Paul Tripp Ministries, Inc

PAUL TRIPP MINISTRIES, INC.

The Real World January 31st 2007

Paul David Tripp: You do not have to be confused. You do not have to live in fear and anxiety. The Bible accurately describes the context in which you live every day, and in so doing, helps you to be prepared to live wisely in this world gone bad.

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now and today's program from Paul Tripp Ministries. Join us as Paul connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Now, here’s Paul Tripp.

PDT: Now when you think about the Bible, what comes into your mind? Do you have visions of long, dry sermons? Do you have visions of ancient, hard-to-understand history and difficult genealogies? Do you think of the Bible as a religious book relegated to the religious aspect of your life? Do you think of the Bible as a list of topics, and you sort of wish it was arranged better? It would be a lot easier if it were arranged by topic.

Do you think of that big family Bible that sat on grandma's coffee table and had the family tree in it? Do you think of a collection of amazing, miracle stories? Do you think of the Christmas story, the Easter story? Do you think of wise sayings and hard-to-obey commands? Do you think of difficult doctrines and issues of controversy? Do you think of the real-life complaints of the Psalms; the comforts of the promises; the helpfulness of the principles? What does the Bible mean to you?

Now hear this question, “What role does the Bible have in your life?” If you had to answer the question, “Why is the Bible so important anyway?” What would you answer? Remember, you never stop thinking; you never quit trying to figure out life. Remember, you are an incessant interpreter; but you were not wired to figure it all out on your own, and so the way you think about the Bible is very important because you need help. The question is, “Where are you looking to get help?”

Music: “Love and Greed” by Blues Traveler

I want to tell you about something special I want to tell you what makes men need I think I’m talking ’bout what we all get into I think I’m talking ‘bout love and greed

You can take it anyway but take it at your own speed ‘Cause you wouldn’t be the first to fall to love and greed

KC: This is Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp. And, don’t go away, because today’s intriguing study has to deal with the real world from the series, “What’s So Important About the Bible Anyway?” If you’d like to learn more about this ministry, just log on to paultrippministries.org. And while you are on line, you can check out Paul's latest blog. You can also look up other resources designed to help you discover the incredible grace that God provides. That's paultrippministries.org. Now, here's Paul Tripp with more Right Here, Right Now.

PDT: I have to admit it; I had my Bible for years before I actually began to realize what it was all about. I had my Bible for years before I began to realize how important it actually was.

I was raised on verse memorization. I was raised on Bible stories. I was raised with the Bible as part of my life, but I really didn't know what it was all about. I thought that the Bible was about how to become a Christian, and how to avoid hell, and to go to heaven.

It is really pretty embarrassing to admit, but I really did not have much of an idea what the Bible was actually about. Sure, I could name books of the Bible for you; and yeah, I could tell you that the Bible was made up of historical, poetic, and teaching passages. And I could tell you some of things that Bible believers believe, and I could rehearse for you some of Jesus's greatest miracles and greatest moments of teaching. I could do all of that. I could quote the words of Paul, and I could recite Psalms for you, but I really didn't have much of a clue what the Bible was actually about.

Now, I want you to hear me say this: I think there are many, many people out there who were just like me, even people who think that they know the Bible who do not have much of a clue what it's actually about.

The Bible is God's manual for life. The Bible is the origin-to-destiny story of God's work to restore the cosmos that was terribly broken by sin. It really does tell me all the things I need to know to live the way a human being was designed to live.

What's the Bible? The Bible is God's carefully constructed and carefully guided book about life. The Bible: it's just not a book about church; it's not a book to be relegated to the religious dimension of your life; it's not a book about some super religious state that some people call spirituality.

The Bible really is the universe’s most accurate manual on reality. It’s the most accurate manual on reality that ever has been written. And it is that accurate and that reliable because it was written by the Creator of everything that exists. And embedded in the great story of the Bible are all the essential facts about life that can only be known because they are found there, and they have been revealed by God. These are not things that you can learn by researching life; these are not things you can learn by experience; these are things that are only known because God has decided to make them known in the pages of His Word.

