For a number of years, Jennifer and I looked forward to our Christmastide tradition of going to theNotre Dame Basilica to hear the Montreal Symphony Orchestra perform George Fredric Handel’s magnificent oratorio “The Messiah.” The words of sacred Scripture are majestically orchestrated with measures for violin, cello, oboe, and harpsichord! In my humble opinion, “The Messiah” is the greatest piece of music ever written! (Unfortunately, a new conductor has taken over and the MSO doesn’t perform “The Messiah” anymore, thus ruining one of our favorite December excursions.)
“The Messiah” is even more amazing when you consider the context in which Handel wrote this musical masterpiece. His career was up and down—unbelievably down at times. Twice he was bankrupt, and once he was stricken by a disease that almost proved fatal. And the situation was so bleak in 1741 that, just before he wrote the Messiah, he had seriously considered giving up on music and going back to Germany.
But instead, Handel turned to his faith in God. He composed the Messiah in 24 days without once leaving his house. During this time, his servant brought him food, and when he returned, the meal was often left uneaten. While writing the now famous “Hallelujah Chorus”, his servant discovered him with tears in his eyes. Handel exclaimed, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!”
If there was ever a piece of music that was directly inspired by the hand of God, “The Messiah” was it! Have you ever felt inspired by something? Have you ever listened to a marvelous piece of music, viewed a fabulous work of fine art, stood before a spectacular landscape, or heard an remarkable story that literally sent chills down your spine or took your breath away? Have you ever encountered something that filled your senses in such a way that your soul immediately recognized the presence of God in it?
Likewise, have you ever felt inspired to do something? Have you ever felt so compelled to do something that you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was God’s voice speaking to you—that the Holy Spirit was directing your thoughts and guiding your steps?
Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit empowering you beyond your natural abilities? Sometimes we refer to this as “being in the zone” or “clicking on cylinders”—it’s that almost out-of-body experience where you know that it is you doing it, but your mind is so clear and your body so precise that it doesn’t feel like it is you doing it. Sometimes people get this inspiration when they are crafting a piece of art, working on a project, or even carrying on a conversation. I’ve periodically encountered this incredible sensation when I am writing or preaching a sermon—I can feel the words connecting with people’s souls beyond my human abilities and intensions.
I imagine this is what Michelangelo must have felt when he was painting “The Creation of Adam” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! I suppose this is what Sir Christopher Wren underwent when he was designing St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. I suspect this is what Harriet Beecher Stowe experienced as she penned the great American novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” I believe this is what Handel must have felt when he was writing “The Messiah.” And I am quite sure, and to an even much greater extent, this is what the biblical authors experienced as they composed the book of the Old and New Testament.
Whereas we can surmise that these great artists were somehow inspired to create their majestic masterpieces, the Bible itself attests to the fact that the Scriptures were literally inspired by God and the human authors were moved by the Holy Spirit to write them down. Theologians refer to this phenomenon as the inspiration of Scripture. By inspiration they mean that supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Scripture writers which rendered their writings as accurate record of the Word of God. (Erickson 225)
The Inspiration of Scripture
There are two primary biblical texts that refer to the inspiration of Scripture. The first is 2 Peter 1:12-21, where the Apostle Peter is trying to assure his readers that the Apostles did not invent clever stories about Jesus Christ. Rather, they were eyewitnesses to his majestic glory. Peter asserts that their personal experience with Jesus affirms (or makes more certain) the words of the Old Testament prophets. This is how the New Testament corroborates the Old Testament.
In verse 19, Peter challenges his readers to pay close attention to these prophetic words because they are like light shining in a dark place. These words have the power to awaken dead hearts to the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, who is the bright morning star.
Peter goes on to state in 1:20-21: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Here Peter clearly explains that the prophetic words were not of human origin. They were not produced by human will or decision. Rather, the human authors were moved or carried along by the Spirit of God. The impetus that led to the writing came from the Holy Spirit, not themselves. For this reason, Peter’s readers are to heed to the prophetic word because it is not simply humans’ word, but God’s word.
A second reference is from the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3. In this final letter before he died, Paul wrote to his young assistant Timothy to encourage him to keep the faith in the face of widespread heresy and persecution. In verses 14-15, Paul tells Timothy to continue in “what you have learned and became convinced of, because you know from who you have learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” In these power-packed verses, Paul, like Peter, shows how the Old Testament words were confirmed by New Testament experience. The Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ, the only one who could provide salvation for sinful human beings.
Then in verse 16, Paul makes the clearest statement about the inspiration of Scripture when he says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Most English translations of this verse use the word “inspired,” but the NIV’s rendering “God-breathed” is even better. All of the Scriptures were actually breathed by God before they ever entered the mind or reached the quill of the human author.
Paul goes on to highlight some of the specific functions of God’s written word—“it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” In other words, the Bible teaches us what is morally right, it rebukes us when our thinking or behavior is morally wrong, it corrects us by conforming our thoughts to God’s thoughts, and it trains us to live a righteous life before the Lord. The ultimate purpose of God’s Word is to produce people who are fully equipped to do every good work—that is to live in the center of God’s will.
Therefore, we can know God’s will by knowing God’s Word. When we read, study, and obey God’s Word, we will live the life God wants us to live—they best possible life! So, I encourage you to be diligent in reading God’s inspired Word. I challenge you to pick a book of the Bible and begin working your way through it. Start with one of the four gospels in the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Or start with the Book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament—these books are filled with practical wisdom for everyday life! Read in the morning while sipping a cup of coffee or on your lunch break or at night before you go to bed! If you want to live in God’s will, you have to know his inspired Word!
The Authority of Scripture
If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the logical conclusion is that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and life. This means that we should look to the Bible to understand the nature of God and our responsibility as human beings. The Bible should shape our views of human origins, life and death, morality and ethics, politics, economics, business, science, technology, art, culture, marriage, parenting, friendship, family relationships, sexuality, spirituality, money, and material possessions. The Bible should also be our authoritative guide for such hot button social issues as climate change, race relations, immigration policy, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, gun control, and war.
Are you willing to submit to the authority of God’s Word? Will you examine God’s Word on these issues be willing to conform your views to God’s views? Will you let the God-breathed Scriptures teach, rebuke, correct, and train you for righteousness?
Dr. Emile Cailliet was a French philosopher who eventually settled in America and became a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He was brought up with a naturalistic education and he never showed the slightest interest in spiritual things. He had never seen a Bible. But when World War I came, and he sat in the trenches he found himself reflecting on the inadequacy of his atheistic worldview. He began asking himself the deep questions of life such as: Where did life come from? What does life mean, if anything? What value are scientific laws and theories in the face of human deprivation and death? Cailliet later wrote, “I felt, not with reason, but with my whole being, that I was destined to perish miserably when the hour came.”
During the long night watches Cailliet began to long for what he came to call “a book that would understand me.” He was highly educated and extremely well read, but he knew of no such book. Thus, when he was later wounded and released from the army and returned to his studies, he made up his mind that he would secretly prepare such a book for his own use. As he read for his courses, he would file away passages that seemed to speak to his condition. He copied them in a leather-bound book. He hoped that the quotations would lead him from anxiety and anguish to joy and jubilation.
At last the day came when he put the finishing touches on his book, “the book that would understand me.” He went out and sat down under a tree and opened the anthology. But when he began to read, he found that his soul was unsatisfied by the words he had recorded. They didn’t solve his deepest problems or quench his thirst for ultimate meaning. Then he realized that his whole project had been a failure. Dejected, he returned the little book to his pocket.
At that very moment, his wife (who knew nothing about his project) came by with an interesting story. She had been walking in their tiny French village that afternoon and had stumbled upon a small Christian chapel. Much to her own surprise, she went inside and asked for a Bible. The elderly pastor gave her one. She began apologizing to her husband, for she knew his feelings about religion. But he was not interested in her apology. Instead, he replied, “A Bible, you say? Where is it? Show me, I have never seen one before.” When she handed it to him, he rushed to his study and began to read. In his own words, he said:
I opened it and chanced upon the Beatitudes! I read, and read, and read—now aloud with an incredible warmth surging within…I could not find words to express my awe and wonder. And suddenly the realization dawned upon me: This was the book that would understand me! I needed it so much, yet, unaware, I had attempted to write my own—in vain. I continued to read deeply into the night, mostly from the gospels. And lo and behold, as I looked through them, the One of whom they spoke, the One who spoke and acted in them, became alive to me…The providential circumstances amid which the Book had found me now made it clear while it seemed absurd to speak of a book understanding a man, this could be said of the Bible because its pages were animated by the Presence of the Living God and the Power of his mighty acts. To this God I prayed that night, and the God who answered was the same God of whom it was spoken in the Book. (Boice 50-51)
Dear friends, yes, sometimes the Bible is a book that is difficult to understand, but it is always the book that understands us. Since it is the divinely inspired Word of God, it has the power to change and transform our souls. It helps us to live the best possible life now and it points us to God’s one and only Son Jesus Christ, who through his death and resurrection, offers us eternal life forever! Let’s read and heed God’s inspired Word!