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DAY 1: The Bible is God’s Book
Why should we study the Bible?
Because God wrote it.
He used people to compose its words, “but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
God created the Bible for us. Consequently, you can understand God's word, for this is the Author’s intent. God gave you his word to reveal himself to you.
Consider the three most popular names for the Bible today. Each of them underscores the Bible’s importance as God's book for us.
The Holy Bible
We usually call God's book the "Holy Bible." We should because this is literally what the title means.
The word bible comes from Byblos, an ancient town in Phoenicia on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of Israel. The town gave its name to the plant whose leaves were used to make the paper of the ancient world. Books were produced from these "byblos" leaves.
The word bible literally means "book."
Holy means "set apart," "sacred," or "divine." This word applies most fully to God, the Holy One (cf. Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8).
Putting the terms together, the Holy Bible is "God's book."
The Scriptures
We often refer to the Bible as the "Scriptures." This word means "writings" and is sometimes used of the Bible for itself.
For instance, Paul advised Timothy that "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
The Bible is the "writings" of God.
The word of God
This is the most frequent way the Bible describes itself.
The writer of Hebrews described the Bible: "The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
The Bible is the "word of God" in that it gives us the very words of God.
The Lord went to miraculous lengths to reveal this book, preserve it, and transmit it to us today. Obviously, he wants us to understand what he has given us.
It's an astounding fact: the Creator of the universe and Lord of all eternity has written a book—and he wants you to study it!
Will you?
About this Plan
Nearly all the problems people have in understanding the Bible start with misunderstandings of what the book is. You can understand the message of the Bible only when you know what it is and why it was written. So, what is the Bible, and why is it so important that you study it?
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