The Word / Joshua 1:8 / 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I don’t know what your college experience was like, but I remember going to class as a non-believer and trying to understand the beginnings of the world. Have you ever sat in classes like that and listened to somebody postulate about how definitive they are that there was some primordial ooze somewhere, some cosmic piece of dust that accidentally exploded, and therefore by mutation after mutation—all of which were to the good—we ended up here? What an amazing accident we were! Even as a guy who didn’t know Jesus, I remember thinking, Man, I don’t know if I buy that. That sounds a little weak when you really look at it.

Then I remember coming to faith in Christ and beginning to read my Bible. It wasn’t but the first few words of the Bible that made me go, Oh, well that makes sense. If you turn to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter one, we get an answer to that whole question of how we began: “In the beginning, God.”

Genesis 1:1 (NASB)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

As you look at “In the beginning, God,” it frames the whole journey of what it means to be a human, to be an image-bearer of the King. We see our value in creation. We see God speaking the world into existence and hand-making mankind. For two chapters in the beginning of the Bible, life is fantastic. Keep in mind, we’re typically asking the wrong questions. We read, “There was evening and morning the first day,” and we go, “Day? What did You mean by day? Did You mean a literal day, or something else by the word day?” I’ve got some Jewish friends, and I once asked them, “Hey, what’s your thought on whether it’s a twenty-four-hour period or not?” They looked at me like I was a dummy. I asked, “What’s the problem?” One replied, “You’re missing the point completely. The point is: In the beginning, God.”

As the Bible begins, there is this understanding that God is the focal point at the very beginning. He speaks the world into existence and forms us. Two chapters of awesome—and then comes sin. The story of redemption begins to unfold from Genesis 3:15 forward, where God pursues mankind, provides for mankind, and woos mankind.

A Chosen People and the Giving of the Law

You get to Genesis chapter 12, and God pulls out a distinct people group: Abraham and his descendants. Names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and a guy named Joseph. If you’ve ever read through the book of Genesis or seen one of the movies, maybe you know the story of Joseph. He is despised by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. While he is in Egypt, there’s a famine in the land. He ends up rising to a position of power. Sure enough, here come his brothers to get food, and Joseph is the guy checking the cards at the front door like Costco. He ends up revealing himself: “Hey, I’m your brother.” God provides for them in Egypt.

What was supposed to be a short-term stay to get food and provisions ends up turning into a 430-year slavery experience. For 430 years, the people of God are being influenced by a people of many gods. If you’ve ever had a roommate who had a bad habit, you realize that as much as you hated their bad habit, you eventually found yourself doing the exact same thing. Imagine 430 years as the people of God with no written Word, relying on oral traditions that after four centuries had gotten twisted or gone sideways. You’re in Egypt, so you just adopt what the other nations are doing: “Well, I guess we’ll worship the sun god; I guess we’ll worship the Nile; I guess we’ll worship this and that.”

Meanwhile, God takes Moses out to the wilderness behind the woodshed, shapes him, and raises him up for the task of bringing the people out. Moses leads the people in the book of Exodus out of Egypt, and the people are asking, “Who is this God you’re talking about? I remember granddad talking about some story of In the beginning, God, but who is He? What is He like? And who are we? I thought maybe we were Egyptian.” Moses says, “No, you’ve got a different heritage. You’ve got a different name, a different family, and a different God.”

Moses goes up to the mountain, and God gives him the law of God written on stone tablets. He says, “Here are the Ten Commandments: Don’t have any other gods before Me. Don’t make any idols. Honor the Sabbath. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t commit murder. This is who I am, and this is who you ought to be. This is how you ought to live. Because I created you in My image, you are image-bearers and you should reflect Me. By doing so, you’re going to be a distinct people.”

Exodus 19:5 (NASB)

’Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

When the Word of God is initially given, there is an understanding of who God is, who we are, and how we should live in light of both.

People of the Book

If you’ve ever read through the Old Testament, you realize the people of God are a fickle people. There are moments where they do really well, and then there are moments where you think, Oh my goodness, you’ve got to be kidding me. In the process of that, God is graciously moving in the hearts of His people. Moses tells them, “Friends, this is no idle word. This is your very life.”

Deuteronomy 32:47 (NASB)

‘For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.’

We as God’s people have to tether ourselves to the Word because the Word of God is what shows us who God is, who we are, and how we should live in light of both. We’ve got to be people of the Book. It is so important that in Deuteronomy 6, Moses tells the fathers to teach their children the Bible: “They don’t need to hear economics yet; don’t worry about math yet. Teach them about God.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NASB)

’These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. ’You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ’You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Yet, as you know the story, they don’t do real well with obedience to God. They are a stubborn, stiff-necked people, as Stephen puts it in Acts 7. They submit when it’s convenient, but not when it costs them something. The book of Numbers happens, and they wander in the wilderness. Then Joshua is raised up to lead them into the land. Joshua is given a strong command as a leader regarding the Word of God:

Joshua 1:8 (NASB)

’This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Joshua, you want to be a good leader and lead these people in a way that pleases God? Take your Bible, meditate on it day and night, and do what it says. That’s where prosperity and success come from.

