2020 Focused on The Word, Part 1

Ryan Cox • January 24, 2020

II Timothy 3:14-15, “ You, however,   continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,   and that   from childhood you have known   the sacred writings which are able to   give you the wisdom that leads to   salvation through faith, which is in   Christ Jesus.”

Wow! Would you say there is great importance in knowing God’s Word? It is that which provides the knowledge of salvation! It teaches us about Christ Jesus! It introduces the Creator to His creation and allows us to know Him! And without a properly focused worldview (i.e., one focused through the lenses of Scripture) we will not live by faith as we will not be convicted of its truth (Romans 1:17).

In the passage quoted above, Paul calls the Bible the “ sacred writings ”. Here’s why; verse 16 says, “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness ”.

The Greek word for “ God-breathed ”, some translations say “ inspired ”, is the word theopneustos. It’s comprised of two root words: theos , meaning “God”, and pneo , meaning “breathe hard” or “blow” ( Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance ).

What does this mean? It means God did not breathe His words into the writings of the Bible nor mix His inspired words in with the words of the authors. It means that ALL of the Bible was breathed out from God’s own mouth. The words are literally God’s breath, just like our words are from our breath.

So if you ever hear someone say, “I just wish God would speak to me” or “I wish I could hear God say something to me”, try not to look at them too bamboozled. It’s right there – the Bible!

Additionally, the word for “ all ” ( pasa ) in “ all Scripture ” literally means “all, every, the whole” ( Strong’s ). Proverbs 8:8 says, “ All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.”

Every word of it is true, accurate, and inspired, which is why Jesus said in John 10:35, “ the Scripture cannot be broken.” One cannot take part of it and cast aside the rest; Jesus says it’s an all or nothing deal.

Why?

John 20:20 gives us the 2020 focus we should have, “ After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

The entire Bible reveals the Creator God who tells us our TRUE Origin, Purpose, Identity, and Destiny.

The entire Bible reveals His unwavering love willing to save us from our sins.

The entire Bible reveals the Creator made flesh in Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as the perfect atoning sacrifice.

The entire Bible reveals the victory over death through the resurrection of our Lord.

Hence, Christians are commanded to share this Good News and to “ go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ” (Matthew 28:19).

When we became disciples of Jesus Christ, we are overjoyed with Biblically-based, 2020 focus that causes us to be overjoyed when we see the Lord!

Hence, Peter said, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life ” (John 6:68).

By Bob Dugas May 23, 2025
NS-29 Launch
By Matt Miles May 22, 2025
As many of you may know, I appreciate space. Not space around me, although the older I get the more I appreciate that as well. The things in the heavens fascinate me and have for a large chunk of my life. I love working with our telescopes, allowing people to see for themselves objects that the Lord made on the 4th day of history. When I was younger I followed our Space Shuttle program, and over the years I have had the opportunity to see a couple of those shuttles around the country. Now it is great to see all the renewed interest in exploring the heavenly creation. I know most of it is for evolutionary reasons, yet over and over again something is discovered that points to the trustworthiness of God’s Word. After all, we are to study His creation as Genesis 1:28 states. On a recent trip to El Paso, it occurred to me that Blue Origin’s launch facility is in west Texas somewhere. After some quick searching I realized we were within an hour and half of it, and there was a rescheduled launch window during the time of our meeting. So, with some persuading of my colleagues, we arose early one morning to make the launch. We made it with just minutes to spare. It was spectacular! The whole launch to just beyond the Karman Line (space boundary, 62 miles/100km) and return of the rocket and capsule is about ten minutes total. While Blue Origin is best known for its New Shepherd rocket that carries paying customers to space and back with the biggest windows ever in a capsule, this NS-29 launch was purely experimental with a payload of instruments to measure simulated lunar gravity. Even though it was not a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Starship or Falcon launch, it was great to hear and feel a launch for the first time, from blast off to the sonic boom return. It has piqued my desire to see a bigger launch now. As I began to reflect on what I experienced, the Lord reminded me of His design. Earth, our home planet, is so well designed for life. There is literally nowhere in all the universe like it. Yet He gave us the ability to discover creation beyond it. The only reason we can launch rockets and do space exploration is because He set it up in an orderly way. Physics works because He established it to work in a predictable fashion. As much as we may never understand everything in the universe from our position here, it works on an ordered reality that is reinforced by God’s Word. This is what drove Sir Isaac Newton in his understanding of physics. He wrote, “The motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were by an intelligent Agent.” Evolutionists may come up with theories about the origin of things in the heavens, but over and over again they are being shown through experimentation and observation to be wrong. The Lord set the order of everything in the beginning and sustains it by His Word (Hebrews 1:3). So as you look to the heavens tonight, gaze into the depths of space and observe the different facets the Lord placed up there for our eyes (Genesis 1:17). Peer through a telescope at the lesser light of the moon with marvel and anticipation of further human study in the coming years. Check out the amazing observations being made by the James Webb telescope from deep in space. All of these place a perspective of how awesome our Creator is and how much we depend on Him. Our design becomes more and more obvious with every discovery, yet in our universe we appear so minuscule and fragile. Thanks be to God that His infinite focus has, is and always will be here on us! Blessings.
By Ryan Cox May 22, 2025
Moses & History (part 2)
Show More