How do you read the bible? What is the bible about?

So in this video we'd like to talk about how we can read this book – the Bible. So I think many people it's a very complicated book you might have one lying around somewhere but you might open it up and you might pick out a verse and you don't really have a clue what's written and so I'm here today with Paul Blackham and Paul what's your take on the Bible? What's the Bible about and how are we supposed to read it?

The history of the universe from its beginning to its end

I mean superficially the Bible seems like a very complicated thing because it's universe from its beginning to its end and there's a massive story in between and you think ah it's so complicated and sometimes people go oh yeah it's like lots of complicated things and I've got charts to explain it and all sorts of things and massive reference books and things.

"Bible fanatics" didn't get it, Children did

It's really interesting Jesus had a conversation with people who were sort of Bible fanatics in the day but they didn't seem to understand it at all so they were they had like incredibly intellectual arguments about all sorts of different interpretations – and yet Jesus just said

"you don't know what you're talking about, you just don't get it do you?"

and it's interesting that he seems to think little children could understand it but he's talking to these people who are super serious or Bible scholars and he didn't think they understood at all and when he got to them – and it's in it's in John 5 and it's verse 39 of John chapter 5 – so this is in the new testament this is in the new testament bit and he says "you study the Scriptures diligently because ..." "... you think that in them you have eternal life" so that they thought if I could just figure out this complicated book okay I would get immortality and eternal life it's like almost this is it it's got all these puzzles to unlock and if I could just do it then I get eternal life and he's like nah, he says this: "you ..." " you do that. these are the very scriptures that speak about me" "... but you refuse to come to me to have life"

"This book is about me" says Jesus

So he seems to be saying this isn't a complicated book at all this is a book that's just about me and I'm the one who'll give you eternal life not a book and not like your clever working out of puzzles or diagrams or charts. He said even little kids understand this book and they get it's just about Jesus it's about him. So what you discover is and this is what the Bible teaches you about the Bible so the beginning of the Bible creation the universe like this God speaks his words and all the light and life of the universe comes to be.

Jesus: the Creator of the universe

The Bible goes that is God creating the universe by Jesus. Jesus is the Creator of the universe. Now that's already quite a profound difference to what a lot of people might you know say nowadays I mean so you say it was actually Jesus who created the universe it is and that's like not just I mean the whole Bible says that like John's Gospel sometimes people are aware of John's biography of Jesus and it just begins by saying basically in the beginning there was Jesus and everything was created by him and for him and through him and he gives light and life to everything in creation. Apostle Paul says it but interestingly you get that in say Proverbs chapter 8 will you get this sense that this is divine craftsman who created everything in the universe it's all the way through the Bible that the Lord God created through this Jesus the great word and wisdom of God and that's how the universe came to be so when we deal with Jesus – yea, he became one of us but he himself says I'm the beginning and the end I began the universe I will judge it at the end. He's the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. So when we read this story we're reading about this God the Father who sent his son and he created the universe through his son from the beginning of the Bible and then at the end of the Bible there's Jesus coming back to judge and renew everything so it's page 1 it's Jesus is the number one fact about the universe. Last page Jesus is the number one fact about the universe. Everything in between on every page is just trying to show us that.

The true meaning of the Story of Adam and Eve

So even the story of Adam and Eve – like people go "oh yeah it's about eating an apple" or some weird test or something. No no no no There's Jesus – 'cause remember the Lord God came walking in the garden. Who is this God who walks and talks on planet Earth? It's Jesus. And the issue is he said

"here's the whole universe enjoy it, I've made it for you it's wonderful ... just one little thing I just want to see if you tell if you do trust me, obviously you must trust me because I've just only given you wonderful good things, just let me give you one opportunity to show that you trust me. Here's a tree. You can do anything with anything else, the whole garden is all yours. Just this one thing: don't eat from that one."

...and of course they don't trust him they don't trust Jesus.

The number one issue in the Bible: not trusting Jesus

And that's the number one issue from the beginning of the Bible to the end – they go

"nah nah ...  I think you're trying to do as out of good things and we don't trust you we need to take control and we understand the universe better than you and we should be in charge of our lives. We don't trust you."

And so that issue all the way through the Bible is: do we trust the One who holds it all together and makes sense of it because we were designed to be in love with Him and it begins with a marriage and it ends with a marriage the whole Bible, because we were designed to be married to this living God and enjoy his life in all its fullness and we human beings,  we're not restricted by him, we come alive and live life to the fullest and have big minds and open hearts where we're united to Him but we're like:

"no no no we want to see what happens if we go our own way"

Okay that's the story of the Bible so right you get all these people who are trying to fix themselves and set up their own kingdoms and authority and it's all the way through and all the way through the Lord Jesus Christ remember in the very beginning when Adam and Eve were hiding from him they went into the bushes to hide from their Lord God who made them. It's pathetic, ridiculous and they're hiding, suddenly embarrassed by their bodies and people worry about body image I'm uncomfortable with my body that and if only I paraded naked or lost weight or went to the gym then I would be comfortable – nah – Adam and Eve had the most perfect bodies ever. They were ashamed of them. Why? Because they've been disconnected from their Creator and suddenly nothing felt right anymore so if we want body confidence we need to know the God who made us. Anyway. So they're hiding, ashamed, they're all like I don't feel good in my body I don't like you anymore and they're like... They're hiding and He just says:

"Adam where are you?"

All the way through the Bible that's what he's just calling to us we've gone away from him were lost we're at each other's throats, we're building towers and kingdoms that are only causing this trouble, we're setting up our families with all sorts of ridiculous dysfunction and politics and sexual problems it's all here and all the way through He's just saying:

"Where are you?Just come back. Trust me. You're weary, you're burdenend. I can give you the rest that I made you for."

And the Bible's not telling us lots of different things that God's doing as if once he tried to do it this way then He says

"oh no maybe I can save them by making them do animal sacrifices or maybe if they do kingdoms or maybe ..."

No no no all of that is not the thing. In all those things He's just saying: here is Christ the King your bridegroom the one who loved you and made you. Trust Him. Trust Him and in loads of different ways he just calls with the same simple message from the beginning of the world to the end of world it's harder to be lost than to be saved we were made to be saved all we need do is just go "Lord help me" and He will and that's all he wants us to do.

The Bible is a storybook about Jesus

So to sum it up the Bible is really a storybook about Jesus and it's Jesus calling us all the time all the time. And so does it matter where I start reading? No – one of the things we do in church is just go through books of the Bible and it doesn't matter like when persons joins the church we don't that oh you better start with Matthew we could just start reading whatever what we're currently doing because every book will have exactly the same message presented in different ways you know like Hosea is about a bride and a bridegroom and her bride's unfaithful or Ezekiel you know he's like doing all sorts of multimedia presentations you know all the kings when you see the kings and they're unfaithful they forget the Lord but He's the true King and they're always there the message just rings true, rings true, rings true. Here is Christ calling:

"Trust me. I'll fix the mess. You can't fix it. I can. Trust me"

Thanks so much and we're gonna carry on this series of videos where we're going to be asking very concrete questions about the Bible so what does the Bible have to say for example about love about sex about health about families just about life really and I look forward to seeing you on a next video.