The Authority of the Bible
The Holy Bible is the infallible, inspired and inerrant Word of the living God! This divine Book has been translated into over 700 different languages so that Christians can be found in almost every part of the globe and remains a ‘best seller’. Moreover, the completed Bible has stood the test of time for over 2000 years while the Pentateuch, the first Five Books of Moses, are about 3500 years old. Its divine origins and its longevity reveal that the Bible is God’s message to man. We read in the Old Testament that ‘God spoke, the Lord commanded’, and ‘the Lord said’ about 4000 times. The Apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:21 of the New Testament that the Scriptures ‘came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ Read More
God’s Self-Revelation
On the basis of God’s self-revelation to man in the Bible, we learn about the attributes of God which define His being. A number of the more important ones to have a proper understanding of Who God are: God is triune (Matt.28:19), eternal (Psalm 90:2, Rev. 1:8), omnipotent (Jeremiah 32:17, 27) omniscient (Isaiah 46:9, 10), all-wise (Prov. 3:19, Job 12:13) sovereign of heaven and earth (Psalm 135:6, Eph. 1:11). These attributes of God reveal that He is the Supreme Ruler of the universe since all things were created by Him and for Him; moreover, ‘He is before all things, and by Him all things consist’ (Col. 1:16, 17)
God as Creator
God’s holy Word tells us that He made the heavens and earth and all that is in them out of nothing in six, twenty-four hour days. This creation activity culminated in the making of man after God’s own image. Everything lived in perfect harmony and God saw that it was very good! And so the Lord rested on the seventh day and blessed it as a day of rest which was to be kept perpetually. Cf. Exodus 20:8-11.
Man’s Disobedience and Fall
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God their Creator by eating of the forbidden fruit in Paradise (Genesis 2:17, 3:6). As a consequence, they died, first spiritually, as shown by the fact that they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:8), but also physically (Genesis 5:5). As a result of ‘The Fall’ of our first parents, the whole human race is conceived and born in sin (Psalm 51:5), has become alienated from God and His enemy so that no one seeks for God (Romans 3:10-12).
Man’s Restoration through Christ
The first man, Adam, became a sinner by his disobedience, and consequently all of mankind enters this world as sinners as well. (Romans 5:12) And yet, a specific number of the human race are made alive by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit and are born again (1 Corinthians 15:22, John 3:3-6).
New Life in Christ
Having been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit as a fruit of Christ’s substitutionary work, the regenerated sinner is united to Christ in a loving relationship. As a result, he now seeks to live to God’s glory and to live out of Christ and His fullness. Since the Christian has been given a ‘new’ heart (Ezekiel 36:26) his way of thinking, speaking and behaving drastically changes. The regenerated soul manifests itself in love for God, for His Word, for His people, above all, seeking God’s glory