Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
1 Peter 1:10-11
Today’s big question: whose message did the writers of the Scriptures write?
In the above passage, Peter gave us an interesting insight into the doctrine of inspiration. He mentioned that the prophets who gave us the message regarding the coming Messiah actually searched their own writings to try to figure out what those writings meant. What author has written a book and then gone back to figure out what it meant? This is only true of the Scriptures, because the Bible is not man’s word but God’s Word.
The writers of the Scriptures were not writing their own stories. They were merely writing the words that God gave them. Jeremiah described it like this: “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.’” (Jeremiah 1:9) The content of the Scriptures comes from the mind of God and not from the mind of man.
This past June I attended a graduation ceremony in which they asked the graduates to stand who were planning to go from high school into the military. Dozens of young men and women stood, and the crowd gave them an enthusiastic standing ovation for their willingness to risk their lives for their country. When I saw that, I felt “inspired.”
We all experience that feeling at times. However, we must understand that when Paul said that the Scriptures are “inspired” (2 Timothy 3:16), the Greek word he used there actually means “God-breathed.” The writers of Scripture were not merely “inspired” in the human sense. They actually wrote the very words that God gave them. These are God’s words!
With this concept in mind, we must seek the great truths that are found in the Scriptures. Through that we can actually know the heart and mind of God Himself!
Today’s big idea: when we dig into the Scriptures, we can know the heart and mind of God Himself.
What to pray: ask God to reveal Himself to you personally through His Word so that you can enjoy an intimate relationship with Him.
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Veritas Church (Cincinnati, OH)
