Is there an overview of the Bible that will help us study together?

on Apr 5, 2024

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: My parents gave me the most beautiful Bible for Christmas. They became Christians after I came into their home through the foster care system. A couple who cared for me a short while before helped place me in this home after they led my adoptive parents to the Lord. Inscribed is the most beautiful thought: “You are God’s gift to us through adoption according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). Is there an overview of the Bible that will help us study together? – A.D.

A: The Bible took 1,600 years to write. More than 30 authors acting as secretaries for God wrote its 66 books. So unified is the message, that the library of these 66 books actually comprise His Book — God’s message to the world.

The pages reveal small and great sins; the weaknesses of human nature are admitted, and life is presented as it actually is found. The central message of the Bible is Jesus Christ and the true story of God’s redemption of sinful humanity through His Son.

In Genesis, Jesus is the Seed of the Woman. In Exodus, He’s the Passover Lamb. In Deuteronomy, the Prophet. In Joshua, the Captain of the Lord’s hosts. In Judges, the Deliverer. In Ruth, the heavenly Kinsman. In the books of the kings, the Promised King. In Nehemiah, the Restorer of the nation. In Job, my Redeemer. In Psalms, my Strength. In Proverbs, my Wisdom. In the prophets, the Coming Prince of Peace. In the Gospels, He is the Christ who came to seek and to save. In Acts, He is Christ risen. In the epistles, He is Christ the exalted. In Revelation, He is Christ returning and reigning.

The message of the Bible is the story of salvation through Jesus — and the whole world needs to know this story. We can know it and tell it!

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)