THE BIBLE (in a nutshell)

THE BIBLE (In a nutshell)

The Bible is a very special book, because it is the Word of God, the Creator of the universe and all it contains. It is composed of two divisions, or covenants, known as the Old Testament, and the New Testament. They are clearly divided by the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the coming to earth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This can be seen in (Matt 11:7-15), where Jesus explains John's ministry as the greatest of the OT prophets, but being less than the least member in the NT in the Kingdom of God. An understanding of this basic division into these two Testaments is so important because of the introduction of a teaching by C I Scofield in 1909 which claimed that all of human history is divided into seven divisions called "dispensations". This teaching has become known as "dispensionalism", and has had a tremendous influence on the church since then. The divisions were 1/ Innocence, 2/ Conscience, 3/ Human Government, 4/ Promise, 5/ law, 6/ Church, 7/ Kingdom. Each division was thought to finish before the next one could start, hence the confusion between 5 and 6, and between 6 and 7, because they clearly overlap. The Kingdom came to earth with King Jesus, over 2000 years ago, and the church age only began after He ascended back to heaven. The Kingdom will not be fully manifested until Jesus comes again in Glory, but it is certainly present on earth today. I prefer to believe the words of Jesus as recorded in scripture, over the theories of any man such as Dr, Scofield!

The OT starts with the creation story in Genesis "in the beginning", no one but God knows when that was. Once the earth was ready to sustain life, He caused plants to be added to it, then animals of all sorts, and finally, about 6000 years ago, He created the first man after His own image and likeness. After this first man Adam disobeyed the one and only direct command given to him by God, (Gen 2:15-17), and sin was introduced to his perfect environment. This sin spread throughout Adam's descendants until the earth became so wicked that all life had to be destroyed. All except Noah and his immediate family (Gen 6:9-9:29), because Noah was a "righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at that time" (NLT).Then God chose the family of a man called Abram to become His chosen Nation. God changed his name to Abraham, and his grandson Jacob had his name changed to Israel, and became the father of the nation Israel, who became God's People. They were given the task of setting an example before their wicked Gentile neighbor nations, of what God expected. Of course they failed many times to live up to God's commands, and He sent them prophets to warn them of the danger of disobedience. When they failed to listen to the words of these prophets, He would use these Gentile nations to take them into bondage. The rest of the OT gives us the history of His dealings with His People, and the promise of a Messiah, who would deliver them from both natural and spiritual bondage!

The NT begins with the coming to earth of Jesus, the Son of God, who always existed in heaven as part of the Godhead, which we refer to as "The Trinity". The four gospel writers give a good coverage of His life, death, burial, and resurrection. Then the book of Acts tell of his Ascension back to heaven where He will remain at the Father's side "until" He decides its time to send Jesus back to receive His "Bride", the Church that the Holy Spirit came to call out of the world. (Acts 3:19-21) Jesus told His followers what the Holy Spirit would do when He came to take His place on planet earth (John chapters 14, 15, and 16). The book of Acts gives the history of how the Church that Jesus said He would build (Matt 16:18) is being built by the Holy Spirit, as He carries out the will of Jesus who remains at His place at the Father's side. The various letters of Paul and others, give us the instructions the Church should follow, to prepare for the second coming of Jesus to receive His Bride who has made herself ready! (2 Cor 7:1). Then the book of Revelation wraps up this age of grace by recording a series of visions that Jesus gave to the apostle John, who also wrote the fourth gospel, plus three short letters. Remember it is a series of separate visions, and can not be taken as a chronological book like Acts. In other words, the chapters don't necessarily follow each other in a logical order. However a careful reading of this final book of the Bible, with the enlightening of the Holy Spirit who helped John write it, will allow you to understand how it all ends. This will require a "face value" interpretation of God's Word, and not some man made theories.

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer