The Bible is a Consistent Revelation From Beginning to End
By Brannon S. Howse
To hammer out the U.S. Constitution, several dozen men met, debated, and disagreed for weeks on end, yet ultimately produced a cohesive document to govern a nation. But what do you think the chances of their producing a unified work would have been if roughly the same number of men had never known each other, been separated in many cases by centuries of time, had generally not shared a common profession, and had each written with little knowledge of what the others had to say? Obviously, very little. Yet such diversity and consistency further reveals the miracle of God's Word as we know it today.
Despite being penned by more than 40 authors from some 20 different walks of life during a timespan of over 1,600 years, the Bible presents a consistent message from beginning to end. That wonder itself is evidence of its truthfulness. It represents a feat beyond any human ability to accomplish. The Bible has stood up to thousands of years of scrutiny. Despite being hated and vilified by untold numbers, critics have yet to prove the Bible false.
Yet there is an even greater reality behind why the Bible is true. The source of all truth is God, and the Bible is a reflection of God’s character and nature.
In John 14:6 we read that Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God incarnate, declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” We understand that it is wrong to lie, steal, murder, cheat, commit adultery, or covet because those things are against God’s character and nature.
Why do you suppose so many liberals and humanists are threatened by John 14:6? It is because Jesus made the most politically incorrect statement of all time when He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Yes, He meant that following, serving, and believing in Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, or any other spiritual leader would not guarantee eternal life. Any attempt to gain salvation or reach heaven apart from Him is futile—a message clearly branded as “intolerant” in today’s world. Liberals find this offensive largely because it means their definitions of truth are wrong.
Those who maintain a genuine desire to discover truth, though, will eventually find it. Josh McDowell, for example, set out to disprove Christianity and became a respect Christian thinker and defender of the truth of God's Word. He summarizes the search for truth this way:
[quote] God is the original. He is the origin of all things that are in existence. And if we wish to know if anything is right or wrong, good or evil, we must measure it against the person who is true. “He is the Rock,” Moses said, “His work is perfect…a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4, KJV). You see, it is the very person and nature of God that defines truth. It is not something he measures up to. It is not something he announces. It is not even something he decides. It is something he is. [end quote]
This means that moral and spiritual truth isn’t abstract philosophy. It is, rather, very concrete, innate within Creation. Why? As Josh McDowell reveals in his book, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, truth is a Person. It is best understood as a “Who,” not a “what.” And when we acknowledge that personal nature of truth, it changes everything in the minds and hearts of our young people and the whole postmodern generation!
This shift from “what” to “Who” mandates a change in how we think of Christianity. Relating to or obeying moral and spiritual truth should not be thought of as a response to philosophical concepts but rather as how we relate to a person.
God is truth and has been since before time began: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Logos is Greek for “word,” a title for God. So the verse is saying that in the beginning all that existed was God.
God is always the same, He is always good, and He always opposes evil. Moral relativism, on the other hand, is the belief that there is no absolute standard of right or wrong, good or evil. Morals and ethics are autonomous and can evolve and change to fit the needs and desires of an individual and society. Therefore, moral relativism and situational ethics are false.
James 1:17-18 offers a crystal clear perspective on this understanding of truth:
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."
God is the source of goodness, and the Bible presents this truth consistently throughout.
Copyright 2006 ©Brannon Howse. This content is for Situation Room members and is not to be duplicated in any form or uploaded to other websites without the express written permission of Brannon Howse or his legally authorized representative.
