Christ and the Bible - Part II

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Glory & Praise to the Triune God in the Highest. In the previous session, Part 1, we learned that the Old Testament Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. Also from the beginning to the end of His ministry Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, with all its rich diversity, converged upon him.

But Jesus' Jewish contemporaries missed this testimony. They were very diligent students of the Old Testament. They spent hours and hours in the most meticulous examination of the minutiae of the Old Testament Scripture. They used to count the number of words, even the number of letters, in every book of the Bible. They knew they had been entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2). They somehow thought that an accumulation of detailed biblical knowledge would bring them into the right relationship with God. What an anomalous thing that was, to think that the Scriptures themselves could give eternal life! The Scriptures point to Christ as the Lifegiver and urge their readers to go to HIM for life. But instead of going to Christ to find life, they imagined that they could find life in the Scripture itself. It is somewhat like getting a prescription from the doctor and then swallowing the prescription instead of getting and taking the medicine.

Some of us make the same mistake. We have an almost superstitious attitude to Bible reading, as if it had some magical efficacy. But there is no magic in the Bible or in the mechanical reading of the Bible. The written Word points us to the Living Word and says to us, "Go to Jesus." If we do not go to Jesus to whom it points, we miss the whole purpose of Bible reading.

As Christians, we are not meant to 'worshipers of the Bible.' We should not worship the Bible; but worship the Christ of the Bible. We should not love the Bible for the book it is. But we love it only because we love Him of whom it speaks.

This is the main key to the understanding of Scriptures. The Bible is God's picture of Jesus. It bears witness to him. So whenever we are reading the Bible, we must look for Christ. For example, the Old Testament Law is our "schoolmaster" to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Because it condemns us for our disobedience, it makes Christ indispensable to us. It drives us to Him through whom alone we may find forgiveness.

Next, the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow that perfect sacrifice for sin made once and for all upon the cross, the sacrifice of Christ for our redemption. Another example is the teaching of the Old Testament prophets who foretell then coming of the Messiah.

When we move into the New Testament, Jesus Christ comes yet more clearly into focus. The Gospels are full of Him. They speak of His birth and His public ministry, of His words and works, of His death and resurrection, and of His ascension and gift of the Holy Spirit. The books of Acts tells us what Jesus continued to do and teach through the apostles whom He has chosen and commissioned. The letters of the apostles set forth the glory of Jesus in his divine-human person and his saving work. When we come to the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, it too is full of Christ. For there we see him patrolling the churches on earth, sharing God's throne in Heaven, riding forth on a white horse conquering and coming in power and glory.

The old writers used to say that, just as in England every footpath and every country lane, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to London, so every verse and every paragraph in the Bible, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to Christ. The Scriptures bear witness to Him. That is the first truth which is very plainly taught in our text.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we now come to a close on how the Bible bears witness to Jesus. In the next session, let us try to understand on how does Jesus bears witness to the Scriptures.

Your Brother in Jesus

Jobin

Christ & the Bible - Part 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous series "The Bible", we considered the origin of the Scripture, where it came from- the great subject of revelation. Now we shall be thinking not of is origin but of its purpose; we will be asking not where it came from, but for what has it been given?

Our text is John 5: 39-40. Jesus, speaking to his Jewish contemporaries, says, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

From these words of Jesus we learn two profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible...

The Scriptures Bear Witness to Christ

Jesus Himself says very plainly, "It is they that bear witness to me" (v. 39). The major function of the Scripture is to bear witness to Christ.

Now the context in which this text is embedded is concerned with testimony to Christ. What testimony can validate the claims of Jesus of Nazareth? He Himself tells us. To begin with, He does not rely on His own testimony to Himself, as is clear from verse 31: "If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true." Jesus is not suggesting that He is telling lies about Himself. Indeed he later rebuts a criticism of the Pharisees by insisting that His testimony to Himself is true (John 8:14). His point here is that self testimony is inadequate; there would be something suspicious about it is the only testimony he had came from him alone. no, "there is another who bears witness to me," He says (v. 32).

So the testimony He relies upon is not his own testimony. Nor is it human testimony, even the testimony of that outstanding witness John the Baptist. "You sent  to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which i receive is from man" (v. 33-34). So then, says Jesus, it isn't from me and it isn't from human beings. of course, John was "a burning and shining lamp" (v.35), and people had been willing "to rejoice for a while in His light." But the testimony that Jesus claimed was greater. It was greater than His own testimony to Himself, and greater than th testimony of any human being, even of John. It was the testimony of His Father. "The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me" (v. 37). Moreover, the Father's testimony to the Son took two forms. First, it was given through the mighty works, the miracles, which the Father enabled Him to do (v. 36). But secondly, and more directly still, it was given through the Scriptures, which are the Father's testimony to the Son. Verses 36-39 makes this plain:

The testimony which i have is greater than that of john; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen; and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He has sent. You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me.

