviticus or Lamentations or Revelation—and that’s like reading only a part of a love letter, you get some of the story, but not the whole story.

And the division of the Bible into chapters and verses makes it easy to find your favorite chapter or verse, but it actually makes it harder to understand the whole thing. It’s like I gave you the first Star Wars DVD, told you to skip ahead to one hour and 7 minutes, and then expect you to understand what is going on. Just not possible.

See, the chapter and verse divisions weren’t part of the original Bible. The original epistle or letter to the Romans was intended to be read the way you read any letter, from start to finish; not reading chapter 8 today, chapter 9 tomorrow, and then chapter 10 when you remember to pick it up again. But that’s the way most of us read the Bible, a chapter or two a day, or a section of verses at a time. Not only do we miss the bigger picture, but we can easily misunderstand something, sometimes seriously.

So you need to remember those chapter divisions were added as a convenience by English Archbishop Langton around the year 1220, over a thousand years after the NT was written, 900 years after the church fathers confirmed which books were actually scripture. And the verse divisions? … they were added as a further convenience for his customers by an English printer of Bibles, Robert Estienne, in the year 1551, more than 300 years after the chapter divisions were established. So for most of its history, people have read the Bible as a continuous story, not just their favorite chapters or favorite verses. But we’ve lost that sense.

So this book, The Story, it doesn’t replace your regular Bible. It’s just a tool, a tool to help you read the Bible as a continuous story. It’s not a complete Bible; it’s an abridged Bible, not unlike a pocket NT that some of us carry, or the Story Bible I read with my kids at bedtime every night for years. We called it a Bible, for the kids, knowing that it didn’t contain every word of a full Bible. So we’re going to use this tool, an abridged Bible, without the normal chapter and verse divisions, to help us get the narrative of a full Bible.

I’m expecting that some of you—some who have been in the Word for many years—will be excited to be encouragers as we try to introduce kids, students, and adults to God’s story using this book as a tool. Actually, it’s not really much different from the daily devotional tool you might already use every day. Some of you use Our Daily Bread every day as a devotional guide, knowing it’s not really the whole Bible. Some of you use Spurgeon’s excellent Morning and Evening devotional, some faithfully use Oswald Chamber’s classic, My Utmost For His Highest, and some use Jesus Calling by Sara Young.  They’re helpful tools, but they don’t contain the whole Bible and they surely don’t replace the Bible.

BRING YOUR BIBLE WITH YOU…
So I want you to bring your regular Bible with you every Sunday. Take notes in your regular Bible here every week. There’s a Bible Reference Chart inserted in your Program this morning to show you which actual Scriptures from the NIV translation are included in each of the 31 chapters of The Story.  And you can read the rest of the chapters, the ones not on the Reference Chart, if you really want to get the whole text.

One good feature of The Story, which reads like a story, is that it’s … chronological. It puts the Bible readings from the NIV translation in the order they happened. So the story of David from I & II Samuel includes the Psalms that are appropriate for that part of the story. The life and ministry of Jesus is a compilation taken, in chronological order, from all four gospels. And the ministry of the Apostle Paul integrates the history chapters from Acts with the appropriate chapters from Paul’s letters. I think the narrative format of The Story … will encourage you to sit down with a cup of coffee and read an entire unit, including many chapters from the Bible—not just a few isolated devotional verses from the Bible—in one sitting.

So the hope of the elders is that you will get excited—like we are—about reading and understanding the Bible, and getting to know God’s incredible narrative of redemption and reconciliation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, from the beginning to the end.