In the process of laying out the law, God essentially says, “Here are the things I want you to do to obey Me, and by the way, I know you’re not going to be able to. So obey Me, and since I know you won’t and can’t, here are the sacrifices you should offer.” The Old Testament lays out a concept: obey, and when you can’t, sacrifice. But that sacrifice you brought never really dealt with sin. It was like putting cover-up on a zit. It just atoned for it; it covered it. It never removed it; it just faked like it wasn’t there. There was this constant struggle, but they knew that adherence to the Word was crucial.

Even King David, the greatest king in Israel’s history, says this when passing the baton to his son Solomon: “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in His ways, keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and testimonies.” If I had a son, that would be my charge to him: Be a man. Know your Bible and do what it says.

1 Kings 2:2-3 (NASB)

’I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. ’Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn,

The Drift Toward Religious Performance

What we see throughout Israel’s history is a cycle: when they are obedient, there is blessing; when they are disobedient, there is chaos. As you read through the close of your Old Testament, it’s a downward spiral into disobedience—oppression, assimilation by Assyria, deportation to Babylon, and then a return to rebuild a shadow of what once was. Then your Bible goes into 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew, known as the intertestamental period.

When the New Testament opens, it is still hearing the echoes of the final book of the Old Testament, where the prophet Malachi charges the faithful few:

Malachi 4:4 (NASB)

’Remember the law of Moses My servant, [even the] statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

Over that 400-year period, the people experienced a slow drift from intimacy with God to distance from God. Not only that, but they started asking ridiculous questions. “You shouldn’t work on the Sabbath. Well, what do you mean by work? Is walking considered working? Is walking quickly working? Okay, let’s put prohibitions on that. How much can I carry? Can I carry a backpack? What can I have in it? Can I carry a pie? If it’s a hot pie, can I bake it, or do I need to buy it? Oh, I can’t buy it on the Sabbath. What can I do?”

They took the Word of God that was meant to show who God was, who we were, and how we should live, and they piled on nonsense. In Deuteronomy 6, fathers were charged with the instruction of the Word. Over time, fathers took a back seat, and the professionals rose to the scene. The Pharisees became the scholars, and the Word of God was professionalized.

By the time Jesus arrives, the religious system valued external appearance above all else. It wasn’t about knowing God; it was about how spiritual you looked, how often you prayed, what you wore, and who saw you. That is the context into which Jesus steps, and He unloads on that kind of religious expression:

Matthew 23:4-7 (NASB)

’They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with [so much as] a finger. ’But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels [of their garments]. ’They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.

Matthew 23:24-28 (NASB)

’You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! ’Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ’You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. ’Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ’So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

That’s what Jesus thought of religious performance. The Apostle Paul comments on this in Romans 10, saying the Jewish people had a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. They knew the text, but they missed the point.

Romans 10:2 (NASB)

For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

They felt that the knowledge, study, and correct interpretation of the text was the end, when really the Bible was a means to an end. The Bible was never meant to make you righteous. If the Bible could make you righteous, you would simply do what it says and be righteous. The Bible was meant to show you your inability to be righteous on your own.

In that heavy, burden-laden religious context, Jesus gives a radically different invitation:

Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB)

’Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ’Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. ‘For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’

Do you see the contrast? The religious leaders made the Word an unbearable weight. Jesus comes along and says, “Come to Me. My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

The True Focal Point of Scripture

This kind of teaching caused the religious leaders to ask, “By what authority do You do these things? Who do You think You are?” Jesus never lowered Himself to play their credentialing game. His authority came from the Father.

Matthew 21:23 (NASB)

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?’

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians that for a person who does not know the Lord, there is a veil over their heart when the Scriptures are read. But when one turns to Christ, the veil is taken away.

2 Corinthians 3:14-16 (NASB)

But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

We begin to see that veil lifting for the disciples. When Jesus takes them north to Caesarea Philippi and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” God was opening their eyes to the paradigm shift.

Matthew 16:15-17 (NASB)

He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ’Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

In John 5, Jesus confronts the religious leaders directly about the purpose of the Scriptures:

John 5:39-40 (NASB)

’You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

John 5:46 (NASB)

’For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

Isn’t that fantastic? Moses wrote about Jesus! From Genesis to Revelation, the central figure of the whole Bible is Jesus. In the Old Testament, you see Jesus in shadow; in the New Testament, you see Him in reality.

