Why I Believe the Bible is the Word of God: Its Universal Message
In the ancient world various people groups believed that there were many gods, and a different god for every tribe, land, sea, planetary sphere, etc. There was no one God over all, but a bunch of side-by-side, often competing gods vying for their territory and space.We hear whispered echoes of such belief today whenever people tie their faith to their ethnicity or nationality or culture or heritage. Is it possible that we might even hear those whispers in the popular mantras: "I like to think of God like..." and "That view of God may be true for you, but this one is true for me?" People seem to believe that there cannot be any one God for all people.
I'm guessing that one reason for this history of religious thought is that people simply cannot imagine a God big and great and sufficient enough to be one size fits all. Who can conceive of One Person who can transcend every culture, cross every divide, appeal to every type of person, meet the truest needs of every human?
Friends: what man cannot imagine, the Bible reveals. Another reason why I believe the Bible is God's Word is this: the remarkable universal relevance of the Bible’s message and morals which transcends all times and cultures, suggests a single universal Mind behind it all.
The Bible addresses universal human needs like the forgiveness of sin, relationship with God, purpose for life, an abiding Moral Law, and an imperative of love for all peoples that transcends every ethnic, social, and geographical dividing line.
And it does this in such a way as to respect the cultures that exist. It even promises that in the end, various people who have been redeemed by Christ will carry the glory of their cultures into heaven (Revelation 5:9, 10; 21:23-26). God's heaven will be the ultimate multi-cultural event.
The message of the Bible, which is a message of a God who made all humans out of one Man and one Woman, is a message that calls all ethnicites back to God through repentance from sin and faith in Christ. And when they come back to God through Christ they will find an equal standing upon which they may love and worship God in ways consistent with their own cultures and styles.
They do not need to become white or black or rich or poor or Asian or American or free or slave or old or young to belong to Christ and worship God. They simply need to be a humble sinners who know they need a Savior.
The Bible speaks to all without distinction, and what it says can be believed and lived by all without distinction! Its message is universal, because its Author is universal. In it the God Who made everything talks to everybody.
Another pillar under my faith.
Labels: Apologetics, Bible, monotheism, The Word of God




