Browse through a Bible, and you’ll find riveting stories, detailed genealogies, instructions for rituals, historical records, passionate poems, profound proverbs, apocalyptic visions, and more.
The Bible is not just one book, but a collection of 66 books. It was composed over 1,500 years by multiple authors writing on three continents. Yet all these books are connected by one unifying message.
When Adam and Eve bit into that forbidden fruit, everything in their world changed. God had created them to live eternally happy and pure in a relationship of love and trust with Him. But by disobeying God, they ushered sin into the world, and with it, misery and death.
Just like a terrible epidemic can reduce a healthy, vibrant population to pitiful human wrecks, so sin invaded every aspect of earthly existence. Longevity, physical appearance, health, morality, relationships, nature and ecology—all were negatively affected. The most devastating consequence was that the human expression of God’s image was marred and our relationship to God was severed.
At that fateful moment, God set into action a plan He had devised from eternity: if humans would fall into sin, He would, because of love, but at great personal cost, restore them from their fallen state, mend the broken relationship, and re-gift to them eternal life.
Right there in Eden, God gave them the first good news. Speaking to Satan who had disguised himself as a serpent, God declared: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Gen. 3:15. Yes, Satan and sin would be defeated, but the Seed of the woman, the Messiah, would also suffer.
The first victim of sin was truth. Deception and lies would cause people to forget their identity, their destiny, and their purpose in life. To guide humanity’s journey from degradation to salvation, God inspired holy people with His thoughts, and they penned the books of the Bible. “[God], having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” Eph. 1:9, 10.
In short, the Bible was written for transformation, not merely for information. Therefore, it sings with touching words, calling us to accept God’s redeeming grace, but it also stings our pride, our prejudices, and our faults.
The Bible makes a number of strong claims:
The first part of the Bible, the Old Testament, records the history, poetry, and prophecy of the Israelite nation, from which the prophesied Messiah would come. The New Testament speaks of the Messiah’s ministry, death, and resurrection, the birth and development of His church, and prophecies of His Second Coming. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” John 14:6. Ultimately, the plan of salvation through Jesus is the golden thread of the Bible.