It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. He said, for example, "Abraham rejoiced... to see my day" (John 8:56). Or in John 5:46 he says, "Moses... wrote of me." Again, 'the scriptures... bear witness to me" (v. 39). At the beginning of His ministry, when He went to worship in the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61 about the Messiah's mission and message of liberation, and He added: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). In other words, "If you want to know whom the prophet was writing about, he was writing about me." Jesus continued to say this kind of thing throughout His ministry. Even after the resurrection He has not changed His mind, for "he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). thus from beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, in all its rich diversity, converged upon him: "The Scriptures... bear witness to me."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we now understood that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus and his ministry from many years. In the next session, we will try and understand more about Jesus and what the Bible says about him.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ

Jobin

The Bible - Part V

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

I have been really busy for the past one month and hence was not able to complete the full series. We have been learning about the Bible and why God chose to speak though us through the various books of the Bible. In the last session, Part IV, we understood the qualifications on how God spoke through us. Firstly, we understood that God's Word was closely related to His activity, meaning He spoke to His people by deeds as well as by His Words. Secondly, His Word has come to us through human speech. In the Old Testament, He spoke through His prophets and in the New Testament, He spoke through the apostles. We understood the double authorship of the Bible namely, that it is the Word of God and the word of men, or more strictly the Word of God through the words of men, is the Bible's own account of itself. 

Now let us understand the Purpose of Revelation...

In the previous sessions, we understood on how God spoke to us; now let us consider, WHY did He speak? The answer is not just to teach us, but to save us; not just to instruct us, but specifically to instruct us 'for salvation' (2 Tim. 3:15). The Bible has this severely practical purpose.

Returning to Isaiah 55, we see this emphasis in verses 10 and 11.

As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The rain and snow come down to us from heaven and do not return. They accomplish a purpose on earth. They water it. They cause it to bring forth and sprout. They make it fruitful. Just so, God's Word, issuing from His mouth and disclosing His mind, does not return to Him empty. It accomplishes a purpose. Moreover, God's purpose in speaking His Word to human beings are similar. In both cases it is fruitfulness.His rain makes the earth fruitful; His Word makes human lives fruitful. It saves them, changing them into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Salvation is certainly the context. In verses 6 and 7 the prophet has spoken of God's mercy and pardon, and in verse 12 he will go on to speak of the joy and peace of God's redeemed people. 

In fact, here lies the chief difference between God's revelation in creation (natural because given in nature, and general because given to all mankind) and His revelation in the Bible (supernatural because given by inspiration, and special because given to and through particular people). Through the created universe, God reveals His glory, power, and faithfulness, but not the way of salvation. If we want to learn His gracious plan to save sinners, it is to the Bible that we must turn. For it is there that He speaks to us of Christ.

Conclusion

From our text in Isaiah 55 we have learned three truths. First, divine revelation is not only reasonable but indispensable. Without it we could never know God. Second, divine revelation is through words. God spoke through human words and in doing so explained His deeds. Third divine revelation is for salvation. It points us to Christ as Savior.

My conclusion is very simple. It is a call to humility. Nothing is more hostile to spiritual growth than arrogance, and nothing is more conducive to spiritual growth than humility. We need to humble ourselves before the infinite God, acknowledging the limitations of our human mind (that we could never find Him ourselves), and acknowledging our own sinfulness (that we could never reach Him by ourselves).

Jesus called this the humility of a little child. God hides Himself from the wise and clever, He said, but reveals Himself to "babes" (Mt. 11:25). He was not denigrating our minds, for God has given them to us. Rather He was indicating how we are to use them. The true function of the mind is not to stand in judgement on God's Word but to sit in humility under it, eager to hear it, grasp it, apply it and obey it in the practicalities of daily living.

The humility of children is seen not only in the way they learn but also in the way they receive. Children are dependents. None of their possessions has been earned. All they have has been given to them freely. Like children, then, we are to "receive the kingdom of God" (Mk. 10:15). Sinners do not deserve and cannot earn eternal life, which is the life of God's kingdom; we have to humble ourselves to receive it as the free gift of God.

The above extract has been taken from the book "The Bible - Book for Today" by John R. W. Stott.

Dear brethren in Christ Jesus, I hope you have enjoyed reading these series as much as I have enjoyed sharing them to you. In the next session, I will be taking up with the topic "Chrsit & the Bible". Hoping to read your comments.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin