We open ourselves up to its comfort.
We thrill to its great passages of hope.
And through the Bible
we come to know Jesus Christ,
our Savior.
+ Listen! God Is Speaking,
Deep Down Faith
This winter, I get the joy of spending some time with young people connected to Emmaus City Church engaging the Scriptures alongside one of my favorite reflections on God called Deep Down Faith by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. I've read this book three times now and Plantinga, like C.S. Lewis in many ways, has a gift for discussing profound thoughts in whimsical, rich, and accessible ways for young and old alike.
Like "What the Son of God Said About the Word of God," this post also helps us consider how we can come to the Bible on good authority as a good authority for our lives. It's included in the Deep Down Faith section, "What's the Good Word?" on pages 52-53. The artwork above complements the story of how a panicked New England town survived a power outage.
Knowing Where to Tap
New Englanders tell a story about an old man who lived outside a certain town. This man was an expert electrician. In fact, when he was young, he designed the electrical system for the town. He figured out how lines and circuits could best be arranged to bring cheap and plentiful electrical energy to the town's citizens.
But the townspeople did not treat the man well. When he got to a certain age, they fired him and replaced him with younger electricians. In effect, the town told the old man to get lost. So he moved out to a nearby woods. Nobody saw him or heard from him.
Then, one day, the town's power failed. Lights flickered and went out. Refrigerators warmed up. Heaters cooled down. TV sets went dark and silent. The town was in a panic. And none of its young electricians seemed to know how to solve the problem.
Then one of the town commissioners remembered the old man in the woods. Possibly he could find a way to restore power. He was an authority on the town's electrical system. After all, he had thought it up in the first place.
So the old man was brought to the central power plant. He walked around slowly for a few moments, shining his flashlight here and there. Finally he pulled a little hammer out of his pocket, walked over to one main circuit, and tapped on it. Instantly the lights went on and power surged through the whole system. The old man went back to his home in the woods.
Three weeks later the mayor received a bill. On it the old man charged the town $1000.0f for his work. This is how he listed the charges:
$0.05 tapping
$1000 knowing where to tap
The old man was an authority
on the town's power system.
Why?
Because he was its author.
The system came from him.
The Christian Church says the Bible
is the authority for our faith and our lives.
Why?
Because God is its author.
The Bible gets its authority from its author.
What the Bible says, God says. That is why the Bible is an expert on how we must think and act. That is why the Bible has power to influence and help us. That is why the Bible has the right to give us orders that we must obey. God speaks through the Bible.
The Scriptures are like on the speakers in a TV (or headphones, cell phone, etc.). If the president or prime minister addresses us, we hear the address through one or two of those speakers. But the speaker is not authoritative for us. The real authority is instead the person who communicates to us through the speaker.
Above all, you must understand
that no prophecy of Scripture
came about by the prophet's own
interpretation of things.
For prophecy never had its origin
in human will,
but prophets, though human,
spoke from God
as they were carried along
by the Holy Spirit.
+ 2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)
As our text says, the Scriptures do not come just from people. Human writers do not themselves have the power to help or command us. Human writers do not themselves have the power to help or command us. Instead, prophets "spoke from God" as they were carried along, or inspired, by the Holy Spirit.
That's why Christians study the Bible and take it seriously. It's God's speaker. It speaks with God's authority.
We obey its commands.
We open ourselves up to its comfort.
We thrill to its great passages of hope.
And through the Bible
we come to know Jesus Christ,
our Savior.
Even Jesus Himself
read and obeyed the Bible.
So must we.
It is our authority
because of its Author.
For Reflection:
Not everyone appreciates authority
— at least when someone else
has authority over them.
What are some positive things
about the authority of Scripture?
Ask for the grace to submit
to God's authority.
Or as Jonathan Roumie (The Chosen)
on the Hallow App asks
during the Daily Gospel Lectio Divina:
" ... Now slowly turn your attention to God.
Ask Him to give you
the grace of the Holy Spirit
to listen carefully to His voice ... "
Next Deep Down Faith post:
Previous posts from 2024:
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
With anticipation and joy,
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