Bible Overview
Christians often have a hard fitting pieces of the bible together. We may have an understanding of family, church, sin, salvation, the cross and other aspects of Christianity, but a lot of times we don’t see how all of these fit together and paint a true picture of Christ.
The Consummation of All Things
We now conclude our study by looking at the future consummation of all of God’s creation. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn…
The Growth of the Church
After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the rest of the New Testament is largely about the growth of the Church. Each book is a letter written to a specific individual or group of people explaining some aspect of the Gospel and its relation to our standing before God. Acts Luke writes to Theophilus to tell him about the growth of the church around the world in the first few decades after Christ’s ascension. It is a follow up letter…
The Holy Spirit
After Jesus’ resurrection He commands His followers to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is an essential part of the New Covenant. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.…
Jesus’ Resurrection
We know the importance of Jesus’ death on the cross, but the whole of the Christian faith hinges on His resurrection from the dead. In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and…
Jesus’ Death
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from…
Jesus the Messiah
We now look at Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy and type. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was…
The Coming of Elijah
The last promise given to the children of Israel was the coming of Elijah. We now read of this promise being fulfilled before Christ begins His ministry. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.…
The Coming of Christ
We now turn to the New Testament. It begins with a genealogy. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.Matthew 1:1 From the very first verse we find that we are going to be learning of Jesus, the Messiah, who is the son of David and Abraham. Matthew is very clearly showing us that Jesus is the Seed of the Woman that we have been waiting for. Now the birth of Jesus…
Return From Exile
The children of Israel are in captivity for their sins. God has promised that this captivity will only last for seventy years. At the end of seventy years, the children of Israel return to the Promised Land. Ezra and Nehemiah are the leaders for this effort. Ezra leads in the rebuilding of the temple, and Nehemiah rebuilds the walls. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah…
Esther
While the children of Israel are in captivity, God continues to send prophets to bring them to repentance. Even in the midst of judgment God is still moving among His people. Esther is a great story of God’s redemption, grace, mercy, and sovereignty. Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God at all; however, the story of Esther is about God and His redemption of His people. The King becomes angry with his queen and…
The Prophets
Samuel is widely held to be the one who ushered in the era of the prophets. There were prophets before him, but they were largely sporadic until Samuel. Prophets were men who heard from God and spoke to the people for God. They were largely concerned with bringing the people to repentance to avoid the coming judgment of God for their sins. Throughout the years the prophets began to point more and more to a coming Messiah Who would ultimately…
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes means “the preacher,” and is about Solomon trying to find meaning in life. It is a great book that points to the whole reason for the Bible. Solomon seeks to answer, “What is the point of life?” The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth…