Why is the Bible Important?

On Sunday, we looked at the question: why is the Bible important? There are other books about religion and other books that have beautiful words, so why does the Bible have such impact on people? We looked five reasons why the Bible is important:

1) The Bible teaches us who God is. God is the creator who is separate from his creation and yet still interacts with his creation. He is both just and loving.

2) The Bible teaches us who Jesus is. Jesus is God incarnate who taught and performed miracles, was executed on a cross, rose from the dead and promised to return.

3) The Bible teaches us what God wants from us. God wants us to put our faith in Jesus and the payment for our sins that he made on the cross. By making Jesus our Lord, we receive the benefits of Jesus' sacrifice.

4) The Bible gives us a picture of what this life should look like. This life should be marked by love for God and love for people.

5) The Bible gives us a picture of the afterlife. We will be dead a lot longer than we will be alive. For those who refuse God's gift of forgiveness, there is the afterlife of separation from God which is hell. For those who embrace the gift, there is an afterlife not of an eternally disembodied spirit but an eternity as a resurrected being with God on a new earth.

These are things that are revealed to us only in the Bible. This message is the introduction to our 2010 series on Genesis to Revelation. Part one of the study guide for you to follow along with this series is found at my web site: www.stephenjbedard.com.