Is The Bible Good For Women?預覽

We must examine what we mean by good. We need to make sure we are using God’s definition of good and not our limited earthly one. His good tends to be slightly different from ours. His good breaks into the present but it is also about the future. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, the Bible gives us hope of something better to come, and that oddly leads to quite a bit of good now. It’s a different kind of good, but it’s also the best kind.

Joy is available. The best kind of goodness exists at God’s feet in His throne room. There we can find joy, and peace, and satisfaction. But God’s version of good is not like the temporary earthly joy of money and nice houses that some religious figures offer their followers. It is not self-actualization in the present. It’s not an earthly “Be all you can be.”

In Matthew 10:39, Jesus invited his disciples to lose their lives. His call was not to self-actualization, but it was not to self-flagellation, either. We are not simply to deny ourselves or beat ourselves up. Those who lose their lives will find them, and the implication in Matthew 10:39 is that what they find is very much worth the pursuit. God’s good is the kind of sustaining, life-giving good that feeds our souls. It is about finding true life, not restricting it.

Understanding the goodness of the Bible requires a long view through the end times to eternity future. There is great debate about how exactly those things work out in terms of rapture, resurrection, new heaven, and new earth. Yet the long conviction of the church throughout the centuries is that it ends well for believers.

In the end, God’s kingdom is fully realized and there is a new heaven and a new earth where we live in peace and joy with God as He first created us to do. God’s Word to us is a long book extended over a long period of time that reflects an even longer story to be fulfilled in eternity.

This eternal good story must be the stream that feeds the reservoir that is our understanding of our earthly temporary good. This is the stream that satisfies our thirst for a Bible that is good for women.