Almost two years now, this week, when you are reading this hopefully, but if not let’s just say the week between the 7th and 14th of May in 2020; I started my journey to embark on an in-depth reading of, what is popularly known as the double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 1:16) the Bible. Till 2020 I had never done this because of a myriad of reasons with the main one being just like many Christians I had created a false assumption about it and so I thought maybe I don’t need to read it as I already know the fundamentals. However, not only was I wrong but I now understand why people say the Bible is maybe the only book that somehow always escalates and gets better with every re-read. The reason for that is the process called sanctification which is spearheaded by the Holy Spirit and moves you from being a fool who exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:18-24) to being alive in God and being instruments of His righteousness (Romans 6:13). Somehow, despite where the world was in 2020, it might go down as one of the best years of my entire life since this is the year the Lord drew me to Himself. Without my experience with the Word of God in 2020, Infallible Joy wouldn’t exist but here we are, for by His grace and will, He used a very beautiful olive to inspire me to the point where Infallible Joy began.
Anyway, enough about that slight tangent, and as I was pointing out, reading God’s Word opened my eyes to what is true, why it is true, why it absolutely matters, and most importantly who He is- His attributes- as our only true identity is found in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). So, what may be some of the lessons I learned from a 2-year study of God Himself who as we know has been the Word from the beginning (John 1:1)? Join me as we dive into the lessons learned as well as debunk some of the misconceptions most Christians may have below.
It is all about God
We live in the age, as Phillip Rieff put it, of the psychological man. This is where man has become obsessed with self to the point that everyone else around them has to conform to the standards they’ve set for themselves. It shouldn’t come as a shock then that most people when they read the Bible come with the same mindset since it is something that’s been deeply ingrained into us by the world and sadly, by people who proclaim themselves as Christians too. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if most are taken aback when they see verses such as these:
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Revelation 4:11
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:36
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:6
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Hebrews 3:4
Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
1 Chronicles 29:12
Many of us come ready to have our lost-in-sin nature validated by what the Bible says, only to find that the Bible does anything but affirm our pride or selfishness. The thing is we aren’t the heroes of the story told in the Bible, we aren’t even part of the good guy team. When you read the Bible, you come to realize that all it affirms is God and His character and that it is all about who He is and His redemption of an unjust people through the sacrifice of His Son on the Cross at Calvary. This means you are a bad guy henchman who in a film’s second arc questions who they are and an act of kindness by our hero makes them reconsider their ways. However, unlike the bad guy who turned good, you don’t get to save the Hero from a cornered situation instead He is the one who saves you as your redemption story isn’t for your glory but for His (Philippians 2:5-11). Literally, the first verse of Genesis is:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
So, if you got into this holy book thinking it would be all about you, then you need to scratch that mindset and start afresh with God in mind. This may lead some to ask, doesn’t that make Him a megalomaniac? To answer that let me conduct a thought experiment with you. Say you were the most perfect being in the whole universe from the past, in the present and future, on whose standard would you set the universe? If your answer isn’t you, then you’re wrong because you couldn’t convince me or yourself even, not to set them on yourself but on someone else as that would then mean that you are actually not perfect. The same is true with God. If He were to revere anything above, Himself then He would cease being God. So does that mean we are insignificant? The answer to that is tongue in cheek in that:
In Him, we find Significance.
What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:4, NASB)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8, NASB)
By no means does it mean that we are rendered insignificant just because the Bible is all about God, if anything, it shows us our significance in Christ. God does everything for the sake of His name and in accordance with the counsel of His Will (Philippians 2:13, Colossians 1:16-17). Without Him upholding the world by the power of His Word (Hebrews 1:3) then there’s no guarantee that the world wouldn’t be in anarchy. If history is anything to go by then we’ve seen that once a society rejects and forgets God, that society is doomed to fail.
If not for God being all about Himself, we are guaranteed that there would be no redemption for the world which was fulfilled in Christ’s death and resurrection. The reality is, Christ is the only sacrifice that could atone for our sins. It had to be done by a perfect sacrifice because He is the only being who could fit that mold- God Himself in the person of His Son. Besides that, we find significance in stories like Joseph’s and how by the providence of God he saved an entire nation from extinction (Gen 37-50), or Moses and how by God’s providence He was saved from death, rescued the Israelites by God’s power, and led them through the wilderness along with God Himself as a pillar of cloud during the day and one of fire at night (Exodus – Deuteronomy), or Joshua (Joshua 1 – 24), or Rahab (Joshua 2; 6), or Ruth (Ruth 1 – 4), or David whose bloodline brought about the Messiah (1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles) and many more that can’t exhaust the list enough. In all these examples, there is one underlying theme and that is that they found their significance in God, and thus we should find ours as well in Him. How? Simple, the Bible.
Our Struggles find their Rest in Him!
Since establishing that we find our significance in Him, another lesson I have learned from the Bible is that our struggles now have a resting place. That doesn’t mean that all our struggles are dealt away with as the prosperity gospel heretics would like to tell you for until the age to come there will still be death, disease, famine, poverty, and all human struggles; case in point, Paul and the Apostles
For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour, we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13
However, as I stated above, now, instead of our struggles being a thorn in our side they become something we can boast about because of His grace being sufficient for us and being made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Why? And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)
As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-14
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
It is truly better to suffer for Christ than to suffer for any other reason, because, in your sufferings for Him, you will build endurance, character, and hope which due to the love of God will never disappoint. This hope will overshadow any doubt you may have as we have seen what God’s love can do and that is literally, to die for us when we didn’t have any knowledge of Him.
Look at Job, here’s a man who was tested for His faith but despite the doubt that I am for sure crept in to the point where He questioned why He was ever born, to begin with, He still found hope and rest in His living Redeemer (Job 19:24-27).
The Psalms are quintessential in our day-to-day walk of sanctification as they are a manuscript on what it means to doubt and still find rest in God, an example that comes to mind immediately is Psalm 42. In ending this, know that yes, you will struggle, you will fall, you will doubt but, thankfully, God wrote a book that will alleviate all your worries and show you in whom to find your rest.
Until Next Time,
I bet this wasn’t your typical read on the doctrine of the Bible whereby we point out its infallibility, its sufficiency, and/or its inerrancy. For that, you can read Samuel Mathai’s article titled, Inerrancy of Scripture. It also wasn’t about why it absolutely matters and why it is a daily necessity- all of which are true- and thus I would implore you to make Bible reading a daily habit because your walk with God is so much better for it. Even for the non–Christian who may be reading this, I can confidently say, there’s no better book. However, in a way, I still was advocating for those things through sharing the lessons learned.
I endeavored to show what the Bible is to those who consistently read it with diligence and joy. Also, I wanted to show how the Bible being all about God, actually shows us how significant we are, as someone once said, without God, there’s no basis for the human rights we have. What would you base your rights on or what would distinguish you from the birds of the air or the lilies of the field if it wasn’t for God (Matthew 6:22-34)? You want to find true peace and joy, that’s all well and good but don’t seek it in yourself as today’s culture would tell you; it will only lead to nothing but anxious ruin. Seek it in Christ Jesus, through the providence of God His Father and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. How do you achieve this? By diving deep into His Word because as Jesus said in His High Priestly prayer, sanctify them in the truth, Your Word is truth (John 17:17). So everything else about what it is and why it matters is a till-next-time kind of matter as we are yet to scratch that surface and with that parting shot, be Blessed. Shalom.