Actually, this series is from Understanding Bible Truth
booklets by Robert Hicks and Richard Bewes (1981), but I have expanded
some texts for modern readers (to make it easier to read) and added
Scripture quotes (I’m using ESV Bible)
into these writings to clarify its points more clearly. My purpose of
making this series available in the internet is single: So that you can be clear the essential facts about the Bible’s teaching in a readily understandable form.
Why the “Central Theme” in the Bible is Important?
Many good Christian
scholars try to discover what the center theme of the Bible is. Some suggests
that the center theme are God, Israel, Covenant, creation, kingdom, salvation,
new creation, and so forth. In many of the arguments regarding this matter, Kingdom of God is the most famous one as
the theme – but as for me, I think that Jesus Christ is THE theme of the Bible. All of the above will lose their meaning
without Christ. If there is no Christ, there is no kingdom of God to talk
about. The diversity of the Bible is unified in Jesus Christ. He is the center
that holds all of the biblical truths together. The fullest expression of God and His glory come in the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ – He is the
theme of the Bible.
How Christ comes into the
historical-biblical scene and how God in His eternal purpose set Christ as the
main theme in the Bible?
The Continual Conflict
The conflict in the Bible
began when Adam and Eve questioned God’s authority (Genesis 3). From this simple beginning stemmed the entrance of sin
into the world, and the revolt of mankind against God’s rule. The Bible traces
the spread of this conflict between men and God. It show men soon become
hostile to each other (Titus 3:3),
as well as to God. The Bible then continuously shows the need of humanity to be
reconciled to God. That’s why as the Bible story progress to the New Testament,
“God [by His own loving initiative], who through Christ reconciled us to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18, bracket mine).
The Promised Savior
The Old Testament speaks
clearly about the longing for a future deliverer from sin and guilt (see Isaiah 53). However, this is more than
a mere hope. The prophets, particularly, speak of God’s promise of a Savior,
who will establish a new agreement with God’s people – with forgiveness and
liberated service at its heart. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their
hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).
The New Testament points
unmistakably to Jesus Christ as being this promised Savior. Jesus Himself said,
“Everything written about me in the Law of Moses
and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
The Works of Christ
The coming of Jesus Christ
in history fulfills all the hopes of the Old Testament and provides the basis
for the New. In Jesus, God Himself entered human history and opened the way for
forgiveness and holy living. This was done through Christ’s death, His
resurrection and His gift of the Spirit. Death is defeated, the power of Satan
is broken, and the ascended Christ rules. Paul writes, “[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so
that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).
The New Community
“For through [Jesus]
we both have access in one Spirit to the
Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household
of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus
himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined
together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:18-21). The New Testament portrays
the followers of Christ as the society of the saved – called to be members of
His world-wide Church. Wherever the rule
of Christ operates in people’s lives, there His church is found.
This new community
worships its reigning Lord, and is called upon to fulfill its mission of
evangelism and practical service to the whole world. Jesus Christ personally
upholds it in every experience. When He comes again, its membership and task
will be complete (and I say “Yes! Come,
Master Jesus!”).
The Ultimate Victory
The whole of creation will
be involved in the final triumph of God. His love and justice will be upheld
for everyone to see, and the whole empire of evil will be overthrown.
The great landmark of the
future is the return of Jesus Christ, personally, historically, visibly and
triumphantly (see 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18). He will come as Judge of the whole world as well as Savior of His
people, the elects. The date of His coming cannot be predicted (now, you can
skip Nostradamus’s prophecies and throw away the Mayan’s calendar all together),
although calamities, wars and the appearance of false christs confirms to a day
when they will receive new bodies which will never age or die. Then sin and
sorrow will be banished forever, and their salvation will be complete.
John the apostle says, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with
man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will
be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain
anymore, for the former things have passed away’” (Revelations 21:3-4).
My Conclusion about the Bible “Its Central Theme”
Truly, Christ is the
central theme of the Bible. In the conflict between humanity and God, He is the
ultimate solution; in all of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming
Messiah the Savior, He is the One; in the hope for one new community united by
all saved people, He is the reigning Lord; in the final triumph of God, He is
the Victorious King – Christ is the
central theme of the Bible.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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