There are
many ways one can quote it, share it, study it, and interpret it. The Bible stands alone as one of the greatest
books ever written both literally and subjectively. It’s words have been
inspiration for past and will be for future generations.
Wikipedia states: “The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the
books") is a canonical collection of texts sacred in Judaism and
Christianity. There is no single "Bible" and many Bibles with varying
contents exist.[1] The term Bible is shared between Judaism and
Christianity, although the contents of each of their collections of canonical
texts is not the same. Different religious groups include different books
within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or
combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.
The
Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time, 2
has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies, 3,4and has been a
major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was
the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible
was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.”
There are many descriptions
of the Bible, like “God’s love letter to Man” or “the inspired Word of God” etc. Whatever description you use to define it, the
bible has withstood the test of time and has proven again and again to be
inspirational as well as authoritative in matters of history, social behavior,
and of law.
So if the Bible has been proven
to be historically, legally, and socially accurate, why does our society spend
so much time, energy, and money trying to debunk it? Why is the Bible such a threat?
Hebrews 4:12-13 (NKJV)
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things
are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Now there is an interesting
thought, the “…the word of God is
living…”, how can the printed page actually be living? It seems impossible that ink and paper can
take on a life of its own. Yet, it is
not so much the ink and paper as much of what it contains and reveals about God.
John 1:1-4 (NKJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
It has been said that when
you read a book you actually get inside the head or mind of the author and begin to see their story from their
perspective of what they were communicating.
It is like putting on their mind for a time and sharing their thought
processes regarding the details of their story.
We can share the author’s emotions, anger, happiness, joy,
disappointment and sadness while reading their story. Reading the bible is the same way, but with a
different take, we are reading the words inspired from the creator and designer
of our world.
The Bible has a unique way
of getting down to the essence of humanity and speaking to us at a very
rudimentary level.
That rudimentary level is
where God expresses His love to us. It
is also a place where sin is revealed and our corrupt human nature is exposed
for what it is. This kind of exposure
threatens some people and makes them afraid of this Holy God as described in
the Bible. (See
1 Peter 1:22-25 (NKJV)
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently
with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible
seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
24 because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as
the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which
by the gospel was preached to you.
The Bible contains the words
of truth inspired from our God. These
are not words which can be easily ignored, for these are words that inspire,
convict and empower people of faith.
These words also establish the laws of nations through justice and
equality especially in the Western world.
The Bible can change the mind and soften the heart of even the hardest
person through the Good News of the Gospel which also provides a way of
escaping death and eternal punishment by offering forgiveness and redemption
through Jesus.
John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.
The Bible is the source of
much skepticism and doubt in our modern Western world because people have a
preference to place their trust in evolution, science, and politics rather than
the established Word of God. It seems we
appear weak if we trust God, for how can we trust something like the Bible
which is so old and out of touch with our modern world? That is the argument which has set itself against
the authority of the Bible. God’s word still
remains true and unchanging, which also proves that relativism does not exist
in the Bible.
Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The Bible remains the
resource for morality and true justice since the beginning of recorded history.
We have an incredible resource available to us which brings us comfort
and hope in a chaotic world.
Psalm 119:50 (NKJV)
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me
life.
So in the final analysis,
what is the Bible? Simply put, it is God
revealed in printed form.
I pray that you may take
time to read the Bible and it becomes your source of hope and inspiration for
life. God is alive and revealed on the pages
of the Bible in many different ways.
He pursues after us with
determination like a hound dog in search of its prey, He will not give up His
pursuit until He finds us and tells us of His love for us, and His desire for
us to respond to Him, and know Him.
Stephen Barnett
God is good all the time―all the time God is good!
Song for the Church
Words and Music by Chuck Butler
The Church of Christ Like a flower
needs each petal
Don’t let your Bible
gather dust
Without the Word our
hearts would harden into metal
Don’t let your heart begin
to rust.
Chorus:
Take the time to read
Jesus took the time to bleed
For our sin.
The light of God needs
each ember
Don't hide it's brilliance
in the shade
Until the spark of the
Spirit fills each member
Don't let your faith begin
to fade
Repeat Chorus:
©1975 Maranatha Music
The song and lyrics above are
copyrighted by the respective artists and are demonstrated here for educational
purposes only and not for profit.
1 Riches, John (2000). The Bible: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-19-285343-1.
3"The battle of the books". The Economist. 22
December 2007.
4Jump Up Ash,
Russell (2001). Top 10 of Everything 2002. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN
0-7894-8043-3.
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