Finding Christ in Every Page

Have you ever seen someone doing something obviously wrong, harmful or maybe just out of order, and then when you try to correct them they spit one or two verses of scripture in defence, give or take, throw in a quote from Shakespeare or some other dude, which they think is in the Bible?

‘The Bible Says “Heaven helps those who help themselves”’

Such moments can be staggering, I mean the guy just quoted from the good book; how does one fault that? But sometimes (most times) it’s beyond the letters of the pages.

The Bible is much more than just the most popular book of all time. It is the word of God; that means it is everything. It is life, it is power; to know and understand it, to live by it is to be fulfilled and successful.

But above all, there is one fact that makes the Bible powerful, it is the realisation that the Bible is more than just “the Word of God”, it is God Himself.

Let’s brood over this a little, shall we?

John 1 reveals to us how the entire universe and the worlds beyond were birthed by the breath of God’s Word:

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. — John 1:1–4

The Entire Theme of the Bible is Christ

Christ is the Word. This means that the Word is God Himself. He was not called The Word of God for nothing. It’s important to note that Jesus Christ was not brought in on the scene in Matthew. A closer look reveals Him brooding over the whole Old Testament like a hawk. This is how to read your Bible; read it searching for Christ because He is there; His words, His lifestyle of love and compassion, His plans of good and His Heart are littered all over the scriptures. When we read our Bible with this consciousness, we are connecting back to the very root of the word — Christ. He’s everything God has ever tried to communicate in the law, in Him is the fulfilment of the entire Law and prophets. When God was happy, sad, grieved or downright angry; all He ever spoke was Christ. A Lot of lessons and principles abound in the Bible but those are secondary, the deepest revelation of every Book, of every chapter of the Bible, remains Christ.

Christ Himself testified in John 5: 39–40

“You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there… These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want”

Imagine the Bible was a stationary solar system, with Christ being the sun, the people of the Old Covenant on one side behind Him and the people of the New Covenant on the other side. Now like I said the theme is Christ, but the people of the Old Testament lived in a forward manner, as Christ was in front of them (like it was a future thing), they lived with an expectation of His coming. We should live in a backward manner, in the knowledge of His finished work. The people of the Old Covenant lived in the hope and promise of His coming; we live in the knowledge of His presence. This should tell you something about trying to adopt the Old Testament lifestyle. When reading your Bible, every action must be filtered in the light of the message of the gospel. Every patriarch, every priest and every prophet must be held up against Christ, His teachings and His life.

Reading the Bible is like chatting with Christ, searching His heart, understanding his mood, His body language, His mind. Be conscious about this every time you flip through the pages, be deliberate about finding Christ through every page of the law, the prophets, the Psalms, the gospels and beyond. When you read, pray that God reveals Christ in every page, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, may our eyes be open to see Christ in every cross of T and dot of I in the Bible, Amen.

Further Study: Matthew 5:17, John 1:1–5, John 5:39, Luke 24:27, 44, Revelations 19:13, 1 Peter 1: 9 -12, Matthew 13: 16 -17