The Bible is not a painting to be looked at, but a window to be looked through, and through that window we see Jesus. We read the Bible because it is the best God-given window through which we get a clear view of Jesus – who is God’s ultimate self-disclosure. We read the Bible to learn about the failure of the old and the beauty of the new, brought about by Jesus, who said “Follow me.” The gospel in one world is simply Jesus. It’s all about Jesus!
God revealed through Jesus
- Jesus’ followers believe that reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel. They fought hard to help broken relationships, with God and with each other, come back together again.
- When we love our enemies hate and aggression and a culture of violence is put on hold for a moment. Offering everyone who experiences it a moment of light and an opportunity to wake up to reality.
- We have been raised with Christ and are to set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthy things. That doesn’t mean we ignore what is going on in the world around us. It means that we put Jesus first, his mind first, his perspective first.
The Bible begins at, well, the beginning with “Love” as God’s motivating force for creation. Love is, as it were, God’s divine DNA. We are the result and the expression of God’s love life. God reveals himself to us definitively through Christ. God somehow gives birth to himself, the God within God, he who is in the “bosom” of the Father. It is as though God opened up his chest to show us his heart and out walked a person! That person is Jesus. “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” Jesus is the way to God because Jesus is God. When we look at the person of Jesus we can see that he is God with us. God is for us, God on our corner, and God on our side.
The Kingdom of God
As followers of Jesus, we are the people of God and according to the Bible we belong to the Kingdom of God. In the gospels, we get a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God would look like if the followers of Jesus would fully embrace it. This kingdom is not a physical place or plot of land. Although we live it out locally in the physical world. The Kingdom of God is a way of living with Jesus our King. A way of being a part of what he is doing in the world, no matter where we live. The word kingdom refers to a realm of relationship with God and others that is in harmony with God’s will and God’s way. This kingdom living isn’t always easy, but it is the most satisfying way to be in this world. It resonates with who and how we were made to be.
When we read the opening chapters of the Bible and see the world God created before we humans had a chance to mess it up. There are no special places where Adam and Eve need to go to meet with God. No special rituals they need to participate in to make God appear or to receive his favour, and no special leaders needed to mediate between them and God. There is just God and humanity living together in naked intimacy.
Those who have put their trust in Christ and made Jesus Christ Lord of their life can once again enjoy intimacy with God as we have become “living stones” that make up the structure of God’s new temple. Where we act as priest to one another and make spiritual sacrifices in how we serve and love one another. Jesus promised us that when he left, his followers would become like the body of Christ. Share in the same experience – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and God’s personal presence. The early church spoke of us together making up one organic, relational, and revolutionary “body of Christ” that was in fact one unified temple of God.