Our God is the
Faithful Creator
Lesson Outline:
The Inspired
Word of God
Session 1A-1
Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter
1:21; Psalm 18:30;
Proverbs 30:5; Romans
10:17; Ezekiel 1:3
Main Aim:
God wants you to know
Him
Doctrinal Truth:
The Bible is the inspired
Word of God
Memory Verse:
Hebrews 11:1-2
Suggested Songs:
Bible Impact Ministries
Theme Song
The B-I-B-L-E
I Believe the Bible
Craft:
Tote Bag
Game:
Pop-A-Verse
©Bible Impact Ministries
1. Why is the Bible so important?
2. Who wrote the Bible?
3. God inspired His Word
a. 40 different writers
b. Spanned several thousand years
c. Ezekiel, a prophet, was one of the writers
4. How can you know that God’s Word is free from error?
5. Why is HIS story so important to me?
Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:1-2
Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”
Breathing is very important, isn’t it? Without air you could not breathe.
Have you ever seen air? Have you touched it? No, of course not, no one
has. But you know it exists because without air you could not live. God
is much like the air He created in that, you cannot see Him, but without
Him people would not and cannot exist. Some people believe that they
do not need God, that He is not necessary in their lives. Others don’t
even believe that God exists. These people lack faith in God.
How can a person have real faith? If you have your Bible with you
today, let’s look at Hebrews 11:1-2. (Teacher, help each child to
find the passage). Hebrews is located in the back of your Bible in the
New Testament. If you are having trouble finding it, look at the front of
your Bible where the table of contents is located. You can find the page
number right there. This is a great tool for you to use even if you know
the books of the Bible. (Teacher, you can read the verse or have
a student read it to the class. If you use a student, be sure he/
she likes to read aloud).
The first phrase says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Faith
is not an “I hope it’s true” attitude but a belief in God’s Word resulting in
action. Simply stated, “Faith is the basis of our future hope – Heaven.”
Through faith in Jesus, you receive everlasting life because of what He
accomplished on the cross through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Jesus has paid the price of sin.
The next phrase is, “the evidence of things not seen.” The word
evidence means proof. Your proof isn’t in something you can see, but
in faith.
“For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” The elders are those
people who have placed their faith in God’s Word. Their actions show
that faith. Hebrews chapter 11 lists several of these people whose faith
was strong.
Let’s say the verses together. (Use one of the several methods for
teaching memory verses as described in the “Teaching Memory
Verse” section).
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Lesson Text
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Standing in line at the customs counter, the man thought about the precious
articles located in his luggage. Hidden in the lining and among his clothes
were 40 Bibles. He intended to distribute them to Chinese Christians deep in
the heart of China. As he approached the border guard, he thought about the
consequences of getting caught with what would be considered contraband.
Many had been put into prison for smuggling Bibles into the country. It was
against the law in China to distribute the Bible or any other religious material.
His mouth was dry and he was nervous as he approached the guard. It was
his turn to go through the gates. He expected to be stopped and searched,
but that didn’t happen. Instead, he was motioned through the gate without
any hassles at all. What motivated this man to risk his freedom to distribute
the Bible – a book?
Why is the Bible so important?
Teacher, hold your Bible
out and open in front of
the children.
This book, the Bible, is not any ordinary book. It is the number one best
seller even today which has been translated into more languages than any
other. Why is it so fascinating? It is filled with intriguing stories, thrilling
adventures, and exciting historical facts. But is that all there is to it? The first
sentence of the first chapter is a great clue as to Who the book is about.
“In the beginning, God…” The Bible is an autobiography of God. He gave
the Bible for a very specific reason. The Bible says, “All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Inspiration
means God-breathed. That means He authored the Book by the Holy Spirit
directing each writer to pen the exact words to express who He is and what
He is doing.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible is really a Book of books containing 66 individual volumes written
over several thousand years spanning from creation to the early Christian
church. God used many different types of people to write down His story.
Altogether, there were over 40 different people who listened to God’s Spirit
and wrote down His Word – including kings, shepherds, fishermen, historians,
priests, a scribe, a tax collector, a doctor, a royal cup-bearer, a government
official, and a gardener. Some of them wrote more than one book, others
just wrote down part of a book, but they all had one thing in common – God.
He directed them to write His message to people – to you. God wants you to
know who He is and what He is doing.
Ezekiel was one of the prophets that God used to write His Word. He was
captured by the Chaldeans and taken away from his homeland of Israel. One
day, he saw a vision of God’s glory. Out of the sky, he saw a whirlwind that
seemed to rage with fire. Brightness was all around it. Inside the whirlwind,
he could see four living creatures. Although they looked like men, they also
resembled animals and had wings. He watched as there was a wheel inside
the middle of these four creatures that seemed to move about with ease.
Then he saw what looked like a throne. High above the throne there was One
1A-1B who looked like a Man. Bright light shone all around.
Falling on his face, Ezekiel knew that He was seeing the glory of God and
he was not worthy to stand in His presence. Yet, God lifted this man up,
changed him and gave him a mission. First, He showed Ezekiel a scroll and
told him to eat it. Then God sent him to preach His Word to the people of
Israel. Ezekiel obeyed God, and he wrote down God’s message.
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Bible In Me! Youth Clubs
The Bible wasn’t always in a book form and it wasn’t originally written in
English. The first part of the Bible called the Old Testament spans from the
time of creation to four hundred years before the birth of Christ. Thirty-nine
individual books make up the Old Testament. The original text was written in
Hebrew, the language of God’s chosen people, the Jews, although a few of
the books were originally penned in Aramaic.