So what is the Bible about? Well, I’ve said this before; the Bible presents us with a real world; the Bible presents us with real people; the Bible calls us into relationship with the real God; the Bible welcomes us to real redemption. In these four themes: the world, people, God, and redemption, the Bible lays out for us the most important facts of the human existence.

Music: “One Tree Hill” by U2

We turn to face the cold, enduring chill As the day begs the night for mercy love The sun so bright, it leaves no shadows Only scars, carved into stone on the face of earth The moon is up and over one tree hill We see the sun go down in your eyes

You run like a river, on like a sea You run like a river, runs to the sea

PDT: The Bible really does present us with a real world. If you pay attention, the Word of the Bible will look very authentic and very familiar to you. You cannot read very long before you encounter the gritty honesty of the Bible. The Bible doesn't sugarcoat or minimize what it's like to live in a broken world.

As early as the fourth chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, you encounter something that you would not think you would ever find in the Bible. What is it? You encounter sibling homicide, the kind of thing that you would read in the newspaper in the morning after, and it would make you shiver.

From domestic violence to war, plagues, and diseases; from vicious animals to sexual perversity to corrupt government; from the breakdown of the family to political intrigue, Scripture depicts the daily drama of real life without ever flinching.

The world of the Bible is a world just like ours! It is a world of broken promises. It is a world of failed expectation. It's a world of dashed dreams. It's a world where it seems like bad people tend to prosper, and the good people find themselves suffering. It's a world where fresh things decay. It's a world where things grow old, and strong things grow weak. The world of the Bible is a familiar world to us because it is exactly the same world that we live in. If you go out of your door, you encounter the exact same world that is described in the Bible.

But the Bible does something else. It doesn't just depict what happens; it tells us why it happens. The Bible is honest about why the world is the way it is. Why does Cain kill Abel? Why is a global flood necessary? Why are spouses ever unfaithful? Why does David need to run from his own son, Absalom? Why do people tell lies? Why would Judas betray the Messiah? Why do children rebel against their parents? What is illicit sex all about, and why is it ever attractive? Why do philosophies exist that compete with the truth?

You see, the Bible is not only honest about life and what happens in this life in the fallen world; the Bible not only presents me with the real world, but it helps me to understand why the world is the way that it is. The Bible rises boldly to answer these and a host of other questions that capture the experiences that we encounter every day.

The explanations the Bible gives us about real-life may, on the surface, seem simple. Yet it is only when I get those perspectives; it's only because they are extensive enough to span the vast range of what is wrong from dark interpersonal motivations to wide cultural, historical, and environmental maladies; it's only because the Bible's perspectives are that large that they're able to help me to understand life.

The Bible tells us that we live in a world that has been bent and twisted. It has been twisted by a force that’s so fundamental, so powerful, that it literally impacts every human thought, every human intention, every situation, every experience, every location, everything that society would ever experience in every moment of history. This force is the inescapable pathology of the created world.

What is this force? The Bible calls it ‘sin.’ In only one syllable, three letters in the English language, the Bible gives me a concept without which it would be impossible to understand life and everything in it.

This foundational issue that is bent and twisted our world, this foundational issue that influences everything in our lives, is clearly and powerfully unfolded for us in Romans 8:20 through 22. Paul uses these very interesting phrases to capture the grittiness of life in a fallen world. He says this…that creation was first subjected to frustration. What an amazing phrase! Sin has frustrated the cosmos.

Now you know this is true because you're frustrated by your world. You're frustrated by the fact that the world doesn't operate the way it was meant to operate. And so this world is a frustrating place to be in. Families don't operate the way they were meant to operate; the human body doesn't operate the way it was meant to operate; government doesn't operate the way it was meant to operate; life doesn't operate the way it was meant to operate.

The second thing Paul says is that the world is in bondage to decay. What an amazing phrase, “…in bondage to decay.” It is stunning to think that everything that now exists is somehow, someway in the process of dying. Sin has brought death to life. And we live in a world where everything decays. That new car gets old and breaks. That new house gets old and needs repair. Your body ages and needs medicine and therapy and surgery. The world is in bondage to decay.

