In His Name Devotionals
HOLY SCRIPTURES READ CHRISTOLOGICALLY
In His Name Devotionals
HOLY SCRIPTURES READ CHRISTOLOGICALLY
New Covenant people should always read Holy Scripture first and foremost to find what it reveals about Jesus Christ. He is both the Central Character and Ultimate Treasure of all of it.
Jesus Christ-as-the-focal-point was the interpretive guide the early church used to approach the Holy Scriptures. They viewed all Scriptures as contributing to God’s story about Jesus—Who He has always been, what He came to do, how He lived and what He taught, how He showed love to God and others, how He gave God glory by living every day to do the Father’s will, how and why He fulfilled God’s goal for His life on the cross, how He aims to build His church, how He lives even to this day as the victorious Lord of Lords and King of Kings, how history is “His- story”, and how He wants us to live with the knowledge that there is more going on here than meets the eye.
They did not read the Scriptures like an encyclopedia of religion, or some sort of plotless book arranged by subject. They saw Holy Scriptures Christologically. Through them we can come to know Jesus, choosing whether or not to follow Him and be a part of Him. We should read the Bible with this purpose in mind.
Did you know that the sharpest critics Jesus had in His day and time were the scribes and Pharisees? Yet, they were avid students of Holy Scripture. They revered God’s Word, memorizing much of it, organizing it topically. They discussed the finer details of it, and tried to regulate their lives by it. They were serious students of the Word, yet Satan was able to use them in a vain attempt to destroy Jesus Christ. Why? Because they read Holy Scriptures to pursue and validate their religion, instead of hearing God and coming to know Him better through His Chosen One.
Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. There are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40). Whenever we read Holy Scripture in search of truth, these words of Jesus should always ring loud and clear in our hearts: “I am … the truth” (John 14:6).
