“All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable to teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 1:20-21

Have you taken time lately to think about how blessed we are to have the Bible? It is so easy to take it for granted, isn’t it? Think about it, most of us probably own multiple copies of this sacred Book, in several different translations, laying around the house. Many of us also have study aids to assist us in our personal desire to not only read, but understand this most wonderful Book. And yet, truth be known, for too many of us, this most glorious of all books is so often neglected. I realize that many of you who read my blogs regularly probably do spend time reading from the pages of this Book, but sadly, there are far too many who never pick it up except to shove it under our arm as we make our way to church on Sunday.

That is, indeed, a tragedy of enormous proportion. This Book is, after all, the very Word of God. There is no other book which even begins to compare with the wonder of the Bible. So, I thought it might be wise to take a few minutes to remind ourselves of some of the wonderful facts relative to Scripture.

Let’s begin by an overview of some of the wonderful statistics regarding this Book. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books: thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. These different books were written by about forty different authors over a period of fourteen hundred years. Before moving on, please reread the preceding two sentences, then take a moment to let those facts sink in. Forty different authors, living in different historical eras, coming from different backgrounds, economic classes, social classes, and having experienced vastly different walks of life, wrote these distinct books which comprise the Holy Scriptures. Princes, paupers, shepherds, kings, common men and women from all walks of life were chosen by God to be the human authors of this Holy Book.

Some wrote in times of prosperity, while others wrote in times of poverty. Some wrote to preserve history, while others wrote to show how history is a tool in the hands of God. Some wrote to call people to repent, while others wrote to assist serious believers in their journey of spiritual growth and development. Some wrote to reveal the realities of living a life devoted to God, while others wrote to warn about the realities of the severity of God’s judgment against those who reject God.

But the amazing thing is that all forty authors, over fourteen hundred years, wrote a message of absolute cohesiveness. Their message is one, with a commonality running throughout the entirety of Scripture. There are different parts to the story, but the story is one. So, let’s give our attention to the amazing story of the Bible. For the sake of clarity, I will divide my thoughts into four parts: creation, fall, judgment, and redemption.

The story begins with the record of God creating the heavens and the earth. There was a time before time existed. God, being the creator of time, is not subject to the limitations of time. He operates within the parameters of time, and interacts with His creation in time, but is not limited to time. He existed before time, and will exist after the cessation of time. And so it is with all of creation: God created everything that now exists, and operates sovereignly over that creation.

Man is the culmination and crown of creation. Man was created in the image of God and enjoyed perfect fellowship with God. He was given the ability to choose whether or not he would maintain this state of uninhibited fellowship with God, or would relinquish that fellowship by deciding to go his own way in life.

Using this ability to choose to disobey God, man fell from God’s grace by acting in a way contrary to God’s perfect will. Having disobeyed, man suffered the consequences of this action, and was banned from the perfect paradise. The judgment of God was immediate. The world began experiencing the effects of the fall. This fall from grace brought about massive changes to the created order. And those earth-altering effects continue to the present day.

However, the fall did not catch God off-guard. Being omniscient, God knows everything: past, present and future. He knew before creating the world that man would be disobedient, that the fall would occur, and that He would have to personally intervene. Before creating the world, God had already ordained Jesus Christ to be the sacrificial Lamb who would die in order to provide redemption for fallen mankind.

Those who believe the testimony of Scripture embrace certain absolute and irrevocable truths. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; all are under the just condemnation of God; all are hopeless and helpless left to themselves; Jesus Christ died as the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sin of the world; and salvation is provided for those who repent and turn to God by faith. Those who by faith believe these truths will be saved by God’s amazing grace.

Creation, fall, judgment, redemption. The message is clear. The mandate is certain: all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. The method of redemption is set: Jesus Christ died in our place, paying the penalty for our sin. The mission was ordained from eternity past: the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. And now, the choice is yours. Come to Jesus; repent of sin; experience His gracious gift of salvation; live life for His glory in the present; enjoy Him forever in eternity.

And, spend some time today, and every day, reading from the pages of this truly amazing, God-breathed Book. You will be the better for it!