You've heard something called a wonder before, haven't you? But what is a wonder? Well, a wonder is something that causes a feeling in us of surprise or of admiration. A wonder is something that is very unusual or very beautiful or that we don't expect. A wonder makes us be in awe of something. A wonder is when we hear something or see something and say, ooh, ah, wow. But there are different kinds of wonders, aren't there? There are the wonders in God's creation, such as the enormous, beautiful Grand Canyon, or the tiny desert flowers that almost need a magnifying glass to see them. Or there are wonders that men have made, such as the very long Great Wall of China, or the Statue of Liberty, or even the cell phone. Think about that. How does a cell phone even work? That's a wonder. Also, a beautiful sunset or a beautiful piece of music can be a wonder, filling us with a feeling of admiration. These things all fill us with a sense of wonder, of awe, don't they? A feeling of wow. But did you ever stop and think that the Bible is a wonder? Yes, it is. Now, I'm not talking about the wonder of the many miracles that the Bible tells us that God did or that he let men do. And I'm not talking about the wonder of creation or the wonder of fulfilled prophecy. Yes, those are wonders. Wonders that only God can do. But the wonder I'm going to be talking about right now is another kind of wonder that God did. I'm going to be talking about the actual Bible, the book itself. You see, the Bible itself is a wonder. Now, maybe right now you're saying, huh? How can a book be a wonder? So let me explain what I mean by this. I can do this best by giving you some examples. Would you like to hear about some of the many wonders of the Bible, of the book itself? Why the Bible itself is a wonder? Perhaps you can even surprise some of your friends with these wonders if they haven't thought of them. Okay? All right then. Let's look at some of the many wonders of the Bible. Well, to start with, most books are written over a fairly short period of time, or maybe even over the period of a few years, aren't they? But the Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years. Wow! That's a wonder, isn't it? And the Bible wasn't written in one place. It was written on three different continents, Asia, Europe, and Africa. And it was written in many different countries by its many different authors. Yes, it was written in Israel, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Italy, many different countries. Wow! Also, most books are written in one language, but the Bible was written in three different languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And the Bible has been translated into more languages than any other book in the world. Also, the Bible has been printed more times than any other book in the world. Wow, those are wonders too, aren't they? Another wonder is that although the Bible is one big book, It is made up of 66 smaller books. Wow! And wonder of wonders, these books all connect to each other. They fit together and they don't contradict each other. Wow! And they even have one main story that goes through all of these 66 books. That is another wonder, but I'll talk more about that wonder in a minute. Also, another wonder of the Bible is that it has many different styles of writing. Yes, part of the Bible is history. Part of the Bible is poetry. Some parts are prophecy. And the Bible not only has many, many true stories, but it also has some made-up stories that are called parables. The Bible has a whole bunch of laws in the Law of Moses, and it has writings about those laws. The Bible has writings about how to think about things, and writings about how we should live our lives. The Bible has writings about the lives of various people. That's called biographies. The Bible has letters to groups of people and letters to individual people. All sorts of styles of writing. And all of this fits together. Wow! Another wonder is that most books are written by one or maybe a few people. But the Bible was written by about 40 different men. Wow! Also, books, if written by more than one person, usually have the authors having the same background. But another wonder of the Bible is that its many authors, those many men, were from all sorts of backgrounds. Just think of the authors of the New Testament books. Matthew was a tax collector. John and Peter were fishermen. Luke was a doctor. Paul was a rabbi. And James and Jude were sons of a carpenter and were half-brothers of Jesus. And how about the Old Testament authors? Some were kings. Some were shepherds. Some were prophets. And some are all of these. Wow! Yes, Moses, who wrote five of the Old Testament books, had what we'd call a college education that he got in Egypt. And later he was a shepherd before becoming the leader of the two to three million people that he led out of Egypt. And he was a prophet as well. King David had been a shepherd, then a soldier, became a king, was also a musician and songwriter. Daniel was a captive and became an important man in the government