November 3, 2021 Bible Course
Last week a small group gathered in the parlour of
our church to begin again a Bible program which was developed in England and is now being distributed through the Bible Societies around the world. The Bible Course is an overview program which describes the themes of the Bible broken down into sections so that those not familiar with the Bible will have a new understanding of what is contained in God’s Word.
But what is our purpose in doing this program? The purpose
is to reacquaint ourselves with God’s story as to what was, and is known in
human history. Before the pandemic, we had made our way through the Old
Testament and comments made varied about what had been shared so far. But,
because it is over a year and half ago since we started, we decided to recap
the Old Testament again.
What is the fall of man? What is
the covenant God made with Abraham and Noah? What kind of relationship does God
really want with us, the creature he created in His image? Many people might
say that these topics are not relevant to the world of the 21st
century, yet they are because if we truly had taken responsibility of caring
for God’s creation we would not be facing climate problems today.
But like the story goes, we learn from mistakes of the past
in order not to repeat them!
Those
participating in this course are starting to connect with the Tree of the
knowledge of good and evil as well as the Tree of Life in Genesis and in the
vision of Revelation. We have also recognized that God – as Creator the Son and
Spirit was present at the time of creation. It is in time that God sends Jesus
to earth to save and redeem us.
Just how wonderful are the words of
the Bible. But they are only wonderful if we take the time and read them every
day! There is so much knowledge in them that we often forget what we read
earlier, but there is always something new as we take on and learn different
perspectives. We must read the Bible and discover what the text says itself.
What is the story, the characters doing? And then we must then ask, now what?
What does this passage mean for our lives today? This is how we listen for God’s Spirit to open
our minds and hearts to what God is trying to teach us.
These past weeks we have been
singing the hymn “Wonderful Words of Life”; a hymn which reflects how we
communicate with each other and especially how we learn from God and relate
with Him. The Bible gives us stories of people who lived in different eras in
history. Yet many of them face similar situations as we do and we can connect
because we are all a part of human history. God made us all, and so we need to
understand this for who we are and who we might become in our lives.
What does it mean to hear the story
and interpret it for us today? It means listening to what is read and shedding
light upon it from today’s perspective. For we must remember that even two
years ago we would never have thought that the world would be in lockdown and
pandemic was a word used in science fiction. Perspective has also called us to
reflect upon our relationships with family members and friends. And hopefully
the relationship you have with God! Let us remember this as we take time to
read the Bible and know who you are as a child of God.
PRAYER
God of grace encourage us to take the time each day to read the Bible and
understand it from our 21st century eyes. Show us what we need to
know today, and teach us with love and hope how we are able to grow in
relationship with you. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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