The second group of books is called the New Testament. It is composed of
twenty-seven individual writings covering the life of Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
early church history, and other important daily living instructions. This section
also includes an overview of future events. Most of the New Testament was
written in Greek with a few parts in Aramaic which was the common language
of the people who lived during that time period.
Together, the Old and New Testaments tell the story of God and His great
love for you. Interwoven into the Old Testament from the beginning is the
promise of God to provide a way for man to be saved from the penalty of
sin. God promises to send a Savior, the Messiah. Each story builds upon the
coming of this One who will be the King of kings. God chose a nation – the
Hebrews or Jews, a tribe (Judah) , a kingly line (David’s), then, finally a family
(Mary and Joseph). Then He sent His gift of the Savior – His own Son, Jesus.
The cross of Jesus bridges the gap between the Old and New Testament.
Because Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for sin. He took the
punishment required by God’s law. To show this victory, Jesus came back to
life again three days after He was crucified. The New Testament continues
the thread of looking to Jesus as the Savior of the World. God wants you to
know that you can be saved from your sin if you will only believe that Jesus
died for you.
How can you know that God’s Word is free from error?
Imagine, a candle sitting on the edge of the desk casting shadows on the
wall. A man sits at a table carefully counting each letter on the manuscript
placed in front of him. To the side is another manuscript which he is copying.
He cannot let one letter touch another. Each dot, each mark, each letter had
to be perfect. When he came to God’s Holy name, Jehovah, he had to stop,
wash his body, then wipe his writing utensil clean from all ink before he could
write the name down on the scroll. He knew all the rules that had to be
followed. They were set in place to keep God’s Word accurate. He could only
use clean animal skins to write on and to bind them together. The writing was
done in columns between 48 and 60 lines long. Even the black ink he used
was made from a special recipe. As he wrote, he spoke each word aloud.
Every thirty days, the text would be reviewed to make sure that there were
no mistakes, and if there were more than three pages that had errors on
them, then the entire manuscript had to be redone. Every letter, every word,
every paragraph had to be counted, and if two letters touched each other,
then the document was invalid. After the scribe finished, then he compared
the middle paragraph to the original document. He had to be sure the copy
matched. If it didn’t, then he had to start all over again. But if everything was
correct, then the new copy was placed in the synagogue for use.
When the manuscript was too worn to use any longer, it was placed in a
sacred place such as a Jewish cemetery or cave. Through this process, God’s
Word passed without error from one generation to another. God protected
His precious Word. The Bible says in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the
flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.” God has protected His
Word. When the oldest manuscripts are compared to the more modern ones,
they are in very close agreement.
©Bible Impact Ministries
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Why did God go to such lengths to care for His Word? It is because He
wants you to know Him. The only way to know God is through faith. The Bible
says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans
10:17). So the question really is, What is faith? Faith is believing in something
you cannot see – in this instance, believing in God. It is through faith that you
can understand the worlds were made by the very Word of God. God spoke the
world into existence. It is through His Word you find out about Him (Hebrews
11:1-2). He loves you very much and wants you to know Him.
Why is HIS story so important to me?
Resources:
Quickly, Jason ate his breakfast. He was late for school. Normally, he had
time to brush his teeth before he left, but not this morning. Instead, he ran
out of the house and down the drive to catch his school bus. Since he didn’t
brush his teeth after breakfast, he had not looked in a mirror. So he didn’t
know that he had a piece of cereal stuck to his front tooth. When he smiled,
all of the kids on the bus laughed. Laughing along with them, he didn’t realize
he was making fun of himself. Finally, one of his friends made him look in a
mirror. Then he saw the piece of cereal stuck to his front tooth. Immediately,
he removed it. He couldn’t fix the problem until he knew about it.
Just like the mirror showed Jason’s problem, the Bible reveals the problem
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of sin to us. Anything you think, say, or do which breaks God’s law is sin.
Where do you find God’s law? Of course, it is in the Bible. God commands
children to obey their parents. When you don’t obey them, then you have
sinned because you have broken one of God’s laws. The Bible teaches that
the penalty for sin is to be separated from God forever. Because God is holy,
there is nothing that you can do to make yourself “good enough” to be in His
presence.
It is only through God’s grace that anyone can be saved from sin. Because
He loves each person so much, He did something amazing. He paid the price
to free people from the penalty of sin. The cost was the blood of His only
Son, Jesus, who was absolutely perfect. Jesus died on a cross and three
days later came back to life again. He died so that you could be saved from
the punishment of sin. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God has given a wonderful gift
to you. But in order to have the gift, you must receive it. First, admit that
you have sinned against God. Second, believe that Jesus died for your sins,
was buried, and rose again three days later. Third, choose Him to be your
Savior.
His story is important to all of us because through His Word we find the
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roots of faith. God wants you to know Him. Throughout the Scriptures, God
shows His plan for the world and for you. His story, this Book, is the Living
Word of God. Every time you read it, you learn more about Who He is and
what He has done for you.
1.
Online Bible College, A Passion
for God’s Word, http://college.
online-bible-college.com
2.
Process of copying the Old
Testament by Jewish Scribes,
by Scott Manning, March 17,
2007
3.
Invisible Man, by Joseph R.
Weikel, Guideposts.org
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture
quoted is from the New King James
Version.
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Bible In Me! Youth Clubs