➠ To understand the Bible, you need to recognize the one beautiful story it conveys. That account is a little over 6000 years long, running from the creation of Adam to our day in time. It is interesting that 6000 year record of history is divided into three roughly equal parts, with each part covering about 2000 years. Three very important events, being two promises by God about a coming Messiah, and then the birth of that Savior, mark those divisions. The return [or second coming] of Christ [as King of all Creation (1 Cor 15:22‑28)] represents the end of the third 2000 year section of the Bible's 6000 record and brings us to our day in time. Christ's return brings this revelation of truth, the good news of God's kingdom, (Mat 24:14) destroying all remnants of the false religious teachings that caused the Dark Ages. [Mat 24:14]
1.➠ Soon after the creation of Adam and Eve, they sinned and brought the promised death for disobedience on both themselves [Gen 2:15-17] and on all their future children. We were all born under their condemnation of death. So, right after mankind (Adam and Eve) began the process of dying because they had separated themselves from God's spirit of life, in • Genesis 3:15, • God made a promise you should be very thankful for. How can you give thanks for it, though, if you don't even know about it? And very importantly, is there a way we can regain God's spirit of life? That hope of regaining God's spirit is reason to give thanks for your knowledge of God's promise to Adam and Eve (and all of us born under the condemnation of their sin): God promised He would raise up a seed of the woman who would crush the head (undo the works) of Satan (the spirit creature who instigated the rebellion in the Garden). [1 John 3:8] Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, then, we find the first of two of the promises by God about the coming Messiah. [Gen 3:15] That promised Messiah is the only hope for any of us, and, the light of hope Messiah brought the children of Adam marks the beginning of the first of the three Bible periods of 2000 years each.
2.➠ About 2000 years after that promise of a "seed of the woman" who would help mankind, God made a second promise to a faithful man named Abraham. In • Genesis 22:18, • God said to Abraham: "And by means of your seed, all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves." [Gal 3:14 of 7‑14] Using that second promise, mankind could look for the promised "seed of the woman" to be born in among the descendants of Abraham. ➠ That second promise also marks the beginning of the second of the three 2000 year periods of Bible history.
You should give special attention to these two promises of God because they set the theme for the entire Bible. The Bible theme is a savior who would come as one born from Eve's children through the line of Eve's descendant Abraham. That promised savior would come to destroy the devil and undo all his works. [1 John 3:7-8;]
Another 2000 years (after Abraham) and Jesus Christ was born among Abraham's Jewish descendants. Jesus announced he was the promised Messiah and performed untold miracles to prove he was indeed the son of God. As God's appointed King, Jesus summarized the Bible theme when teaching us to pray for his Father's name to be glorified, while Satan's works are destroyed and gone: Matthew 6:9-10 GNB This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; (10) may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [1 John 3:7-8;]
3.➠ Since Jesus is the focus of all God's promises to help mankind; what did this foretold Messiah of God, the one mankind had been anticipating [Luke 2:25-38] for 4000 years since the promise to Eve, what did he have to say when he arrived? Jesus told us in • Mark 3:31-35 • we are doing God's will when we listen to the words of God's son. [John 6:40; John 12:44-50; John 6:28 of 28-40]
4.➠ Do you now perceive the theme of the Bible? Paul explained in • Galatians 3:23-25 • his people's Jewish Law Code and history, all of mankind's history going all the way back to the promise made to Eve, really, it all served as a tutor leading mankind to Christ. The theme and purpose of the Bible is for each one of us to become intimately familiar with the words of God's son... [John 8:31‑32; John 6:28‑29] 5.➠ Everyone alive must see the importance of recognizing and heeding the only command God has given mankind since Jesus started preaching: In • Mat 17:5 • God spoke from a could and said: "This (Jesus) is my son, the beloved, listen to him." We are doing the will of God, then, by listening to Jesus. [John 15:11-15] Now that you understand the Bible says of its-own-self that it exists to teach us about our need to listen to the son of God, [John 6:28‑29] what next? What does listening to the son of God really mean; and, how can we listen to someone dead for 2000 years? 6.➠ What will listening to Jesus do for us? What will it do for you? Jesus said we first need to have and express faith what he said is true. He said power from God would come from his words (John 6:63) as we express faith in them. In • Mark 4:35-41 • Jesus told some of his followers they were limiting themselves by their lack of faith. 7.➠ He went on to tell them in • Mark 11:22-23 • they could accomplish anything they wanted through faith. That requires, of course, we must believe what Jesus said; without reservation! [Mark 5:22‑43] And that does require we first know what he said! 8.➠ Christ told us in • Luke 11:9-13 • we would receive power simply by asking for and accepting God's spirit. Please deeply consider those verses and what faith in them can do for you. [Mat 9:27‑30; Mat 9:22; Eph 2:8; Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50; Luke 17:19; Luke 18:42; Acts 14:9; Luke 8:48 of 42‑48; John 7:37‑39; John 19:34] 9.