It’s not all about me?
Most mornings I sit down in my big leather chair, spend some time in prayer & then read the Bible looking for inspiration & encouragement. Not a bad way to start the day. It’s the “Christian” thing to do. Right?
Isn’t the New Testament the easiest source of encouragement, like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)?
Outside of Psalms & Proverbs, the Old Testament is sometimes viewed as not applicable to modern day life. Reading about sacrifice & land wars doesn’t help us deal with our work situations or our children’s misbehavior. Sometimes we wrongly assume that the Bible was written for our personal interests or just to make us feel good.
Early church kept Christ central
After Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, the early church formed & began to spread the gospel. Their primary Scriptures were the Old Testament, gospel writings & some letters.
This first “Christians” or “Christ followers” viewed the Scripture differently than we tend to today. Christ was central. Willing to be persecuted for the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, they clung to the Word that He was the Son of God.
Reading the Old Testament gave them encouragement of the legitimacy of their faith…Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. They read the Bible Christologically.
“The New Testament apostles interpreted the Old Testament scriptures Christologically; that is, they understood and made sense of the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, specifically through the person, work, and mission of Christ. They used Christ to explain the Old Testament and they used the Old Testament to explain Christ. We must learn to do the same if we intend to rightly understand the Bible.” -Hexon Maldonado
When Philip (an apostle) was traveling and came across an Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53, he helped the Ethiopian see Christ in the Old Testament:
“And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” Acts 8:34-35
A greater context
One of the best classes I attended at our church was an overview of the entire Bible, God’s plan from Genesis to Revelation. It gave me a fresh perspective for when I read the Bible.
The Old Testament came alive, as I understood the connection of the sacrificial system to Christ’s death on the cross. When I understood that the battles over land correlated to the covenant God made with Abraham, a covenant including a land and a people.
Kathy in her post “Context is King” gave us great tips on looking at the context of Scripture. In addition to looking at the immediate context, we need to consider the greater story. To see the entire bible as one book, not 66 separate books.
“The Bible is a collection of differing voices that may be heard in concert insofar as they are heard to be witnesses of God’s singular and saving act in Jesus Christ. “-Christian Smith
Even Jesus encourages leaders to read the Law of Moses Christologically:
“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… For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” John 5:39-40; 46-47
Next time you read a portion of the Bible ask yourself, “What does this teach me about Christ?” and “How does this fit into God’s redemptive plan?”
If you are looking for a resource to help your children read the Bible Christologically, consider “The Jesus Storybook Bible” or “The Big Picture Story Bible”.
*Thank you Eldy Eldhose from Dallas Theological Seminary for consulting with me regarding the content of this post.
Is it wrong to read the Bible for encouragement and personal insight? Have you ever read the Bible Christologically?
Like your question, “What does this teach me about Christ?”, in my Ladies Bible Study group, part of our homework is always to note what we learn about God regarding the Bible passage we are studying that week. This little exercise has really opened up my eyes to how much I can learn about God in my daily reading, if I’ll simply take the time to ask, “What does this teach me about God?” Thanks for a great post!
When I learned about focusing on God/Christ in our study of the Bible I was amazed how it deepened my faith. The more I focused on God’s character or the perfect plan He has had since before time began, the easier it was to trust Him with my life & my future. Thanks for sharing Brooke!
Your post and your comment here reveal the answer to the questions at the end of the post. When we read the bible to find Christ, when we look into the old and new testaments to discover the redemptive plan of God, then we are encouraged! When we focus on the tremendous character of God, the miracle of Christ and the cohesive truth of scripture out faith is deepened and we are encouraged. Good information here, I’ll look into those kids books, too.
Perfect summary Alyssa! Yes, yes, & yes to all the above! Definitely check out the Children’s Bibles. I’ve heard the 2nd (Big picture…) is more doctrinally sound, but the 1st (Jesus Storybok…) is more popular.
Heather,
Great word sister! What a wonderful question to ask each time we read the Bible. This elevates reading to the level of studying.
Hope that new baby of yours is doing great. :)
Brooke
(P.S. I am a fellow SLP that follows you on Twitter.)
Thanks Brooke! What a great way to put it: “reading to studying”. My sweet baby is doing well…soaking up every moment of this phase because I know how quickly it goes. AND woot woot for the SLPs!!