The Bible is the written word of God. They are holy scriptures that were inspired by God.
2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," (NIV)
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is 39 books long and is before Christ. The New Testament is 27 books long and is after Christ.
In Old Testament times, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and God created humans in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). God gave them a command to follow, (Genesis 2:16-17) and they ended up breaking it (Genesis 3:6).
Because of this, sin entered into the world, God had told Adam he would die if he did not obey.
Genesis 2:17 "but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (NIV)
Because of this things went very downhill, Adam and Eve hide from God (Genesis 3:10), fear comes into the world and seperation comes because Adam hid from God, that is very deep and symbolic to hide from God. After this we Cain was downcast (Genesis 4:5) and murder (Genesis 4:8) from Cain and Abel.
Pretty soon people start dying and the world becomes so bad that God has to flood the world.
Genesis 6:6 "The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." (NIV)
But Noah found favor in God (Genesis 6:8) so he got to live.
After alot of this going on the law became introduced but the law could not set them free from sin.
Romans 8:3 "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man," (NIV)
This is where Jesus Christ comes in,
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
So the basic message of the Gospel is this, you are saved by God's grace through having faith in Jesus Christ, this is the only means to get salvation. It is a free gift that you do not earn, we are not saved by works but by faith but this does not nullify the law because the law is holy and you need you show with your life and your actions that you do have faith and you must act on this faith to be salt and light to a dying world and we will have eternal life with Christ forever.
John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV)
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV)
Revelations 22:17 "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (NIV)
Ephesians 2:9 "not by works, so that no one can boast." (NIV)
Romans 7:12 "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." (NIV)
Romans 3:31 "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." (NIV)
Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (NIV)
John 11:26 "and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (NIV)
1. How can Genesis be written? What human was alive to watch God do all of this?
A: God inspired Moses to write this
Exodus 33:11 "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." (NIV)
2. How do we know God exists?
A: Romans 1:19 "since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." (NIV)
I recommend you read chapter 1 of the book of Romans for more information regarding this question.
3. How can I grow in my faith?
A: Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (NIV)
So reading the Bible or listening to preaching from God, praying in the Holy Spirit. All of these things will help you.
4. How can I pray in the Holy Spirit?
A: John 16:13 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." (NIV)
5. This is impossible....
A: John 11:26 "Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (NIV)
There are 4 Gospels you can read to learn more about Jesus they are as follows.
Matthew - This book of the Gospel was written for the Jews. There is a strong emphasis on the Old Testament prophecies, if you read alot of Old Testament this is a good book to read.
Mark - This book of the Gospel was written for the Romans. They were soldiers and if you like a shorter book filled with more action or you get bored easy, this book is probably for you.
Luke - This book of the Gospel was written by a doctor. This is the longest book of the Gospel and probably the most detailed of all of them, if you really want to read something with alot of details about the life Jesus lived then this book should be looked at.
John - This book was written by the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is the newest of the Gospels and starts off with explaining the word. If you want a good point of view and you have never read the Bible before, or you are serious about learning then this book would be good for you.
If you have never read the Bible before here are some beginner friendly books...
The book of Mark (Gospel)
The book of John (Gospel)
The book of John (Gospel)
The book of Romans (A basic primer on the Gospel)
The book of James (How we should live for God)
The book of Genesis (How everything began)
The book of Psalms (poems that are filled with wisdom and some prophecies)
The book of Proverbs (A book on practical wisdom)
Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"
You should ensure you read the Bible and understand it well,
Hosea 4:6 "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children."