And then there’s a third phrase that he uses there in Romans 8. It says, “The world groans as in pains of childbirth.” Childbirth is that acute moment of sharp pain. Now surely it means it's a kind of pain that leads to a new birth, and the pain of this world's going to result in a new world. But it also points to the sharpness of the suffering. Sometimes that suffering of life in a fallen world is acutely painful. Subjected to frustration, in bondage to decay, groaning as in pains of childbirth. Boy, aren’t those accurate descriptions? The Bible really does powerfully depict and help us to understand life in a world that has been terribly broken by sin.

Music: “Precious Lord, Take My Hand/Just A Closer Walk With Thee” by Selah

Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand I am tired, I am weak, I am worn Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home

When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near When my life is almost gone Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on

PDT: Those three realities that we just talked about: the reality of frustration, the reality of decay, the reality of pain--they’re in your life. They’re in your life maybe in ways every day. Maybe it's the frustration of problems that you have to deal with that you really don't want to deal with, but they’re on your plate. Maybe it's the sense that you are decaying; you're getting older, or the things in your life are breaking. Or maybe it's the painfulness of life in a fallen world, and you're in a moment that's acutely painful.

Those three realities - frustration, decay, and pain - are clear descriptions of what goes on in your life. And all three of these find three-dimensional technicolor, concrete, and practical expression in the pages of the Bible.

From the drama of wars between nations that you see in Joshua to the dark tunnel of personal despair that you see in Psalm 88; from the joy of a long awaited infant’s birth in Luke 1 to the mourners at a dead man's tomb in John 11. What does the Bible do? The Bible is wonderfully able to capture real-life and what real life is all about with profound familiarity and clarity.

Now think about this with me for a moment. How does the honesty of the Bible help us? How does its real-life grittiness assist us as we face life in this broken world every day? Here it is; you want to hear what I'm about to say: the Bible, in its honesty about the real world, provides us with context. What do I mean when I say the Bible provides us with context? You see, it presents to us an honest and expansive portrayal of the work real world.

Now here's why I think this is important. Many people are lost and confused simply because they do not understand the context in which they live, work, play, and worship. And because they don't understand the world in which they live, they’re constantly getting surprised by what they’re required to deal with. And they feel unprepared because they have not benefited from the real-life, functional wisdom that the Bible affords.

The Bible helps you to have realistic expectations. It keeps you from being naïve and unprepared. It helps you to be wise and ready. You do not have to be confused. You do not have to be caught up short. You do not have to dread what you may be facing next. You do not have to live in fear and anxiety. The Bible accurately describes the context in which you live every day and, in so doing, helps you to be prepared to live wisely in this world gone bad.

(Music Interlude)

PDT: So let me state my question one more time. You will have this burned in your brain by the time I'm done. So…“What is so important about the Bible anyway?”

Well, the first reason the Bible is important is that it's the wisest, most trustworthy, and most accurate description of life in the real world that you will ever find. Let me say that again: it is the wisest, most trustworthy, and accurate description of life in the real world that you will ever find.

And the Bible not only tells me what is, it tells me where it has gone wrong. And it not only tells me where it has gone wrong, but it also tells me how and why it has gone wrong. You really can understand the world you live in.

Sure, there will always be mysteries because there is a God, and you are not Him. But it's quite possible to live with clarity and wisdom; it really is. It's quite possible to avoid being confused and to avoid being lost; it really is. It's quite possible to escape the fear and the confusion--it really is! It’s quite possible to avoid the anxiety of feeling like you're lost in the middle of your own story; it really is.

Isn't it wonderful that God gave us this amazing book? Isn't it wonderful that it is accurate, and it is clear? And isn't it nice to know that there are things that you can be sure of--right here, right now?

KC: Paul Tripp and a look at the most amazing book, the Bible. And be sure to join us next time for more Right Here, Right Now.

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By the way, next week you can join Paul at Christ Community Church’s men's ministry in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He’ll be there Tuesday, February 6. Just go online for more details. Next time, more words of grace from Paul Tripp. That’s on Thursday.

I’m Kate Crowley; and for all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, remember--in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now. See you tomorrow.