Encountering God In His Word

This week we began a new 6-week class on Wednesday night called Foundations. It is basically an introduction to foundational Christian doctrine as well as a course in practical Christian living. In the first session we looked at the foundation of Scripture. One of the particularly important points we discussed was one of the main purposes of Scripture. While Scripture serves a number of purposes, it is critically important that we not turn the study of God’s word into an end in and of itself. This is because God’s word is meant to lead us into a relationship with the Author, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus himself spoke of this when he said to the religious Pharisees of his day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). He was in effect saying that the Scriptures bear witness about him and are meant to lead people into a relationship with God. In saying this, he is not knocking Bible study, but he is rather encouraging proper Bible study which will lead into a growing relationship with himself. In fact, Bible study is critically important because the Scriptures show us who God is. However, mere Bible knowledge is not enough if it does not lead us into an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ. 

It is possible to have the Bible memorized forward and backward and yet end up in hell. The point is not that we neglect to study God’s word, but that we diligently pursue Bible knowledge for the purpose of growing in our understanding of Jesus and our relationship to him. Allow your time in God’s word to become a means of knowing, loving, and pursuing its Author.