Why Did God give us the Bible?

Why did God give us the Bible?

Firstly, God gave us the Bible to have a personal relationship with Him. And the Bible is a roadmap to building on this relationship. It's like His love letter where He reveals who He is, who we are in Him, and how much He loves and cares for and shows mercy to us. We are to have a personal relationship with God, the Father and his Son, Savior, Jesus Christ. It's hard to have someone love you and not be there, but He is. He is close, He walks with His children, with those who are saved.

Saved, that's a word I will delve into later but I do have to mention now, saved places us in union with God. It's stated in the Bible, before we become in union with Him, we are his enemies, and after we become in union with Him, we are his children. He speaks to us through our hearts, through prayers, events, subtly, not so subtly, and through the Bible.

Secondly, you study the Bible to show yourself approved unto God 'for the man of God to be made complete and equipped for every good work.' You see, you study architecture to be an architect. You study accounting to be an accountant, medicine to be a doctor, and cosmetology to be a hairdresser. As a Christian, you study the Bible to let it speak to you, even before any add-ons. There is so much you get from the book you are studying before bringing in what everyone else says such as the teacher (or pastor), the spark notes (or commentaries) etc.

Okay, so when you have the Bible, what exactly does God want you to study? In 2nd Peter 3, it says, 'knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' In Colossians 1: 9 - 10; 'that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk willfully of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.'

And it's important to know why, because I know of persons who know the Bible better than I do, or at least the words, I am not so much sure about the meaning... for example they read it like an historical book and not what you need to bridge that connection to God. In fact, as per 1 Corinthians 8:1, it says 'knowledge can sometimes make people puffed up' believe it or not this even happens in relation to people knowing the Bible. It goes on to say 'love builds us up'. And I think what's important to add is just like the hairdresser or doctor or whoever, it isn't good enough to just study cosmetology and medicine. You have to experience and apply. Same with Christianity. Possibly another reason people know the Bible amazingly but apply it poorly, what are their experiences and have they allowed God into these experiences?

Christianity is experiential, not just study based. Experiencing life with God and God in the midst of all life throws our way or tries to distract us from Him - holding on to God, obeying, while trusting and standing on the knowledge of what the Bible teaches us is what makes us fully pleasing.

So, as much as I tell you the characters of God and my experience with God, I can only capture so much. You have to experience it. Max Lucado, amazing Christian author by the way, said and I paraphrase from memory, you may know your dad is a surgeon and you may have an idea what a surgeon is, but only when he fixes or heals you, you can really appreciate all his capabilities of being a surgeon. You understand it to a different level.

I will give another example. Trust and forgiveness are muscles God loves for you to exercise. Trust in Him and forgiveness in general. And the more you experience, the more you trust. The more you forgive, the more you're able to forgive again because you trust Him. And although you cannot exercise those muscles from studying the Bible or even physically lifting it, just like your job, the studying helps to prepare you. Also, in the midst of it, the Bible gives you truth to help defend against spiritual lies, reminds you what God has done for others and can do for you, and gives you God's promises to hold on to.... to pray and stand on. Now, this doesn't simply happen by reading or skimming or listening to what everyone else says about the Bible. Yes there are good resources to add but studying, understanding, letting God fill your heart and mind with the knowledge He wants us to, as you spend that time with Him by yourself.

And if you forgive and trust more, wouldn't you be better at love?

Don't just assume because someone knows the Bible better than you they are, well, better than you. They may just be good at memorizing or analyzing. But what about applying when no one is looking? What about Godly living? God gave you the Bible because He wants you to strive to study, be obedient, trust, love and so much more. So you need to focus on running your race and being rewarded by being called a faithful servant in the end. Not by anyone else, but by Him.

Thirdly, (don’t worry I am wrapping up) all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The Bible is there for reproof, which is a loving wake up call, correction and instruction or guidance. This occurs not simply by reading but by studying and by saturating yourself with the word of God.

And of course, applying. In James 1:22, it says ‘be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself’. It ties in with what I said before, read, study, apply and equip yourself. Because you're living in a broken world and things will happen and you will need to draw on what you study to help you stand on God’s word and trust in His will.

Finally, to know the truth. Who better to tell you the truth than your creator, than the one who created everything. I heard a preaching recently where it said, God being the author of creation knows all truth, just as an architect knows his drawing intimately. He knows why he placed every line, every door. He knows all of what he put together and why. Yet we, his creations have the audacity in our not even dot but vapor on this earth to be like yeah ‘we know the truth’ and ‘this has to be the truth’ like ‘I think everyone is going to heaven because everyone should or all the good people should’.

I want to agree with you because of love in my heart but God has made a way for anyone good or bad to be saved because He wants our hearts more than our intentions or our actions because our righteousness are like dirty rags. Yes, we are in a broken world but with a sinful nature inherently and His plan is better than any plan or truth I am sure we can think of because all wisdom is just so limited compared to the wisdom of the Creator.

And so, there isn't a my truth, or a your truth. Your truth, I say in finger quotes, are perceptions that change year to year. But truth is truth. It stays true through the passage of time. Even in science, which by the way, God is not against (though some of its uses) but you will see one truth and then years later the scientists will say - that actually wasn't the truth but now we found the real truth. The truth from our creator is found in the Bible. It's not just past events or evolving events but knowledge upon knowledge. The Bible is so amazing it's like peeling back layers from studying one year and then five years later after experiencing life and growing in the Lord you read the same book and it’s like more layers are peeled back to reveal even more … of the same truth while you grow in spiritual wisdom.

But one aspect I want to close off with, which is that God put together there is one way to heaven, one path to heaven and that is through the Son of God Jesus Christ who I will speak on more on Beginning the Bible. But please check out our videos in the homepage to know more.

There are also so many other aspects of the Bible like it lives, it is light, it gives faith, it is poetry and more but most of these I will touch on my podcast/ blogs. So… thank you for reading. :)