“The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding to the simple.”
I agree that there are many difficult passages in the Bible, but the overall message of the Bible is simple. In a sense, God is revealed to us as a mystery in the Bible, but as the Bible progresses His nature becomes clearer and comes to a sharp focus in Jesus. I have found the real message of the Bible to be simple. I want to share some ways the Bible reveals a simple message. The Bible reveals a simple message of God’s love and care for people. In the Old Testament, from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses and Israel, the love and care of God is revealed. A good example is found in Exodus 3:7-8a: “And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows, and am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.” The greatest example is that the love and care of God is revealed in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus. Observe the simple message given in John 1:1 and 1:14: “In the beginning was the word (Jesus) and the word was with God and the word was God. 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.” It is impossible to explain the grace that made this possible, but the message of it is plain and simple. It simply happened because of God’s love and care for people. Of course, we cannot omit the simplest message of all from John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” With this positive message the Bible also has a simple message about the wrath of God against sin. Romans 1:18a: “For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Romans 5:9 simply reveal how we can avoid God’s wrath: “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him (Jesus).” The Bible reveals a simple message of salvation for lost humanity. When Adam and Eve sinned, their close relationship with God was broken. If one looks at the total message of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, he sees God at work putting that relationship back together. This is the major point of the Bible. How did God repair this broken relationship? He did not do it through the law of Moses. Paul explained this in Galatians 3:24-25: ‘wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” God did it through sending His own Son to die for us, rise from the grave, ascend unto the Father, intercede for us and send His Holy Spirit to dwell in us when we believe in Him. Further, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19: “Therefore if a (person) be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away: behold all things are become new. 18. And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself, and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19. To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself…” We can argue about the finer points of scripture. In fact, we will argue about them, but the messages of salvation and reconciliation are plain, simple and unmistakable. The message is simple in order that all people, from the simplest to the most intellectual, might know that they can be saved and reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Amen! Hallelujah! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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