Why is the Bible the most important book in the story of western civilization? Answers might include: it was the first book ever printed and the all-time best seller; it is the source for the morals and the laws of nations; it tells the story of God’s relationship with people who believe in Him from the beginning of the world; and believers in Jesus say it projects that relationship through the end of the world. But there is a deeper answer to why the Bible is so important: the message of the Bible changes lives. Individuals have been and are transformed by what it says. Millions testify to that fact. Then, how does it do it? How does it work? How can this old book change you? The Bible itself gives us four clues to how it changes lives:
Clue 1. The Bible is like a lamp.
“I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:104-105 (NIV)
Like a light in darkness it points out danger. The Bible shows the consequences of sin and mistakes, and warns you when you’re getting off course. Careful study of the Word of God will show you if you are drifting into sin and sound loud alarms that you can choose to heed and thereby avoid many sorrows and difficulties. In addition, the light that the Word gives provides security like a lighthouse or a street light. It testifies that God is nearby and ready to guide you, help you and keep you safe.
Clue 2. The teachings of the Bible work like seeds sown in a field. Jesus told a great story, usually called “The Parable of the Sower” (Mark 4:1-20). In it He likens the Word of God to seed a farmer sows in his field. It is all good seed that falls onto a variety of soil conditions. Some lives are like a hard-packed path through the middle of a farmer’s field. They need to be broken before the seed can take root. The hard events that come in life can break a person’s spirit and ruin him/her or difficult times can be used to break a life like a plow breaks ground for planting. A young friend of mine took a break from college to participate in a year-long inner-city mission program. One day in the third week of the program he got mugged running an errand to a convenience store. He had signed on to learn to help people by living and working among them; assault was not part of the program. It would have been easy for him to call it quits and go home to his safe little home town. Instead, he dove into his Bible study and he let the injury, the fear, the anger serve to bring brokenness to his life that enabled God’s Word to grow him in ways he had not anticipated. Other people are like rocky ground in that their knowledge and their commitments are shallow. They have never let the Word take root and grow down deep. Still others say they want to be close to God, but they are distracted by the things of the world like money and material things. They are like ground that needs weeding. The Bible will do that by helping him/her to learn right priorities. However, most folks are good ground and the Word takes root and grows. They learn God’s plan and spend their lives following it. Which soil are you?
Clue 3. The Bible works like a sword.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes about the armor of faith that the Holy Spirit provides for Christ-follower (Eph. 6:13-17). He concludes his description with these words, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” He calls the Word of God a sword in the Christ-follower’s hand. Using the metaphor of a sword demonstrates that the Word not only defends you from Satan’s attacks, but also enables you to take the battle to Satan. The author of Hebrews also likens Scripture to a sword:
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Only the Great Physician can perform surgery with a sword, but that is exactly what the Scripture itself says happens. God uses the Bible to cut away the things that are harmful and don’t belong in your life.
Clue 4.The Bible can help us the way a mirror does.
James gives us one more clue as to how the Bible can change you when you apply what it says.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25 (NIV)
Before I leave the house I always check myself in the mirror and many times I have to wash my face, change my shirt, or comb my hair. What I saw in the mirror saved me from embarrassment. The Word prevents embarrassment because, as you study it, you get a clearer picture of who you are and what your behavior looks like to the Lord. Checking yourselves out with the Bible lets you not only see yourselves as you are, but also to see what you can become when you remain close to the Lord. Knowing the Word of God is imperative for every Christ-follower. As James says, it is not enough just to hear it, but it must be allowed to do its work in your life. I am sorry to say that I have known many people who have attended church for many years, who know very little of what the Bible says. They have heard of the Bible and they have had interpretations spoon-fed to them, but they have never allowed it to change them. They stay on baby food. This causes problems for them because they are missing out on many things God wants to share with them. It often causes problems for churches if they become influential in a congregation. They are called on to make decisions and get behind efforts that they don’t understand, because they don’t know the Word. So the Bible can change you whether you are a new believer or you came to faith a long time ago. It works to shape you into the person God created you to be.
The single most powerful book in the history of the world is the Bible. That fact dumbfounds its detractors, and it is taken for granted by believers, and for the same reason. It claims to be the Word of God, who is our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. If, as I believe, it is the God's Word to us, it should be powerful, because it is a message from the heavenly realms. The Bible has long been revered as holy by those who believe in God, and feared as seditious by those who think it is a bunch of fairy tales and myths.
What is the central thrust of this most amazing piece of literature? What message, above all else, is God sharing with us in this collection of histories, poems, laws, prophecies, biographies, and letters? I think the Bible is a love letter from the Creator to each of us. It is the story of God being jilted by the creation He loves and with whom He wants to have a relationship, and then God doing all He can to woo us back to Him. There are many other things that God teaches us in the Bible, but the main message is that He loves us. His constant love and the fickleness of people is the continuing theme of this multifaceted book.
You can trace this love for us throughout. God called Abraham and promised to make him a great nation so that He could be their God and they would be His people. He led Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt to establish them in the Promised Land so that He could be their God and they could be His people. Time after time, Israel rejected God and chased after other gods, but God always sent a prophet who would tell them that although there would be punishment, God still loved them and wanted them to be His people. The coming of Jesus, His sacrificial death and His resurrection were all to show us how much God loves us and wants to be our God as He calls us to be His people. God is self-sufficient. He does not need us, yet He chooses to love us and He desires our love. Over and over again He says it. The closest human experience to compare it to is the deep emotion of a lover who has been wronged and yet longs for reconciliation with his/her loved one. Here are the passages yielded by a very quick Bible study of the phrase "be their God."
The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." Genesis 17:8 (NIV)
Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. Exodus 29:45 (NIV)
But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.' " Leviticus 26:45 (NIV)
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jeremiah 24:7 (NIV)
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 (NIV)
They will be my people, and I will be their God. Jeremiah 32:38 (NIV)
Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:20 (NIV)
Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " Ezekiel 14:11 (NIV)
They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:23 (NIV)
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Ezekiel 37:27 (NIV)
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
2 Cor. 6:16 (NIV)
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10 (NIV)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Rev. 21:3 (NIV)
This is what makes the Bible so necessary to us. He loves you and me and, in spite of all our sin, apathy, and rebellion, He simply wants us to love Him back. We are invited to live in relationship with the God of the universe. I am accepting that invitation. How about you?
