It is interesting to
discover what people really think about, and think they know, about the Bible. In
courtrooms, and to make a point, we swear on the Bible. We own Bibles and many
of us invest a great deal of time sending Bibles to nations that do not have
easy access to them. The Gideons consider it part of their mission to put
Bibles in hotels where the weary traveler can find solace within its pages. In
millions of American homes the Bible has a highly visible, prominent place on
our coffee tables. The Bible is
available to us but how much do we really know about what is written on its
pages?
The real question is do
we know the Word? A shocking statistic
is that less than 10% of Americans who profess to be Christians have actually
read the Bible. There is no judgment or condemnation in the statistic, just
fact. Many of us may have read parts of the Bible, but less than 10 % have read
it cover to cover. That is staggering in its implications because that means
believers are still not learning the
truth of God’s Word for themselves. We are
still counting on someone else to tell us the truth about God’s character and
plans for our lives. We don’t actually know
the truth for ourselves; we know what someone has told us about the truth. It only takes ninety hours to read the Bible from
cover to cover. So be encouraged, take the challenge. Read the Bible for yourself and get to know
God’s plan for your life.
If you want to get it
done in ninety days, read an hour a day; thirty minutes a day will get the job
done in six months. In fifteen minutes a day you can read the whole Bible read
in a year. It should be our goal to read the whole Bible every year. Every time
we read the Word through God begins to reveal the truth to us like never
before. If that statistic is even close to true we don’t really understand the Word
of God and know the truth because we really believe what someone else has told
us from their revelation. We have not
experienced the truth of God’s Word personally.
In John 8: 31-36 we
find a very interesting portion of scripture that has been quoted and talked
about a lot in church, history and culture. This is what scripture tells us, “Jesus
said to those Jews who believed Him, if you abide in My Word, you are my
disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you
free. They answered Him; we are Abraham’s descendants and have never been in
bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them and said, ‘most assuredly
I say unto you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin and a slave does not
abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever. Therefore if the Son
makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’”
There are a couple of
words, if you are really paying attention to this portion of the Word that
should really jump off of the page. First, it is the truth that we know that sets us free. Too often this truth is misquoted as it is truth only that frees us. That is simply
not true. It is the truth we know
that sets us free. To know something is powerful within that knowledge. To know
is a spiritual word, and is the Greek word gnosis. It means to know intimately.
It means to perceive or to recognize at a place of inception or attainment of
the truth. It is the same word that is used in Genesis 4:1 at the point of
conception. Adam knew [yada] his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore
Cain... Cain knew [yada] his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch... Adam knew
[yada] his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth... (Genesis 4:1,
17, 25). In the Hebrew language
yada means to know. It is a word that means intimate contact.
It means face to face,
and mouth to mouth. It is the intimacy of knowing the truth in such a way that
you know it for yourself. It is not somebody else’s truth. You know the truth
because you have had a personal encounter with the Truth. The real question may be what is the truth? We are asking if to know the truth is to have
an intimate encounter with it, then what is the truth? This may be a zinger for
some of you, but the Bible on its own is not the truth. It is not the truth, it
the truth of God’s character, written in a book for us to learn about Him. The
book is not the truth, it is a book, it
is a Bible and can be described as a book with instructions for us to live by;
the Bible: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. There are words on pages
that teach us about Him.
Where we seemingly get
off track, and miss the point, is that we do not understand that God is not
interested in us memorizing 66 books of the Bible. In actuality, even if you
re-read the book you can know the book
and still not know the truth. In John
8:31-36 Jesus is talking to the religious Pharisaical men of the day and He is
saying if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. They respond by
saying we have never been enslaved to anybody. We are sons of Abraham. We know
the Torah, we have memorized it every day. Jesus said, “If you really knew the Truth,
you would know me. The One you are saying you know is the One who sent Me. I am
the actually the One that you think you know, that you really do not know
because I am right here.”
In John 5:39 Jesus said,
“You search the scriptures because you think they will give you eternal life,
but the scriptures point to Me.” The whole purpose of the Bible is to reveal
the Truth, and the Truth is not a language, the Truth is not a doctrine, the Truth
is not a religion, the Truth is a Person and His name is Jesus Christ, the Son
of the living God. When you know the Truth, Jesus Christ, who God sent will
make you free. God uses the Bible to
teach us Who He is. I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I believe the Book,
but I do not worship the Book because the Book is just a Book. The Bible is
here for one reason and that is to reveal the Truth of who Jesus Christ is to
us. Jesus comes off the pages of this Book and introduces Himself to you and
becomes reality, not religion.
Getting to know the
truth through an intimate relationship with Christ is a life-giving experience. But most of us know the truth a different
way. The Bible is not the truth, God is the Truth. Reading the Bible is the
best way to know the Truth, and the Truth is Jesus. When truth gets transferred from person to
person, and we believe what somebody else has told us instead of experiencing
the truth as a personal reality it is still truth but it loses the message God
is communicating to us. That is why there are so many people that could go to church
for years and still not believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit gifts are
available to them. In their quest somebody told somebody who told somebody else
that the gifts are no longer available, they were only for biblical times,
centuries ago. The good news for us is that when we know the Bible, we know the
Truth and the truth is we still live in biblical times and the gifts of the
Holy Spirit are for all of those who know the truth.
It is important to read
the Bible for ourselves, not to learn doctrine, even though that is okay. We
study the Word so that Jesus can reveal Himself to us and we can continue to have
personal encounters with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. So that now that
you know that you know that you know, that you know the truth. John 17:3 tells
us, “This is eternal life, that you might know God, and know Jesus, Who God has
sent.” Eternal life is not knowing the truth about Heaven. Eternal life is
knowing the Truth of Who Jesus is, and why He was sent to earth and mankind, by
God. Luke 24 is a very practical application of the difference knowing the Word
can make when we really want to know more about Jesus. Two travelers are on the
road walking from Jerusalem on the Road of Emmaus. These two travelers had been
to Jerusalem, Jesus has been crucified and buried in a tomb and they are
confused. They have co-labored with the other disciples with the understanding
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that He had come to save Israel,
deliver them from the oppression of Roman tyranny and bring great restoration
to their nation.
They had been in
Jerusalem during the drama of the last several days as Jesus was crucified, put
in a tomb, and they think wait a minute, how did this all transpire and what is
the purpose of this? We thought it was supposed to take place this way, yet it
did not happen the way we thought, and had been told it would happen. They were
discouraged, despondent and confused and they were trying to figure it all out.
In Luke 24, Jesus, who was supposedly in
a tomb, shows up on the road to Emmaus. Jesus, Who is supposed to been dead,
and laid out in a tomb is somehow alive and He is walking with these two
travelers on the road to Emmaus.
Not surprisingly they
did not perceive Who He was. That is why
the Word of God is so important. We can have spiritual experiences but until
you get into the Bible you will not understand Who Jesus really is. As He
walked along the road with them He did not try to convince them of who He was.
Luke 24 describes the scenario, “He said to them, ‘O foolish ones and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and entered His glory?” In other words, He is talking to them and
saying you read the prophets, don’t you understand the truth? Don’t you realize
it was prophesied about Me, that I would suffer and that I would enter into
glory. Beginning with Moses and discussing all of the prophets, He recounted
all of the scriptures and the things concerning Himself throughout the Word.
As He shared the Word
something powerful begin to transpire. They drew nigh to the village where they
were going and He indicated that He would have gone further, but they constrained
Him saying abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And
He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass that as He sat at the table
with them He took bread blessed it broke it and gave it to them. Then their
eyes were open and they knew Him. That is that same word gnosis, to know Him intimately. From that we see that after He had
taken the Word of God and broken open and fed them the Word of God, their
spiritual eyes were opened and they knew the truth and the Truth they knew was Jesus.
