Reading scripture has long been done in order to prove a
point of view or validate a particular doctrinal persuasion. But what would happen if before you opened
the book, you surrendered your preconceptions, allowed Christ to influence your
reading and lead you to the truth He intended for you to receive – directly one
on one? Would the results be the same,
or might you find a deeper meaning to the same passages every time you read
them? In this book, we will explore
Biblical authors from a different point of view, one without preconceptions,
attempting to find perhaps a deeper meaning in the revelation of the God who
stands behind the book – Jesus Christ.
For if truth is not centered in Jesus, can it even be called truth? Let’s take a second look …
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Perhaps the biggest obstacle to understanding truth is our desire to
tell the author what it is. We open the
word of God and use the passages to substantiate our arguments rather than to
seek a deeper meaning in the familiar passages.
Because our theories and doctrinal ideas are already formed before we
even open the pages, we limit our ability to learn anything new. Passages that appear contradictory to our
ideas are discarded, and passages that support our ideas are held up as the
most important in all the book. In
short, we insert self into the word of God, and in so doing block Christ from
ever reaching our hearts and minds. But
this need not be a permanent condition.
What if someone told you it was your responsibility to write
down a revelation of truth that the entire world would read and base every
moral decision against for the next 4000 years?
Could you bear that responsibility lightly, could you even fathom
it? I would imagine that every author
who contributed to the book we call the Bible, would have faded from the task,
the weight being just too great. But
each author of each volume in the book we call the Bible was not asked to write
truth from their own minds, only to reveal in written form, the truth that
Christ presented to them. Our Bible is
not an opinion piece written by a series of brilliant authors, it is instead a
brilliant revelation of love penned by a variety of broken men. It is the inspiration we can trust, not the
flawed vehicles who relayed it. It is
the divinity and surety of the source behind the Bible that stands the test of
time. If there is a God of love, who
desperately wants to redeem us from the evil that is us, then we can believe
what He has seen fit to protect and deliver to us is the communication of truth
we need to see His love and freely choose to accept or reject it. The authors need not be perfect, for
perfection can only be found in the truth that is Jesus Christ.
This volume is intended to dive into both the words and
meaning to find the Christ who is behind them.
It was Jesus who was at our Genesis, it was Jesus who met with Abraham,
revealed truth to Joseph, and parted the Red Sea for His people Israel to leave
bondage. It was Jesus who gave messages
to the prophets, and who appeared as a baby in Bethlehem. It was Jesus who gave power to His disciples
and was further revealed by the authors of the New Testament. And it has been Jesus who has been the great
shepherd of His church and His people right down to today. The revelation of truth did not end with the
writings of John, it can still be found in the hearts of those who are willing
to surrender their own ideas first, and allow Christ to remake our
thinking. As we open His book to take a
second look at scripture, a deeper meaning will only emerge if we are willing
to abandon our ideas of control, and be willing to be led. It is in that spirit our journey begins …
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