The Lord God decided to reveal Himself to mankind via a book. How basic is that? But some may ask,
Why a book? Given His all-powerful, all-wise nature, why not reveal Himself in much more dramatic ways so as to trigger lasting faith in Him?
Perhaps no one knows for certain, but this is what I perceive.
God is a living, speaking Spirit, Who expresses the full range of known emotions. He created us in His own personal image, as speaking spirits. He also created us to think in pictures, which suggests pictures or images may be core to how He functions. Consider the extent to which picture images we envision inform what we speak, and consider how well we use words, whether spoken, written or signed, to communicate those images to others. It’s truly remarkable.
God instilled deeply within each of us the desire to worship. His desire is for us to worship Him out of our own free will. Yet He foreknew our proclivity to being deceived, including deceived into worshiping other things, whether in addition to, or in place of Him!
God delegated full authority to Adam, and ergo mankind, to rule over every dimension of life on Earth in relationship with God. When Adam sinned in disobeying God, he effectively transferred to satan all delegated authority to rule Earth. satan became ‘the legal god of this world’, giving him and his demons full access to every facet of earthly life. God’s plan to reclaim His authority over Earth, and to re-delegate it to man once again would require a protracted process, lasting millennia, not just a few years. During this period, He would:
1. Iteratively test the minds and hearts (spirits) of mankind, in part to develop our faith, and also to reveal to us the nature of our motives (See: Jeremiah 17:10 and many other similar verses), and also
2. Initiate His process of establishing a lengthy family lineage for Jesus, His promised kinsman Redeemer. (See Part 1)
The derivatives of this lengthy process would be innumerable, high quality examples, the good, bad and ugly, that very well reflected and illuminated both His desires and His concerns about human life on Earth. In His awesome wisdom, He accurately captured these ‘speaking examples’ over the ages in a book He calls, The Holy Bible. I know of no other book that was written and compiled over such a protracted timeframe, and that is as diverse as this book! The Bible richly includes extensive histories, diverse poetry, numerous wise sayings, wide ranging prayers, and numerous spiritual prophecies, including those that became factual, and others that are yet to become factual. This is remarkable! And it’s all designed to build our understanding of, and faith in Him. How clever and effective is that?
The Bible is God’s word-picture book that speaks to us across the ages of time. It is reportedly the most venerated and published book of all time, performing with remarkable precision the exact job for which it was designed.
Worthy of our deepest respect, admiration and study?
You bet it is!
Join me…
