Jesus, Only Jesus

My Expended ‘Edition’ from FES Praise & Prayer letter (March-April 2015)

I had a student-friend in college who allowed himself to get side-tracked spiritually by a dangerous line of thinking. He told me and some other friends that he was having a hard time believing that Christianity was true. He thought, why Jesus doesn’t appear to him physically personally, why God doesn’t send an angel to prove that the Bible is true, why he don’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit when he prayed, why, why, etc. He was serious. So we talked for over an hour and I tried to assure him that the Christian life is a walk based on faith, not on superficial physical manifestations or a visit to heaven. We opened the Scripture and also point to him historical facts. Pray. But our conversation ended eventually and he walked away disillusioned.

Later I discovered that three other student-friends had each talked with him on the same subject. When I asked them, I learned that each of us had counselled him in the same way: cling fast to Jesus Christ as the Bible revealed Him. But our friend didn’t listen to us. This story says so much about our generation today and the people who actually had experienced Jesus the Son of God first-hand. People of Jesus’ day “asked him to show them a sign from heaven.” But Jesus answered, “No sign… except the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 16:1-4). Then Jesus went away.

This is important realization for me that today many people are seeking for and false teachers will appear, especially among our students, to perform miracles, signs and wonders to ‘prove’ the validity of Christian faith but they lack of “the sign of Jonah,” that is the fact truth and the accomplished work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. Oh pray that we will be faithful and “resolved to know nothing… except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Yes, I do believe in miracles but the miracle that I want most in students is the miracle of life-transformed and the difference the living Christ makes in their lives. In Bible Study, Christ. In our call for Jambatan Anak Malaysia (JAM), to be agent of transformation and reconciliation, Christ. In friendship evangelism, Christ. Even in our failures, pray that we will refocus on Christ. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Part 3: The Bible - Its Contents (vi)

Not much of what but Who in the Bible

This is just an icon okay

God Himself became a man so that if we want to know how God work and think, what He does and will do, we can know it through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus appearance on the earth is the central event of all history. It is true that the Old Testament sets the stage for it, and the New Testament describes it. As a man, Jesus lived a perfect life. He died. He was buried. He rose again and as you read this – He is alive today! Dr. Hendrietta C. Mears writes, “He is not merely historical character but a living person – this is the most important fact of history and the most vital force in the world today. And He promises eternal life to all who come to Him. The whole Bible is built around the story of Christ and His promises of life everlasting to all. It was written only that we might believe and understand, know and love, and follow Him”.

Knowing that Christ is the main hero, character, and theme of the Bible, let us look at each book of the Bible about its own distinctive central themes.

The Bible

The Old Testament

Genesis: The start of God’s plan for His people

Exodus: God’s people are freed from slavery

Leviticus: Preparing God’s people for worship

Numbers: God’s people wander in the wilderness

Deuteronomy: God’s people called to obedience

Joshua: Success in the Promised Land

Judges: Failure in the Promised Land

Ruth: The story of a faithful daughter-in-law

1 Samuel: The emergence of Israel as a kingdom

2 Samuel: Israel’s greatest King – David

1 Kings: Solomon – the temple – the division

2 Kings: The divided kingdom, and the prophets

1 Chronicles: God’s faithfulness to His people

2 Chronicles: The fall of Israel as a nation

Ezra: The return from exile, and the new start

Nehemiah: Danger as Jerusalem is rebuilt

Esther: Esther’s courage to saves the exiled Jews

Job: Dialogues on the sufferings of a godly man

Psalms: Man’s honest respond to God

Proverbs: Wisdom for living

Ecclesiastes: The world’s philosophy exposed

Songs of Solomon: A poem of love

Isaiah: The prophet of hope

Jeremiah: The prophet of tragedy

Lamentations: Poem of sorrow

Ezekiel: The prophet of God’s glory

Daniel: The prophet of confidence in God

Hosea: The prophet of love

Joel: The prophet of the Day of the Lord

Amos: The prophet of justice

Obadiah: The prophet of doom

Jonah: The prophet of repentance

Micah: The prophet of restitution
Nahum: The prophet of retribution

Habakkuk: The prophet of doubt and faith

Zephaniah: The prophet of judgment

Haggai: The prophet of dedication

Zechariah: The prophet of restoration

Malachi: The prophet of expectation

The New Testament

Matthew: The teaching of the promised Messiah

Mark: The work of a serving Savior

Luke: The concern of a loving Savior

John: The belief in a personal Savior

Acts: The witness to a risen Savior

Romans: God’s righteousness upheld and applied

1 Corinthians: A church’s problems corrected

2 Corinthians: The ministry of the Church

Galatians: The gospel and Jewish law contrasted

Ephesians: Christ’s relationship with the Church

Philippians: The love and royalty of a Church

 Colossians: The person of Jesus exalted

1 Thessalonians: New converts encouraged

2 Thessalonians: The second coming of Christ

1 Timothy: Instructions for Church behavior

2 Timothy: The pastor of a Church encouraged

Titus: Christian self-control

Philemon: To the owner of a runaway slave

Hebrews: The greatness of Christ exalted

James: Practical instructions for a living faith

1 Peter: The suffering of the Church explained

2 Peter: The perils of the Church foretold

1 John: The reality of divine fellowship

2 John: Walking in the truth exhorted

3 John: Living in the truth practiced

Jude: Apostasy in the Church condemned

Revelation: The triumph of God over all evil

Please Note: The above themes are only guide. Each themes should not be seen the only theme of any particular book, but as a distinct emphasis of that book – and each book of the Bible should be read a whole, so that an overall view is gained of its contribution to God’s message to men.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Part 3: The Bible - Its Central Theme (v)

 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.