BEFORE
Before
Kenton Beshore
Reverend: If you would, pull out your outlines. We’re beginning a new series. Why is the Bible written? What is God’s purpose in giving to us the Bible? Many people would say that the Bible is a bunch of stories that teaches us how to live. It’s kind of like Aesop’s Fables. You read these stories, and they’ve got kind of a moralistic bend or they teach us a principle, and that’s how we are to live. Stories that teach us how to live. But that is not the purpose of the Bible. In fact, it’s a very dangerous way to read the Bible because then the Bible is all about you. But the Bible isn’t all about you. The Bible is all about God, who He is, what He is doing, and what He has done.?You see, why it’s so important that you understand this is when you start to read the Bible as just an instruction manual to live, you fall into this moralistic lifestyle. And here’s the problem. You start to read the Bible with these eyes of, okay, what does this teach me and how to live. How do I live? How do I live? And you think it’s about you, and the problem is your assumption behind that moralistic view is that you can make yourself good. I’m going to read this story, and then I’m going to try really hard, and I’m going to be the good person this story tells me to be. And if you do that, you have missed the whole story, the whole reason for the Bible because what the Bible clearly says is you can’t be good without God. The Bible is a story all about God and what He is doing.?The story, the grand narrative of the Bible, is that God created a perfect world. He created art and beauty and love, and He designed us. And He uniquely designed us to fit into creation, designed creation to take care of us and us to take care of creation.?And the world was perfect when God created it and when He was in charge, but we didn’t like it that way. We wanted life in our own terms. And so we chose to go our own way, and because of selfishness, we destroyed everything. We damage ...
Kenton Beshore
Reverend: If you would, pull out your outlines. We’re beginning a new series. Why is the Bible written? What is God’s purpose in giving to us the Bible? Many people would say that the Bible is a bunch of stories that teaches us how to live. It’s kind of like Aesop’s Fables. You read these stories, and they’ve got kind of a moralistic bend or they teach us a principle, and that’s how we are to live. Stories that teach us how to live. But that is not the purpose of the Bible. In fact, it’s a very dangerous way to read the Bible because then the Bible is all about you. But the Bible isn’t all about you. The Bible is all about God, who He is, what He is doing, and what He has done.?You see, why it’s so important that you understand this is when you start to read the Bible as just an instruction manual to live, you fall into this moralistic lifestyle. And here’s the problem. You start to read the Bible with these eyes of, okay, what does this teach me and how to live. How do I live? How do I live? And you think it’s about you, and the problem is your assumption behind that moralistic view is that you can make yourself good. I’m going to read this story, and then I’m going to try really hard, and I’m going to be the good person this story tells me to be. And if you do that, you have missed the whole story, the whole reason for the Bible because what the Bible clearly says is you can’t be good without God. The Bible is a story all about God and what He is doing.?The story, the grand narrative of the Bible, is that God created a perfect world. He created art and beauty and love, and He designed us. And He uniquely designed us to fit into creation, designed creation to take care of us and us to take care of creation.?And the world was perfect when God created it and when He was in charge, but we didn’t like it that way. We wanted life in our own terms. And so we chose to go our own way, and because of selfishness, we destroyed everything. We damage ...
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