Despite the growing confusion of our day, objective truth is not elusive. Creator God is the originator of truth and because of His unchanging nature, His truth does not and cannot change. Folks, that is good news. In a world of uncertainty, God’s truth is readily available to all who wish to find it.
John MacArthur provides a helpful definition of truth when he says, ”Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory and being of God. Truth is the self-expression of God.” As the ultimate author of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16) God offers a consistent theme as it relates to the subject of truth.
Over 400 times in the Bible, we find the words “the Lord said” or “God said.” In its pages, the Bible refers to itself as the Word of God dozens of times (e.g., Psalm 119; Proverbs 30:5; Isaiah 40:8; 55:11; Jeremiah 23:29; John 17:17; Romans 10:17; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).
But the interesting and unprecedented uniqueness of the Bible is that God’s authorship was through the process of what is called “inspiration” (lit. “God breathed” out His word to human authors who recorded His truth).
Charles Ryrie defines “inspiration” as “God’s superintendence of the human authors of Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs.”
The Apostle Peter described the process of inspiration this way: “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21).
As Christians, we must be settled on the issue of absolute truth. The Bible is truth. God is the ultimate and only disseminator of truth. We only know something is true because God has declared it as true.
It is not only comforting to know that God’s truth endures forever (Psalm 19:7-9) but His truth is not affected by the changing winds of the culture. Truth is not personally determined (as the world says), it is universally settled.
As Bible believing Christians, we have the truth. As a result, we are compelled by the Spirit of God to obey God’s truth and tell others about it.
With all of that in mind, let’s finish up our list of “20 Lessons from ’20.”
Lesson #16
News flash. We’ve been lied to. A lot. If there is anything that we gleaned from the events of this past year it is that we need to be very cautious as to what we believe. Why? Because some people lie. They either make things up or they pass along unverified information. Either way, the Christian must always be cautious and discerning.
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)
“A righteous person hates a false statement, but a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.” (Proverbs 13:5)
Lesson #17
Life is a precious gift from God. As Christians, our hearts ache when our loved ones succumb to death. According to the US Center for Disease Control, during calendar year 2020, approximately 375,000 people in the United States died from the effects of the COVID-19 virus.
What a reminder that God is sovereign over life, and He is sovereign over death. If the Lord continues to tarry from His imminent return, every person will have an appointment with death. We might even say that death is a part of life. The question is not whether most people will die (they will), the question is, are people prepared to meet their maker? (John 3:16, 36; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9)
“And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment.“ (Hebrews 9:27)
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Lesson #18
It pains us to watch people suffer from illness. Suffering and death serve as a real-life reminder of the compounding nature of sin. But suffering is temporary for the Christian because one day we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (I John 3:2)
“The afflictions of the righteous are many, but the Lord rescues him from them all.” (Psalm 34:19)
Lesson #19
We need to be more compassionate. When others hurt, we should hurt.
“Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Lesson #20
Perhaps the biggest lesson we learned from this past year is that life continues to present ways for us to serve others. We serve God by serving others. May we always love like He loved, and may we always serve like He served (Mark 10:45; I John 3:16-18).
“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)
Well, that’s a wrap. 20 Lessons from ’20. May the lessons that we learned remain with us forever. And may we always remember that God is both sovereign and good (Psalm 100:5; 103:19). Maranatha!