Introduction to the Whole Series

This series is something that will be completed over the next 3 years within the pages of a regular newsletter and on the Website and on Sundays according to, and with the permission of, God’s will. This is going to be no light stuff – this is not just pure milk but will add meat to the bones. From time-to-time it will be revised and added to and can form part of our discussions during the week.

I have called the series ‘The Foundations of Christian Living’ and within it are several sub-series. This one is the introduction to the whole series which sets the scene because it is summed up in one verse from Colossians 3:16:

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Is this something we already do? The emphasis in the Church today is upon experience and upon the Holy Spirit or upon tradition. I have nothing against that unless the Bible is not given more importance and that these other understandings are subservient to it.

The Bible is God’s message to us and the privilege that we have it in our language that cost of lives of many Christians like Wycliffe should, on its own, motivate us to know it better. A good article to read about how we got our bible is here:

http://www.biblicalreader.com/reader/How_and_Where_Did_We_Get_Our_Bible.htm or in a book by Josh McDowell: Evidence that demands a verdict.

Doesn’t the Word of God burn in our hearts when we hear it and look into it? If it doesn’t then I fear we are not on the road we should be as Christians. But, then, this series will hopefully inspire you to be so!

Why does it matter?

Thoughts reap actions, actions reap habits, habits reap character, character reaps destiny. So then, what we see and put into our mind causes us to do things. These actions, once we have done them, we do again and again, and they become habits, these habits form who we are, our personality or our character and then our character determines where we go in life in this world and the next or our destiny. The promises of God are Yes and Amen: this is true of those promises such as: What you sow you will reap (Galatians 6:7). If we sow into the word of God then we will renew our minds but if we sow into unwholesome Television, Internet, Reading, Company and other things then we will reap corruption.

The 66 books contained (39 in the Old Testament written before Christ and 27 in the New Testament) within the Bible are called the canon of scripture. In the Greek ‘Kanon’ (κανον) was a measuring stick made of reed that checked how straight the edge of the wall was and that became a standard. Similarly a spirit level or laser does the same thing today.

If the Bible is the straight edge to what we should be like how do we measure up? Do we compare what the bible says we should do, think and say with what we actually do, think and say? Do we align ourselves with the Bible or ignore it?

The languages of the Bible are Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine (or common) Greek. Hebrew is fairly much the same as present-day Hebrew but the Greek of the New Testament bears very little resemblance to present-day Greek. An interesting fact about Koine Greek is that it is the language that Alexander the Great enforced upon those he conquered and so it became the common language of most of the known world at that time until after the time of Jesus. It is because of the commonality of the language that the Gospel spread so quickly through those lands during the time of Paul and after.

The bible speaks of everything: about salvation, judgements, prophecy, God’s character, drink, food, work, sex, money, debt, charity, love, hate, wars, comfort, hell, heaven, death, life, time, space, childbirth, the future, the internet and television and much more. It really affects every part of our life and it is wisdom to apply the knowledge contained within the book we call the Bible.

How can we come to a right understand about anything if the Word of God does not take first place in our lives? How shall we know whether what I or anyone we hear teaching the Word of God are right or wrong? God says to test everything – and the Word of God is the measuring stick that we compare everything else to. The Bereans, a group of people Paul was preaching to, were nobler than the others – why? They searched the scriptures to see whether what Paul was saying was true or not and because of that many believed.

Our motive apart from simply obeying out of duty as a Christian is our love for Jesus so we can say with David in Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your Word in my heart that I may not sin against you. We don’t want to offend God but we grieve Him continually when we do not obey His Word either through our ignorance or through wilfulness and we miss out on God’s best for us. Thank God for His faithfulness to us and the open arms of God when we turn back to Him

We have all got to do 1 Peter 2:2 says: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word. This really means to crave for, nothing is going to stop me desire, withdraw the Word from me and there will be an intense longing to get back to it – just like babies crying for the milk. If babies don’t get their milk they will die of starvation. We as Christians starve our Christian Life if we don’t get this Word of God into us. The verse ends that we may grow thereby. So the purpose in getting the Word of God into us is that we can grow into maturity. This is another example that doctrine, that is, what we believe, determines our character. Again in simple terms: belief affects the way we think, that affects the way we act.

So, what kind of destiny are we reaping? If we are after a prosperous life – a life full of blessing, full of fruitfulness then we need to meditate upon the Word of God Day and Night according to Psalm 1.

How do I let the Word of Christ dwell richly?

Reading or Listening to the Bible on CD. Once a year should be the norm for most Christians. Once you start reading and studying you find out what kind of treasure trove it is – it is bottomless – you never stop finding out more – and why would you if it is God’s living Word.

Studying. Using commentaries or teaching tapes/CDs. Read books about the Bible.

Meditation.

Memorising. We should start to memorise Bible verses – would it be hard to learn 50 verses through a year? Write down a verse of Scripture and stick it on your fridge as you no doubt go there 20 times a day! You will know that Scripture of by heart by the end of that day. I said 50 verses in a year so as not to scare you but it would not be impossible to learn 300. The amazing thing is that as we do this something will happen to us: We will be transformed. Have you thought what that might mean – to be transformed? Think of a caterpillar – it doesn’t seem to amount to much – it chews away at our lettuce and other greenery in our garden – it is more like a bug than anything grand – that is, until one day it sheds its skin in metamorphism and becomes a butterfly. But if you put the caterpillar and the butterfly next to each other you would not say that one came from the other – we would say it is impossible, there is no similarity. To be transformed is to be changed so completely that we cannot be recognised for what we were originally were like. This is not the norm where man’s nature does not change but if anything gets worse.

The more we read and study and understand the more you want to read and study and understand.

Now, then, there’s no excuse!