No one had to prove to
them that Jesus was resurrected. Jesus proved it to them Himself by
demonstrating that the prophecies that were written had been fulfilled. They
did not hear that He was resurrected from the disciples. Their eyes were opened
and they knew that Jesus was the Resurrected Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Their eyes were opened and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight.
And they said to one another, “Did not our hearts burn within us did not our
hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road?” He opened the scriptures
to us. The Holy Spirit wants us, as
followers of Christ, to have a spiritual experience with the Bible so that when
we read it our hearts burn within us.
When I started reading the
Word I had a powerful encounter with the Lord and you did not have to tell me
to read the Bible. I craved it because I wanted to know Him. Some days I
understood what I was reading and some days I didn’t. However, I kept reading
until the words on the page began to give me life. The Word came alive to me. When we read the scripture with understanding
the Word comes alive so now when we read the Bible it is not some boring
theological discourse but a life giving message and love letter from God.
The Spirit of God
begins to move when we read the Bible and He begins to take the words, letters
and the chapters of this Bible and causes them to come to life in our lives. Then,
it is not just a book filled with doctrine and theology that we are trying to
prove. We do not have to prove that Adam and Eve existed, lived in the garden
and made a bad choice that had resultant consequences. We know for a fact, that
to this day, people make bad choices and suffer the consequences of those
choices.
That is the truth. I
don’t have to believe that Abraham actually existed. I do not have to prove
that, it does not matter to me whether it happened or not. God speaks to us to
take steps of faith and move out and trust Him in areas just like our example Abraham
did. You cannot read Psalms and not know they are true because we have all had
sleepless nights, walked dark paths, had
sorrow and hopeless times that we did not think we were going to get through. The
book of Psalms comes to life because we have experienced the same life
situations.
If you will read this Book
you will experience Jesus Christ, the Truth and you will begin to know Him. If
you already know Him, you will know Him better. He is like a diamond; every
time you turn Him He has another facet to show you.
That is why the angels
cry Holy, Holy, Holy! They cry Holy twenty-four hours a day because as soon as
they say Holy, God has done something else to reveal His personality. They cry
holy, and then they see something else. By the time they cry out Holy God has
revealed another aspect of His nature and character. In Genesis, He is the seed
of the woman, in Exodus, He is the Passover lamb, in Leviticus He is the great high priest, in
Numbers, He is the cloud by day and he fire by night, in Deuteronomy He is the
prophet like Moses, in Joshua, He is the Captain of the host of my salvation, in
Judges, He is the judge and the law giver, in Ruth, He is my kinsman redeemer, in
first and second Samuel He is the prophet in first and second Kings, He is the
reigning King, in Chronicles, He is the Messiah from the tribe of Judah, in
Ezra, He is the faithful scribe, in Nehemiah, He is the rebuilder of the walls
of broken lives, in Esther, He is our Mediator that stands in intercession, in Job, He is the
Dayspring from on high, in Psalms, He is the Lord who is my shepherd, in
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He is the wisdom of God, in Song of Solomon, He is my
lover and my bridegroom, in Isaiah He is the Suffering Servant, my Messiah, in
Jeremiah and Lamentations He is a weeping prophet, in Ezekiel He is a
four-faced creature and in Daniel He is the fourth man in the fiery furnace. In
Hosea He is the bridegroom, in Joel, He is the baptizer with the Holy Ghost and
fire, in Amos, He is the burden bearer, in Obadiah, He is a mighty savior, in
Jonah He is a forgiving God, in Micah He is a messenger with beautiful feet, in
Nahum He is the avenger of God’s elect, in Habakkuk, He is the Great Evangelist
crying for revival, in Zephaniah He is the Restorer of the Breach. In Haggai, He
is the cleansing fountain, n Zachariah, the piercer, in Malachi, the Son of
righteousness that arises with healing in His wings. In Matthew, He is the
Messiah, in Mark the miracle worker, in Luke He is the Son of man, in John, the
Son of God, in Acts, the Ascended Lord, in Romans, the Justifier, in Corinthians,
the last Adam, in Galatians, the One who sets me free. In Ephesians, He is the
Christ of unsearchable riches, in Philippians, the God who meets all my need.
