Chapter 10 - Closing
Studying the Word of God has often been compared to being one big and absolutely incredible adventure. And it truly is. That should not surprise us as we should not expect anything less from our Creator and of course, the Inventor of language. Readers and scholars alike have found the Bible to be a powerful message from God, plus it is also made differently than any other set of words ever to be placed on paper.
Made differently? Yes, the structure “below the words” is truly beyond our comprehension. Okay, I lost some of you there, let me explain. But let me first ask you to write a few sentences or a paragraph that has the total number of words divisible by seven, the number of letters divisible by seven and the number of vowels and consonants divisible by seven. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Not so easy, is it? Thanks to scholars like Dr. Ivan Panin (1855-1942), who discovered the heptadic (sevenfold) structure of the Bible (without the aid of a computer, by the way), we know that the Bible is more complicated than a collection of stories. If anyone ever wanted to create anything similar, the structure alone would require significant computing power, possibly the use of several supercomputers. The sevenfold nature of the Bible is only one of many elements that comprise its structure. The more one “scratches the surface” or uses the latest software to dig into Scripture, the more one discovers that there is even more detail beyond what has already been discovered. Somewhat akin to peeling a large onion! But in this case, one really big and never-ending onion.
Scholars and theologians have spent many a life time investigating and studying the Bible’s composition and structure. Often attempting to track down the answers to life’s puzzles or perhaps find that “elusive secret.” God’s Word has been dissected and placed under a microscope since the beginning of time (okay, I know there were no microscopes back then, but you get the point.) Some look to find answers (Dr. Panin became a believer as attested in his book, “The Structure of the Bible: A Proof of the Verbal Inspiration of Scripture,” published in 1891), while others look to find vindication (or errors). Regardless of the reason, we need look at an old, but wise proverb, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!” Which means, do not discard something invaluable when trying to get rid of something unusable or bad. We can adapt it here to mean, don’t get so involved with the inner workings of the Bible to the point you missed the message!
There is a phrase that is often used within Christianity today that goes something like this, "Always remember to keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing." What is the main thing? Actually, it's not a what, but a who, Jesus! Christianity is all about Him. There are so many issues and problems in the world today that make it easy for both a church and a Christian to get distracted. Always remember the purpose of a church is, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12, ESV) and the role of a believer is to, “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19b). If something blocks those efforts, preventing evangelism, then the church risks losing Jesus, like the church in Laodicea (see Revelation 3:14-22) and the believer risks losing their fellowship with Him (although salvation would remain intake). So keep your eyes on Jesus! Remember, anything that takes your eyes off Him should be considered evil.
First, we are to return His love. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 when He answered the question of which commandment was the greatest, He said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Matthew 22:37 ESV, see also Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27) Some have difficulty with the concept of love being ‘commanded’, since love is considered to be an emotional state of mind that produces affection and therefore cannot be ‘commanded’. It has been argued that in this context, the love that is being referenced is not so much an emotion, but as a behavior that is “becoming to love,” referring to loyalty and obedience. The truth is, God offered “His all” for “our all,” and He is asking that we fully trust and have faith in Him, as He would handle all of our other concerns in life. In the same way, Jesus desires believers to love Him and have trust and faith in Him in all aspects of their lives. The apostle John would remind us that, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, ESV). Therefore, it’s not as much a command as it is a desire. Our love for Him should supersede everything else in our lives as He will take care of everything else. Remember how the Great Commission ends, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b, ESV).
Next, we live for Him as discussed earlier, evangelizing as He directs with no distractions and doing whatever He asks us to do, as He will never ask you to do something contrary to His Word or in any way compromise Scripture. To God be the glory!
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