and a prophet. Amos was a herdsman, gathered figs, and was a prophet. And these very different men all wrote books of the Bible. So did many other men, too. Yes, there were all sorts of men who God had write the Bible. And what these men from all these different backgrounds wrote in these 66 books fits together as one book. Wow! And that by itself is a wonder, isn't it? Another wonder is that the Bible was not only written by many different kinds of people, it's also a book for all kinds of people. Yes, the Bible has been the book for all kinds of people for thousands of years, and it is still the book for all kinds of people today. for young people and old people, men and women, boys and girls, for educated people and uneducated people, for people with all kinds of jobs, and for people from all countries and nations. The Bible is the book you can read and understand when you are young and still read and learn from it when you are old. Yes, the Bible is a book that you never outgrow. Wow! Also, all other books are written by people, but the Bible is the only book that is written by God through men. You see, all these about 40 men were inspired by the Lord in their writings. Wow! Yes, the Bible is the only book in the world that has been written by both God and men. What a wonder! But there are more wonders, so let's go on. Many books tell us true things that have happened, don't they? Well, the Bible also tells about many true things. Some are things that happened a long time ago. Why, the Bible is even used by some archaeologists when they explore and try to find very old things and places. And when they dig things up, wow! But the Bible, along with telling us about things that have happened in the past, is also full of prophecies, telling about things that will happen. Some of these prophecies have already been fulfilled. But others of these prophecies have not yet been fulfilled. Yes, the Bible tells us about things that will happen in the future. Things that haven't happened yet, but that will really happen someday. Wow! Only God could know what will really happen someday, right? Yes, God knows everything, and he has plans. And in the Bible, he tells us some of the things that are going to happen someday. And the Bible has many true stories about many different real people. We could say that the Bible has many different characters, couldn't we? Yes, Adam, Abraham, Moses, Ruth, King David, Daniel, Esther, John the Baptist, Mary, Peter, Paul, and many, many more. Lots of different characters. People who lived over a period of 4,000 years. Wow. And they are real people who really lived. And another wonder of the Bible is that though there are many characters in the Bible, yet all through the Bible there is only one main character with one main story. Who is that main character? That's right. The main one told about in the Bible is God. Just imagine a book where we can learn about the Lord God himself. Wow! Yes, the Bible tells us about God. But I said there was one main story in the Bible. So what is that one main story? And what is the reason the Bible was written? What is the purpose of all of these many wonders in the Bible? That's right. The reason for the Bible is to tell us about the Lord God. How he made the world and how someday he'll make it all new again. And also, the Bible tells us the way that we can know about God and what he has done for us and how we can please him. Wow! But what is the very biggest wonder of the Bible? Yes, the Bible is the book that tells us how we can have a relationship with God and how we can have our sins forgiven and be able to go to heaven and be with the Lord God someday. Wow! To be with the Lord God! After all, we're all sinners, aren't we? And we shouldn't be able to go to heaven and be with the Lord, should we? So how do we know from the Bible that we can have our sins forgiven, have friendship with God, and be able to go to heaven when we die? That's right. The Bible tells us that God the Father loves us so very much that he had Jesus, God the Son, come to earth as a human, though he was still God. And Jesus loves us so very much that he willingly died on the cross for our sins. Then what happened three days after that? That's right. Jesus was alive again. And these are some of the things that God prophesied, aren't they? And lots of people saw Jesus after he was alive again. And he's still alive in heaven. He will always be alive. And if we trust in Jesus to forgive our sins, He will. And then He'll be our Lord. And someday we can go to heaven and be with Him. And the Bible also tells us that someday the Lord Jesus is coming back. And if we have trusted in Him, we will be with Him forever. Wow! Forever! And we are told about this in that book of many wonders, the Bible. Yes, the Bible itself is a wonderful book, a book full of wonders, a book full of wows. Isn't it loving and kind of God that he has given us this book full of wonders so that we can know him and know how we can be with him someday? And isn't God the greatest wonder of all? Wow. Thank you, Lord.