“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” Luke 24:27 (NKJV).
The Bible is not a multi-purpose book; rather it is about the salvation in Christ Jesus for all men. A common theme in the scriptures from the Old to the New Testament is the gospel of Christ.
The Old Testament focuses on the promise of salvation, while the New Testament through the gospels focuses on the provision of salvation; the epistles highlight the announcement of salvation.
In the anchor scripture above, we see Jesus revealing Himself in the scriptures. This was shortly after He had risen. He found two men talking about the recent happenings and then engaged them in a conversation.
The interesting part of the story was that Jesus did not immediately reveal Himself to them, instead, He expounded the scriptures from the books of Moses to all the prophetic books showing them all the scriptures had said about Him. It was after all these that their eyes were then opened and they recognised Him.
To further expound on the reliability of scriptures concerning the gospel, Matthew 2:3-5, tells us about King Herod who felt threatened that the king of the Jews had been born. He sent for the scholars to gain more information. The scribes and chief priests, familiar with the scriptures, were able to trace the prophecy by Micah about the exact location of the birth of the Saviour.
The book of Isaiah equally contains precise details on the birth, the ministry and even the death of Christ Jesus. For example, in Chapter 7:14 we see: “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is an outright prediction of the coming Saviour.
In Chapters 9 and 53 of Isaiah, we also see that the name, office and death of Jesus were detailed. Paul in Galatians 3:24 explained that the law given to the Israelites was just like a guardian that brings us into Christ where we get justified by faith.
The whole essence of the study and meditation of the scriptures is to find revelation. As your eyes open to the truth of the gospel, you will understand that the stories and prophecies in the scriptures all point to Christ.
You will also see that the stories highlight the inadequacies of man; the desperate need of man for a saviour and also God’s constant display of love to his people as well as His sovereign intervention. The moment you begin to see it, your bible experience will tremendously improve and then you can share it confidently with others.
As you study the scriptures again, let your approach be to find Christ and you will be richly blessed by it.
Bible Reading Plan: Luke 8: 26-56