KNOWING THE BIBLE
Read and pray: "The unfolding of your words gives light and gives understanding to the simple." (Ps 119:130, NIV)
A. Explains God Himself
The Bible is the words of God. First, these words explain God Himself. All words are for explanation and expression. The words of the Bible are for expression and explanation of God Himself. If a person does not read or understand the Bible, they will neither understand nor know God. For example: if you do not understand Chinese today, you will not know me as a person. You can hear my voice, but you will not know what I am expressing. The Bible, as the word of God, first of all explains and expresses God Himself.
B. Explains God’s Desire
The Bible also explains God’s desire. It explains what is in God’s heart, what He desires, what He longs for, what He loves, and what He hates. All of God’s interests and desires are explained in the Bible. Thank God we have such a Bible. If we read it from cover to cover, we will know God’s desire. This book not only expresses God Himself, but also expresses His desire.
C. Explains God’s Plan
The Bible also explains God’s plan. God is a God who not only has desire and emotion; He is also a God of plan and accomplishment. If we read the whole Bible carefully, we will understand what God plans to do in the universe. Through the Bible, we can understand God’s plan.
D. Explains the Origin of the Universe and All Things
The Bible also explains the origin of the universe and all things. How was the universe created with all the things it contains? How did they come into being, and what is their end in the future? All of this is clearly explained in the Bible. The mystery of the universe is clarified in the Bible. Without the Bible, no one can understand the universe. The universe is undoubtedly a mystery and is incomprehensible to man. Although many astronomers, geologists, and other scientists have conducted much research, they do not know the purpose of the universe. We need the Bible to explain the mystery of the universe.
The Bible explains these four main things. Undoubtedly, if we wanted to say more, we could say that it also explains man’s condition and shows the way to man’s salvation. But these things can be included in the four main points above. It explains God Himself, explains God’s desire, explains God’s plan (God’s desire and plan include God’s redemption). It also explains the universe.
THE BIBLE IS GOD’S REVELATION
Since the Bible is the word of God, it is God’s revelation. As mentioned before, the word is expression and explanation. As it is expression and explanation, it is a revelation. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says that the prophets who wrote the Bible received revelation from God. Revelation, in the original text, means to remove the veil and reveal the mystery inside.
The Bible is God’s revelation. It reveals God Himself, His desire, His plan, and the origin of the universe. Through the Bible, we are shown God Himself, His desire, His plan, and the origin of the universe. If we understand the Bible, we will see God Himself, His desire, His plan, and the origin, history, and end of the universe—that is, the complete history of the universe. The entire Bible is God’s revelation. When God removes all the veils and unveils what is inside, we have the Bible.
THE BIBLE IS GOD’S BREATH
The Bible is also God’s breath; it is the exhalation of God Himself. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God. “Inspired,” in the original Greek, means “breathed.” Hence, some have translated this word into English as “breathed.” The Bible is God’s breath, just as my speaking this morning is my breath.
Excuse me for speaking of myself. Since five-thirty this morning, when I got up, I have been filled with an inward burden. I wished it were eight-thirty sooner, so that I could breathe out this matter. What was in me? The word. How could I discharge my feeling, the things that were within me, and the word that was in me? By exhaling. What I am speaking is my own exhalation. In the same way, the Bible is God’s word. It is also God’s exhalation.
A. It Has God’s Element
Once the Bible is God’s exhalation, it contains God’s element. I do not dare to say the Bible is God. However, I have the boldness to say that if you touch the spirit in the Bible, you touch God Himself.
This is something we cannot fully imagine or comprehend with our mind. But it is a reality in our spirit. Don’t you often feel, when reading the Bible, that you are touching God? We cannot say the Bible is God. If we said so, we would be almost superstitious. But we must admit that, in spirit, we certainly touch God Himself when we touch the spirit of the Bible.
It is not only about being in God’s presence, but about touching God Himself. When you touch the spirit of the Bible, you touch God Himself. Why does it happen this way? Because the Bible is God’s own exhalation. It is God breathing Himself out through the words. Therefore, we must admit that in this breathing there is God’s element.
The Bible is God’s breath. This means that the Bible is not merely words breathed by God, but God Himself breathed into His word. Therefore, in the word there is God’s element. This is the difference between the Bible and any other words. There is no element of God in other words, while in the Bible’s word, there is God’s element.
The Bible is God’s word. It is not only God’s breathing, but God Himself breathed into the word. Thus, in this breathing there is God’s element. Once you touch this breath, you touch God’s element. For this reason, often when we read the Bible, we do not only feel God’s presence, but we feel that we contact and touch God within us.
B. It Has God’s Flavor
In this breath there is God’s flavor. Once there is God’s element, there is God’s flavor. It is difficult to describe flavor. Who can describe the taste of sweetness? Although no one can do it, such flavor exists. In the same way, in the Bible there is God’s flavor. When we read the Bible and touch God in our spirit, we truly experience God’s flavor. You may ask me what this flavor of God is like. I would say I cannot describe it. All I know is that I touched God’s sweetness and experienced His flavor. That is why, often when we read the Bible, we feel joy.
When we read books and newspapers of the world, sometimes there may be things that bring us joy. But it is not the same type of joy, nor of the same intensity, as when we read the Bible. When we read the Bible and touch God in the spirit, we have the deep inner perception that we absorb God. We feel as if we eat God, drink God, and enjoy God.
If you never have this kind of feeling when reading the Bible, you must be reading the Bible in a dead way. You are reading only the letters and have not touched God’s breath in them. This is not the proper way to read the Bible. If you read the Bible properly, you will not only feel that you touched God, but you will also feel that you tasted God. If you read the Bible properly, you will not only feel God’s presence, but also the feeling of touching God. You will also have the sweet sensation of having tasted God Himself.
Brothers, the Bible is God’s breath. God breathes Himself out in such a way that we can inhale Him. When we inhale Him as our enjoyment, we feel a special flavor. It is more than a feeling of rest, peace, joy, or sweetness. It is something beyond the description of human words. The greatest joy or blessing of being a Christian is to touch and taste God Himself through the word breathed by Him. This is spiritual nourishment. In this way we will be nourished and satisfied.
We do not read the Bible merely to be enlightened, taught, or instructed. There is something higher and deeper: touching God Himself within us. The Bible is not merely God’s thought, doctrine, truth, or teaching. The Bible’s word is God’s breath. It is God Himself breathing. He is present in the breath and in the word. Therefore, we should not understand the word only with our mind.
That is not enough. We must learn to use our spirit to contact these words; we must touch God’s breath and God’s element in the words. When we have such contact, we will not only feel that we are in God’s presence, and not only have touched God, but also feel that we have tasted God; He will become our inner enjoyment. Whenever we have a proper reading of the Bible, we have a proper eating and drinking. This will satisfy us inwardly, and we will truly have tasted the sweetness of God Himself.
Since the Bible is God’s breath, it contains God’s element and flavor. Therefore, everyone who touches it will feel that they have touched God Himself.
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