How Can I Understand God and the Bible?
The Old Testament – Not So Hard To Understand
The Bible can be hard to understand for new believers as well as seasoned readers. Why? Perhaps it’s because many don’t take a bigger look at what it is all about. Maybe a 50,000 foot view would be in order. The Word of God – the Bible – consists of the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT)– God speaking to His people in two different eras. Sixty-six books written over 1500 years by 40 different authors give us the messages of God to mankind.
In the beginning God created the earth and universe. He created all we see including man and woman. He created all the angels including the one that rebelled and his followers – formerly called Lucifer and now called Satan or the Devil which were cast to earth. Adam and Eve – fell to Satan’s lies and deception when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. God told them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The serpent (Devil) deceived them into believing that in eating from it they would be like gods knowing good from evil. So they disobeyed God and ate from it reaping His punishment in banishment from the Garden and sin entered the world.
Jesus Christ was present at creation and has always been a part of the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The OT begins with Adam and Eve’s fall and continues through thousands of years – through Noah and the flood. BTW, the flood was God’s direct judgment on mankind’s continuous wickedness on the earth at that time – it was so bad that Noah and only seven others were saved via the Ark. Millions perished in the 40-day flood.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were key men of Israel’s past – they were the patriarchs (men of faith), which led the Hebrews through good times and bad (ca 2100BC). Israel’s enemies were many. Why? They were God’s chosen people and the Devil was/is the one leading the heathen nations against these people of God.
Next comes Moses; He was the one that led the Hebrews out of Egypt through the wilderness (desert)to the Promised Land – the land of Canaan which later became Israel. Again and again the Hebrews (today called Israelites) sinned against God by disobeying the laws He set down to show them how to live a righteous life. Laws like the Ten Commandments and other customary laws. They obeyed and disobeyed – again and again which proved to be a recurring theme throughout the OT. Why? Sin – rebellion and rejection of Almighty God (same as today). They consistently forgot that God was the Creator and they were the created. Pride, lust and greed – all nasty characteristics of the Devil – dominated their lives. Why? They didn’t want to listen to God’s laws – they wanted to do their own thing (see any difference today?).
Laws were set forth from God that required a blood sacrifice which made atonement (reconciliation) for their sin – this was God’s command because life was in the blood. So they sacrificed animals during the OT times making offerings to God for their wrongdoing. The shed blood of an unblemished lamb was the only means the people could be forgiven of their sins (or their sins atoned for).
The OT prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, etc) were prophets-men inspired and sent by God to communicate His warnings against things like idol worship and serving other gods. The people for the most part did not listen to them and either killed or tortured most of them.
The OT closes with the book of Malachi which begins the 400 years of silence when God did not speak to the Jewish people due to their sin. The NT opens with the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah (Anointed One).
The New Testament – A New Covenant (Promise) in Jesus Christ
[dc3E[/dc3]ven though man continued to sin, God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, in His merciful love for us sent His only begotten Son – Jesus to save us from our sins. How? Through His birth to Mary, His short life of 33 yrs, His untimely and unjust death on the Cross of Calvary and His resurrection. As animal sacrifices, in the OT would only atone for sin temporarily, God sent His Son as the Lamb of God, to shed His blood and die in our place paying the ultimate sacrifice for our sin’s – past, present and future. God’s love is so deep for us it’s hard to comprehend but nevertheless true. This paid-in-full sacrifice must be understood and believed in faith. You see without Christ’s sacrifice we are deserving of nothing less than eternal separation from God. God cannot tolerate sin but now see’s us (those who believe) through the shed blood of His Son. We are then righteous before God.
The NT books consist of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – they were eye witnesses (except Luke) to Jesus’ life and ministry while He was here on earth. They gave four similar yet different accounts of the events surrounding Jesus life and teachings. They record His miracles, healings and of course the events leading up to and including His death, burial and resurrection. They also record the life and times of Jesus’ 12 disciples and their faith journey following this remarkable God-man. You see Jesus was both with God and God Himself – God incarnate.
Other NT books predominantly include the Apostle Paul who wrote 14 of the 27 NT books. He testified to Jesus life and penned many letters (epistles) to the new Christian churches established by his journeys throughout Mediterranean lands. He explained to newly formed churches (people) how they were to live holy Christian lives admonishing them to shun their evil and wicked ways. The Apostle John closes the Bible by recording the Revelation of Jesus Christ; the events coming upon mankind due to unconfessed sin and unrepentant hearts during the final days before His return to this earth a second and final time.
A New Hope for Those Who Turn to Christ
When you become a Christian it means you have accepted Christ as your Savior; saved from this sinful, wicked and corrupt world. You confess that you are a sinner and repent of your sin. You profess Him as your Lord and believe that He was raised from the dead by God Himself. Jesus did this so you and I could receive forgiveness for our sins and eternal life with Him in His home – heaven – when we die. You become a new creation; you become born again in your spirit. Throughout the ages, many have scoffed at Christ and what He did on the Cross. Many stiff-arm God rejecting His free gift of forgiveness of sin and unlimited love. Friends, if you reject Christ’s sacrificial gift through His death and continue to be ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of you when He returns again. If you continue to reject Him and live your life in sin, you will die in your sins with your final destination being hell. Hell was created for the Devil and his fallen angels – you DON’T want to go there!
Living a Christian life is a 24×7 commitment. It’s not just on Sunday. Your life won’t be peachy; it will be full of battles both spiritual and physical. This is where your faith and trust in Jesus to keep, sustain and protect you pierces through any darkness. But you must believe and seek Him daily. The enemy of your soul (Satan) will make every attempt to draw you away from Christ. He uses subtle and cunning methods – distractions, peer-pressure, depression, oppression and troubles. But despite these battles we look to the hope of glory to be with Christ forevermore in heaven – this is the prize for all those who run this race in faith. And your faith is made strong by your prayer to God and the reading and hearing of His word – the Bible – every day.
-BPWatcher
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” -2 Peter 3:11-12
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