LAST THINGS FIRST
INTRODUCTION
Most of us know some Bible stories, but very few of us know the story of the Bible. And you may be surprised to discover it’s a story that doesn’t actually begin in the beginning. It begins with the accounts of a few men who sat down to record the death and resurrection of Jesus. It begins with the words of his followers who were compelled to document the events that had changed everything for them—because they knew it could change everything for us.
How we got our Bibles is
how we got THE Bible.
Understanding how we got The Bible is almost as important as knowing what’s in it. The backstory sheds
1 Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us,
Luke 1:1-3 (HCSB)
2 just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.
Luke 1:1-3 (HCSB)
3 It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus,
Luke 1:1-3 (HCSB)
53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.
Luke 23:53 (HCSB)
55 The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how His body was placed.
Luke 23:55-56 (HCSB)
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56 (HCSB)
13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.
Acts 3:13-15 (HCSB)
14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you.
Acts 3:13-15 (HCSB)
15 You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.
Acts 3:13-15 (HCSB)
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book.
John 20:30-31 (HCSB)
31 But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:30-31 (HCSB)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
If you had the chance to read the personal journal of someone whose life has influenced yours, who would you choose? Why would their stories and ideas be meaningful to you?
How were you first introduced to the Bible? What people and ideas do you associate with that time?
Luke was a first-century Greek doctor who documented the life of Jesus.
Read Luke 1:1–4.
Why do you think it was unusual in ancient times for many people to write about an event? How does Luke describe his purpose in documenting Jesus’ life?
- It’s possible you or someone you know left your faith because of something in the Bible. What is the “it” that you or they didn’t believe?
Read John 20:30–31 to find out the only “it” that really matters.
How does John describe his purpose for writing?
What do you think John meant by “have life in his name”?
- If John’s account of Jesus’ life was all you had, what would change about how you approach Jesus and encourage others to move toward him?
MOVING FORWARD
Many of us carried our childhood understanding of the Bible into adulthood. Faced with questions we couldn’t answer and doubts we couldn’t ignore, we walked away. If that’s your story, there’s another approach—one that John offers in his personal account of the life of Jesus. And if this account were all we had, it would be enough. This week, approach your faith in a new way by reading John’s account of Jesus’s life as though it was the only Scripture you had.
- Special thanks to Andy Stanley and Northpoint Ministries for granting us limited access to this content. This is not for distribution beyond the attenders of Phos Community Church.
© 2018 North Point Ministries, Inc. The Bible for Grown-Ups - Part 1 Discussion Questions