Your Bible is a means to an end; it is not the ultimate end. You do not get eternal life simply by the mechanical act of reading pages. You will not find salvation or forgiveness just in the paper and ink. But when you read your Bible rightly, you see Jesus—and Jesus is our salvation, Jesus is our life, and Jesus is our forgiveness.

After the resurrection, Jesus walks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They are discouraged, thinking Jesus was dead and their hopes were dashed. Jesus speaks to them:

Luke 24:25-27 (NASB)

And He said to them, ’O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ‘Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

These men had an Old Testament Bible study led by Jesus Himself! Page after page: Genesis 3:15? That’s Jesus. Genesis 49? That’s Jesus. The prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy? Jesus. The rock in the wilderness? Jesus. The true High Priest in Leviticus? Jesus. The new covenant of Jeremiah 31? Jesus. They looked back and said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:32 (NASB)

They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’

Proclaiming Christ from the Scriptures

When the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, Jesus’ promise is fulfilled: the Spirit will guide them into all truth and bring to remembrance all that He said.

John 14:26 (NASB)

’But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

John 16:13 (NASB)

’But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Peter steps out of the upper room in Acts 2, preaching from Joel, the Psalms, 2 Samuel, and Deuteronomy, arriving at this conclusion:

Acts 2:36 (NASB)

‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ– this Jesus whom you crucified.’

In Acts 3, Peter preaches again using the Old Testament: “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus.” In Acts 7, Stephen gives a sweeping survey of Old Testament history—Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the Tabernacle, David, Solomon—and shows how it all points to the Righteous One whom they betrayed and murdered.

Acts 3:13 (NASB)

’The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, [the one] whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

Acts 7:51-52 (NASB)

’You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. ’Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

In Acts 8, Philip sits in the chariot with the Ethiopian eunuch and, beginning from the book of Isaiah, preaches Jesus to him. In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus is confronted by the risen Lord, goes off to Arabia to study the Scriptures through this new lens, and returns to proclaim Christ. Paul writes to the Colossians, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

Acts 8:35 (NASB)

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

Colossians 1:28 (NASB)

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:2 (NASB)

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

When these men and women truly understood the Scriptures, they recognized that the Word is meant to lead us into intimacy with Jesus. John writes that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word became flesh. The author of Hebrews tells us that God spoke in past times through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son.

[SCRIPTURE: John 1:1, 14]

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Profitable for Every Good Work

This brings us to Paul’s famous words to young Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is inspired by God—God-breathed. All of it is profitable. Now, to be fair, some passages feel more immediately profitable than others. When I’m in 1 Chronicles reading endless genealogies of David’s descendants, it’s not blowing my mind in the moment. I don’t know why anyone would name their kid some of those names! But all Scripture is inspired by God, so I lean in and ask what He has for me.

Look at what it is profitable for:

First, for teaching. It shows us who Jesus is, how He lived, and the plumb line of how we ought to live.

Second, for reproof. Reproof means to correct or bring back into alignment. There are times when your life doesn’t look like Jesus’ life, just as there are times when mine doesn’t. The Word of God says, “Hey, maybe you shouldn’t speak like that. Maybe you shouldn’t drive like that. Maybe you need integrity in that business deal.” It brings you back on track.

Third, for correction. That’s the U-turn—grabbing you by the neck to restore you when you’re not just drifting, but heading in a destructive direction. When you’re thinking about doing something foolish, the Word jumps off the page to stop you.

Fourth, for training in righteousness. It shows us how to stay in step with Jesus day by day.

All sixty-six books whisper His name. They all speak of Jesus.

Our Response to the Word

There are two main takeaways I want you to have from this message.

First, we must be people of the Book. There are few things that would break my heart more than a biblically illiterate church. If we claim to know Jesus, we ought to be in His Word. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” If we claim to be Christians, we should be people of the Book.

John 8:31-32 (NASB)

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’

Second, we must find Christ in the text. Don’t read just out of guilt or religious duty. Don’t read thinking that mere mechanical reading grants you eternal life. Read your Bible to find the One who gives eternal life. Look for the redemptive, finished work of Jesus on every page.

The Bible’s intent is not that we simply read and do, as if cold external obedience produces intimacy with God. Rather, intimacy with God produces genuine obedience from the inside out. As we read our Bibles, let’s dig in, find Jesus, and let Him conform us to His image. Let’s study it, live it, and pass it on to others.

2 Timothy 2:2 (NASB)

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, I am so thankful that we are not left groping in the dark to figure out who You are. We don’t have to read tea leaves or look for signs in the stars; we can simply open Your Word. Page after page, we see Your redemptive work. We see who You are, who we are, and how we are called to live. God, we want to see Jesus. We want to be more like Him. For anyone exploring faith, help them realize that from beginning to end, it is all about Jesus—not just modifying behavior, but letting Christ transform our hearts. Complete the good work You have begun in us. We thank You that from Genesis to Revelation, the focal point is Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.