God graciously saves sinners through Jesus Christ.
Because the Scriptures are Christocentric in their focus, they are therefore redemptive in their focus. They are about God SAVING sinners. In fact, the Bible is the revelation of this saving work as God developed it and worked it out through history. Scripture unfolds what one man called the “Drama of Redemption.” This is the grand theme of all of Scripture. Given that man is fallen and not able to rescue himself from the wrath of God, it is up to God to save him, if he is to be saved. That is what the Bible is all about. Any other story is useless to fallen man. Any story about morality or human performance does nothing for someone who is spiritually dead and, therefore, totally dependent on the good will of God to make him right with God.
The believer is also totally dependent on the grace of God. If we are to live out the Christian life we need God to be continually “at work in (us) both for the willing and the doing of what pleases Him.” Only then can we “work out (our) own salvation” in the form of a fruitful and God-glorifying life (Phil.2:12-13). Therefore, when we read Scripture, we need to look for God’s saving work, either as explained in teaching portions, or as demonstrated in the stories of God’s dealings with individuals. Focusing on the individuals will keep us from seeing the grander work of God. Remember, the Bible is about God and His dealings with men, not about men and their dealings with God. The Gospels, for example, are not about the disciples, the Pharisees, or those who were spoken to by Christ. THE GOSPELS ARE ABOUT CHRIST! To speak of anyone else as the main character of a passage is to ignore the most important Person in the story. What kind of blessing can we expect from ignoring Christ? A man-centered “blessing,” that’s what kind. Any other story is useless to fallen man, believer or unbeliever. Brethren, we have such little time to read and think about God’s Word as it is. Let’s not waste it.
More to come, God willing…
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