Reading the Bible
Not sure where to start?
If you are new to the Bible, here are some thoughts to help you get started.
The Bible is about God, knowing who He is, what He is like, what He has done, what it means to know Him, and how a right or wrong relationship with Him affects us for all eternity.
The Bible is divided into two parts – the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Each part is made up of “books”. The Old Testament has 39 books, and the New Testament has 27 books.
The Old Testament tells about the beginning of everything except God. It presents God as the Creator, Owner, Ruler, Lawgiver, Judge, and personally involved King over all that exists. It teaches us about who God is and what He is like, especially that people are not free to approach Him any way we desire but can only come to Him by the means He provides. It’s main focus is God’s establishment of Israel as His special people that He cared for in powerful ways. Through the Old Testament we learn about the need to obey God’s commands as Ruler and Judge in order to have a right relationship with God. We see that when people break God’s laws He must judge them. The ultimate penalty is death! We see that the only way to escape God’s judgment is by payment of the penalty for breaking His laws. We see that God provided animal sacrifice as a temporary “covering” for breaking His laws. An animal was sacrificed in place of the person so that they would not face God’s judgment. The sacrifices reminded the people they were not able to approach God on their own but needed Him to make a way for them to be accepted by Him. We see that God promised He would make a permanent way to remove what stands in the way of acceptance with Him.
The New Testament introduces Jesus and tells us that He is both God and man in one person. It presents Jesus as the answer to our problem of separation from God and as the means of rescue from God’s wrath because of our crimes against His law. It tells us that Jesus came to give Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice to pay for our sin, so that we can be accepted by God eternally. It shows us that God took on Himself the means of paying for our sin so that He could offer cancellation of our sin penalty as a gift and guarantee we could have it.
The rest of the New Testament helps us understand the meaning of the death of Jesus on our behalf. It helps us to understand how to live now as those who God has given the gift of eternal forgiveness.
The Old Testament is the foundation. The New Testament is the structure built on that foundation.
If you have not read the Bible before, it is all important to read, but you may want to start at the New Testament book called “the Gospel of John” (the 4th book of the New Testament). It’s all about Jesus, and it’s written so that you can know who He is and that by believing what God says about Him, you can have eternal life.
The Bible is a big book! If you want help understanding it better, we would love to help you. Please contact us at 574-834-4939 and if no one is there to answer the phone, please leave a message and we’ll call you back to talk.
Not sure where to start?
If you are new to the Bible, here are some thoughts to help you get started.
The Bible is about God, knowing who He is, what He is like, what He has done, what it means to know Him, and how a right or wrong relationship with Him affects us for all eternity.
The Bible is divided into two parts – the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Each part is made up of “books”. The Old Testament has 39 books, and the New Testament has 27 books.
The Old Testament tells about the beginning of everything except God. It presents God as the Creator, Owner, Ruler, Lawgiver, Judge, and personally involved King over all that exists. It teaches us about who God is and what He is like, especially that people are not free to approach Him any way we desire but can only come to Him by the means He provides. It’s main focus is God’s establishment of Israel as His special people that He cared for in powerful ways. Through the Old Testament we learn about the need to obey God’s commands as Ruler and Judge in order to have a right relationship with God. We see that when people break God’s laws He must judge them. The ultimate penalty is death! We see that the only way to escape God’s judgment is by payment of the penalty for breaking His laws. We see that God provided animal sacrifice as a temporary “covering” for breaking His laws. An animal was sacrificed in place of the person so that they would not face God’s judgment. The sacrifices reminded the people they were not able to approach God on their own but needed Him to make a way for them to be accepted by Him. We see that God promised He would make a permanent way to remove what stands in the way of acceptance with Him.
The New Testament introduces Jesus and tells us that He is both God and man in one person. It presents Jesus as the answer to our problem of separation from God and as the means of rescue from God’s wrath because of our crimes against His law. It tells us that Jesus came to give Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice to pay for our sin, so that we can be accepted by God eternally. It shows us that God took on Himself the means of paying for our sin so that He could offer cancellation of our sin penalty as a gift and guarantee we could have it.
The rest of the New Testament helps us understand the meaning of the death of Jesus on our behalf. It helps us to understand how to live now as those who God has given the gift of eternal forgiveness.
The Old Testament is the foundation. The New Testament is the structure built on that foundation.
If you have not read the Bible before, it is all important to read, but you may want to start at the New Testament book called “the Gospel of John” (the 4th book of the New Testament). It’s all about Jesus, and it’s written so that you can know who He is and that by believing what God says about Him, you can have eternal life.
The Bible is a big book! If you want help understanding it better, we would love to help you. Please contact us at 574-834-4939 and if no one is there to answer the phone, please leave a message and we’ll call you back to talk.