Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010

Life's most important book

During the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Westinghouse Company buried an 800-pound time capsule, to be dug up 5,000 years later.

The capsule's contents included baseball bats, golf balls, a variety of printed matter, microfilm and a Bible. When Dr. Francis Stidler of the American Bible Society asked the Westinghouse president why the Bible was included, he said, "The Holy Bible, of all books familiar to us today, will most likely survive through the ages. Therefore, the Bible in the time capsule will be a sort of connecting link between the past, present and the future."

The nature of the Bible's meaning, message and application can be partially summarized with several statements.

The Bible is an inspired book. Kenneth J. Forman wrote, "One does not know that the Bible is inspired because theologians tell him so. If he knows at all, it is because he has come to have this respect through acquaintance with it."

The Bible is a truthful book. It rings true, because it presents the good and the bad. It is a book of truth, in that the great spiritual truths get through to us in spite of our questioning of some details or our imagined or real conflict in some particular generation of time.

The Bible is an authoritative book. Where do we get our final authority for what we do? Is it from kings, emperors, governments, society or even the church? While all of these have tried to be the final authority, they do not have the final word for what we should and should not do. The final authority for faith and practice is the word of God. What the Bible teaches about honesty, truth, ownership, morality, sexuality, marriage, the home and our relationship to God and our fellow man is more important than the laws that governing bodies have made.

The Bible is a whole book. The human body is not several separate and unrelated parts, but it is all of these working together and dependent upon each other. In like manner, the Bible can best be understood when it is taken as a whole and interrelated book. We should not think of it so much as the Old Testament and the New Testament. Instead, it is one book, revealing God and his will. We cannot understand the new without knowledge of the old. And the old is an incomplete and unfinished story without the new.

The Bible is a current book. While it is true that many things mentioned in the Bible are very old, and that some things have already happened as fulfilled history, there are spiritual truths learned in these events that are as applicable today as ever, and in addition, there are predicted events that will surely come to pass.

The Bible is a spiritual revelation. Although there is much scientific truth in it, the Bible is primarily revealing God and the eternal purpose of God to his people. When both the Bible and science are understood, there will be no conflict, because science and the Bible are on the same side. Emil Brunner said, "The importance of the Bible is that God speaks to us through it."

The Bible reveals Jesus. All of the scripture points to Jesus, either forward to him or back to him. From the first word in Genesis to the last word in Revelation, the Bible reveals the redemptive plan and purpose of God and has Jesus Christ as its central personality.

In like manner, it's easier to understand the Bible when the central personality is identified. And upon knowing that Jesus is at the center of the book, it can be seen that all of the pieces fit together.

The Bible is a believer's sword. While it provides defense for believers, it is the offensive weapon that can overcome spiritual foes. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness experience, he answered him with scripture. And every believer needs to be armed with this eternal and sure word if they are to endure the thrusts of the tempter.

The Bible is a spiritual companion and not a fetish or a good-luck charm. The Bible tells us who we are and what should be our manner of living and our relationship with God and other people. We need to know this book, and knowing it and feasting on its truths will bring enlightenment and joy to our soul, hope to our life and strength to our purpose.

Martin Niemoller, the German pastor who was imprisoned for defying Hitler and who died in prison, was given a Bible while in prison after requesting it. When asked what the Bible meant to him there, he said: "What did this book mean to me during the long and weary years of solitary confinement and then for the last four years at Dachau? The word of God was simply everything to me; comfort and strength, guidance and hope, master of my days and companion of my nights. It was the bread which kept me from starvation and the water of life that refreshed my soul."

The Bible: read it and heed it. Peace.