Getting the Most Out of the Bible or Reading the Bible for All Its Worth (an outline)

[HKHaugan]

The following is an outline, a part of a series, a discussion starter, a way to approach the Bible in a group, to start the ball rolling, so to speak.......

If you have ever been on the top deck of a tall building like the Empire State Building in Manhattan, the Eiffel Tower in Paris or on some observation platform in the mountains there are telescopes through which you can scan the area around. Or you may have a microscope to see the unseeable. The Bible is our telescope and microscope to view the Kingdom of God and the world both visible and invisible.
It reveals the spiritual dimension. Everything physical has a spiritual counterpart. It is designed to get us to think spiritually.
Gen.1:26 We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Each of us is unique so think of it this way. The Bible is a personal letter written to each of us. Isaiah said that just like rain and snow come down and water the earth to make things grow, “…so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Is.55:10-11).” Apply that statement to ourselves as individuals. The following approach is presented with that in mind.

The Bible is a set of 66 documents, each seen through one basic lens: Jesus the Christ. From Genesis to Revelation Jesus is the lens through which we see God. “When you have seen me you have seen the Father (Jn.14:9),” He said. And also we see God the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).
He intentionally revealed Himself as a Trinity in Jesus.
In Jesus we see His will, His presence and His purpose. In Jesus we see our imperfect selves and observe what it means to be an image and likeness of God (Gen.1:26) perfectly expressed (Heb.1:3). On the Cross He exposed the devil and sin and made faith in Him our restoration process. The Resurrection proved both.

First, John 1:1-4 Who and what He is:
First, “In the beginning was the Word…”
Second, “…and the Word was with God,”
Third, “…and the Word was God.”
Fourth, “He was with God in the beginning.”
Fifth, “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
Sixth, “In Him was life and that life light of men.”
Seventh, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Second, Matt.3:15 What He did:
Jesus’ baptism was our beginning. “Let it be so for now; it is proper to do this to fulfill all righteousness (what it means to be right)” and 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” To ful-fill means to fill what is not yet full. So every thing in the OT is fulfilled, filled full, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They were meant to experience the life of God through obedience so the Jews were half way there. In Jesus the Law and the Prophets are filled full of the Holy Spirit, the Lord of life (2Cor.3:17).
The two major feasts in Judaism are Pesach, The Passover and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day. A third, Rosh Hashanah, is the Jewish New Year and comes 10 days before Yom Kippur. All the feasts were designed by God to bridge the gap between a Holy God and a sinful people. Jesus came to do what these could not accomplish; erase the power of sin and the devil through the Lamb of God whose shed blood was the ‘Passover’ sacrifice and the Cross---the once and for all atonement for sin.

Third, The Bible is structured around two questions, OT-“Where are you? (Gen.3:9) and NT-“Who do you say I am? (Matt.16:15).” It is all about rebirth, spiritual rebirth (John 3).
The OT---The first 5 books of the Bible, Gen.-Deut are the Law.
The writings, Joshua-Song of Songs are the history, poetry and wisdom of the Jews.
The prophets, Isaiah-Malachi are the specific diagnoses of the human condition.
The Old Testament stories, persons and events are like a diamond with many facets. Jesus is the diamond and the facets are the unique characteristics that make up who He is. So if we start with Jesus and work backwards we are following a Hebrew-reading-like approach that surfaces more of the specifics of who He is.

Every OT passage opens us to every facet of the NT Jesus.

Seen in Jesus---The miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish, Changing of water into wine, Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. These tell us to look back for the specifics that He ‘full-y-filled.’
The NT---4 Gospels, Acts of the Holy Spirit, the Epistles and Revelation.
The traditional order for the New Testament places Matthew first but there is something about John that gives a kindred sense with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God…” and what was the first thing He created after the physical universe? Yes, light and not only that, He said it was good.” “What does Jesus say about Himself? “I am the light of the world (Jn.8:12).” But the logic is clear. The first 3 Gospels are biographical and establish the human Jesus as real so that the spiritual Jesus, the divine Jesus can be accepted and understood.

In Jesus we have the keys to the Kingdom. In Jesus, the door of the sheep, we are being taken by God Himself into the spiritual realm, the second dimension, the first being the physical. It is God’s Word that identifies and explains both.
The Old Testament is built around the question, “Where are you?” The New Testament is built around the question “Who do you say I am?”

Next, digging more deeply, unpacking the letter and applying what we find.