In Colossians, He is the fullness of the Godhead, in Thessalonians the soon
coming King, in Timothy, the Mediator between God and man, in Titus, my blessed
hope, a friend that sticks closer than a brother. In Hebrews He is the Blood
that washes away all my sin, in James He is my great physician, in Peter He is
my chief shepherd, in John, He is my everlasting love, in Jude, He is the God
my Savior, in revelation, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! The Word reveals Jesus as the Son of God on
every page but that is only part of Who He is and what He came to do in the
earth.
When you read it next
year you will have yet another revelation of Who He is. The Bible is designed
to reveal the Son of God to us so the Truth of Who He is will become life to
us.
There is no way you can
be deceived once you know the truth, because the truth will actually come and
live on the inside of you. We have been taught
that we need to obtain the truth, no, you already have the truth. All the Word
does is bear witness with the truth that is already in us. In 1 John 2: 27 the
Word reminds us that the anointing that abides within us teach us all things.
You do not need a man to teach you because when you seek Him through the Word the
Spirit of Truth, Who lives on the inside of you, will reveal Himself to you.
We have to take a step
of faith and begin to read the Word for ourselves. If you know Him today, you
will know Him even more tomorrow. And if you do not know Him you will know Him
like you have never known possible. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Word
describes Him to us from Genesis to Revelations and when you are Presence
driven to know more about Him and His kingdom there are answers to all of our
questions. This is how the Word describes Him: He is my king. He is a seven way
king. He is the king of the Jews, that’s a racial king. He is the king of
Israel, that’s a national king. He is the King of righteousness, He is the king
of the ages, He is the king of heaven, He is the king of glory, He is the king
of kings and the lord of lords, that’s my king, David says the heavens declare
the glory of God and the firmament shows His handy work. My king is a sovereign
king. No means of measure can divine His limitless love, no far seeing
telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of his shore less supply. No
barrier can hinder Him from pouring out his blessing. He is enduringly strong,
He is entirely sincere, He is eternally steadfast, He is immortally graceful,
He is empirically powerful, He is impartially merciful, do you know Him today?
He is the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He is God’s Son, He is a sinner’s savior. He is a centerpiece of civilization.
He stands in the solitude of Himself, He is august, He is unique, He is
unparalleled, He is unprecedented, He is the loftiest idea of literature, He is
the personality idea in Philosophy, He is
a supreme problem in higher criticism,
He is the fundamental doctrine of true theology, He is the cardinal
necessity for spiritual religion, He is the miracle of the age, He is the superlative of everything good you
choose to call Him, He is the only one qualified to be an all sufficient savior.
He supplies strength for the weak, He is available for the tempted and the
tried, He sympathizes and He saves, He strengthens and He guards and He guides,
He heals the sick, He cleanses the lepers, forgives sinners, He discharges
debtors, He delivers captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He
serves the unfortunate, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He
beautifies the meek. My king is king in the key of knowledge, He is the
wellspring to wisdom, He is the way of deliverance, the pathway to peace, the
roadway of righteousness, the highway of holiness, the gateway of glory. His office is manifold, His promise is sure,
His light is matchless, His goodness is limitless, His mercy is everlasting, His
love never changes, His word is enough, His grace is sufficient, His reign is
righteous, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe
Him to you, but He is indescribable. He is in comprehensible, He is
inconceivable, He is irresistible, can’t get Him out of you mind, you can’t get
Him off your hand, you can’t live without Him and you can’t live with Him, the
Pharisees couldn’t stand Him but they found out they couldn’t stop Him, Pilate
couldn’t find any fault in Him, witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to
agree, Herod couldn’t kill Him, Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave
couldn’t hold Him, THAT’S MY KING!