➠ Also note Jesus words in • John 6:63, • where he said God's spirit lives in the the words he was sent to speak: We thus take in God's spirit by listening to Jesus. Please just take a moment to digest what that really means: You can take in the spirit of life from God [regain the Spirit Adam and Eve threw away] by simply opening one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and reading Jesus's words to familiarity. Some people assert that is just too simplistic [2 Kings 5:2-14] to believe and hope in, but, that is what we just read from the Bible. Do you believe the Bible? Religious people, especially the leaders among the different sects, want the solution [the thing that provides you protection] to be harder; so they can convince you of your "need" for them... If you recognize Jesus's simple wonderful Bible solution, it also means you realize you don't need any religious leaders telling you what to believe. [Mat 17:5; Mat 23:1‑15] Christ Jesus himself is the only one you can depend on to tell you what you need to hear! (Mat 7:15; Mat 7:21‑23) Jesus makes clear in John 6:63, then, we gain eternal life through God's spirit. (John 17:3) And... We receive the spirit of life by following God's command to read the words of his son. [Mark 9:7] These few scriptures provide the theme of the entire Bible. It is perfect! The Bible theme accomplishes the cleansing of reproach from, and the glorification of, God's divine name. God is also glorified through mankind's deliverance; by each one's personal faith in his son. [Mat 6:9‑10] Realizing Christ to be the personification of that Bible theme, it becomes obvious which section of the Bible we must be intimately familiar with. It is the Gospel Books by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which are four parallel accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. 10.➠ Please appreciate about these terrible days we live in, Jesus said in • Mat 24:21-22 • there would come a great tribulation that would kill everyone if his Father didn't intervene to cut those days short. • We have been living in that tribulation for many years. Whole nations have been (and continue being) decimated by political upheaval and war. Millions have been killed or displaced. The Coronavirus pandemic seems the current plague (and more recently Ukraine and monkeypox and on and on...). The whole world is being forced to take notice of these recent and ever increasing plagues, because everyone is in danger. Wealth or power and prominence can't protect anyone. It seems wealth and power may actually put people in more danger in this modern world. Take comfort; God will cut these days short, by by destroying the wicked while also protecting people who have faith in the words of his Christ. [Mat 9:27-30] Do not be deceived to believe your church membership, or the blessings of your elders or priests can help. [Mat 7:15-20] The only thing that can help is your personal faith in your personal knowledge of what Jesus Christ is still teaching out of the Gospels. 11.➠ If you do know Christ, however, the tribulation is nothing to fear. Jesus in fact said, in • Luke 21:5-28, • if we have faith in his words, we should lift ourselves erect and hold our heads high when we see the tribulation, because we can know our deliverance [Armageddon] is near. Now that you realize from these scriptures the Bible exists as a tutor leading to the Christ, [Gal 3:23‑25] it is an easy thing to understand the rest of the Bible. (Pro 14;6) When you read about the lives of faithful men and women like David or Abraham or Rahab or Ruth, or any of the other Bible characters, you can know they were playing out their part in God's 6000 year work of producing the Messiah. (We can know all those people by reading about them, and then personally when they are resurrected.) God has told us to listen to his son, [Mat 17:5] so... Read the Gospels; learn what Jesus was sent to teach. [John 18:37‑38; John 17:3] This destruction being wrought by this tribulation, and the preservation of the righteous by means of their faith in the words of Christ, is what I believe we see happening. [Mat 24:36-42] The Bible verses we have considered, along with many others, say it is so. There are lots of very religious people, of course, who say I am foolish or even wicked for not allowing them and their religious leaders to tell me (and you) what they are convinced is true and right. [2 Pet 3:3-7] Who really is speaking truth among all this world's religious Babel? That is what you must now decide. Make no mistake either, you are making the choice. How you respond to the words of Christ, including if you choose to ignore his words, is your judgment of yourself. [John 12:48] While many will encourage you to follow them as they try to discredit me and what I say, please carefully consider while making your choice: I'm not telling you to trust and believe in me, or to follow me. My only encouragement is to trust and believe in Jesus Christ, and in the God who told you to listen to that Son. [Mat 17:5] Please think about and hear what these words really mean: Take in God's spirit by listening to and trusting in the words of Jesus Christ! [John 6:63; Deu 11:26-28] I said I would keep this to twelve minutes and twelve scriptures. I did my best. There are lots of other supporting scriptures cited, of course. There is a transcript of an intended video available (with linked scriptures) at JustBibleTruth.com -> Videos -> Read video script for: 12 Minutes and 12 Scriptures to know your Bible. The direct web address is: www.JustBibleTruth.com/Observations/12Min12Scrip2NoBible.html 12➠ Make time to read your Gospels! Build faith to live forever... [Job 33:28‑30] Let's close considering the Bible admonition in • Heb 10:35-39 • to keep our faith strong, making it an even dozen scriptures defining the Bible theme [with some additional scriptural references in square brackets. - 2 Cor 5:17‑6:2]