Thank God For The Bible

by J.R. Bronger

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalms 19:1). One can hardly sing “How Great Thou Art” without thinking of that verse, “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed: Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art!” But what about this Awesome God? What does He seek, what does He love? What is He like? We certainly cannot know merely by observing the magnificent world in which we live. As Paul wrote, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (I Corinthians 2:11).

Incredibly God not only created this world, and man in His image (Genesis 1-2), but He did not remain silent. He communicated to His creation. Even in the Garden God revealed Himself (Genesis 2:15-17). After Adam and Eve rebelled and sinned God spoke, “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets …” (Hebrews 1:1). God is not mute; He has spoken to man. At first He spoke audibly as He did to Adam in the Garden. This is how He called Abraham, “Now the Lord had said to Abram: get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

Later God intended for His words to be recorded and preserved. The first person mentioned in scripture as writing anything is Moses. Six separate writings are attributed to Moses, including, “Then the LORD said to Moses, write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). Joshua, Samuel, Jeremiah, and others would continue writing God’s message (scripture) and these writings were read (Daniel 9:2; Nehemiah 8:1). Hebrews 1:2 continues with, “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things …” During the Lord’s brief life on earth He spoke the will of God with authority (Matthew 7:28-29). Further, Jesus promised the providential preservation of His word. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31). The teachings of Jesus were preserved in written form (Acts 1:1; I Corinthians 2:9-16; Ephesians 3:1-7). This fact has some profound implications such as we can know, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), and understand the will of God, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

Not long after becoming a Christian I heard an elderly brother leading a congregational prayer say, “Father we are thankful for the influence of Your word in our lives.” Paul wrote, “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20), but how often do we give thanks to God for the influence of His word in our lives?

I am thankful for the Bible because by it we can know of our purpose on this earth, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). I am thankful for God’s word because by it I learned how to approach God and receive His amazing grace, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). I am thankful for the Bible because by it I learned how to be a husband and father (Ephesians 5:25-6:4). Also, I learned how to be a neighbor, a friend (Matthew 7:12), and a citizen (Romans 13:1-7). Thank God for His divine revelation because now He “… has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:3-4).

I am thankful for the influence of the Bible in my life because had it not been for that influence I fear I would still be in the far country of sin!