The Holy Bible - "For 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 account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty authors. It is an amazing collection of 66 books with very different styles all containing the message God desired us to have in our lives. It has been translated into more than 2000 different languages. It is also the world's most popular book. Every year more copies of the Bible are sold than any other publication.

Origin of The Bible
The Bible is one of the world's oldest books. Its oldest sections were written about 1500 years before the birth of Christ. Even its newest sections were written about 1900 years ago. Written over a period of about 1600 years, the Bible was not written by one person. One of the most important facts about the Bible is that those who wrote it did not claim to be the source of the ideas they wrote about. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, the authors assert that what they wrote really came from God. The apostle Paul stated: 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 Tim. 3:16-17). The apostle Peter wrote: ... For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

Through the years there were those to whom the writings of men such as Paul and Peter were sacred. They understood these writings originated with God Himself. Some of these people dedicated themselves to collecting, arranging, and preserving the Scriptures that existed in their day. Today the names of most of those who did this work are unknown to us. We do know that well before the time of Christ, the Jews had already finished assembling the divinely inspired writings of the Hebrews. It is a collection of 39 books called The Torah. In the Bible it is called the Old Testament. Following Christ's life on earth, additional sacred books were written. Some of these books record historical events pertaining to Christ and His early followers. Others are letters written to explain Christ's teaching or to encourage the followers of Christ to practice the moral principles He taught. There are 27 books in this later collection. Together they form the New Testament.

Purpose of The Bible
The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one (Psa. 14:3). Anything you do, or fail to do, that displeases God is called "sin." Whenever you sin, you drive a wedge between yourself and God. Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isa. 59:1-2). Unless something is done to erase your sins, you will remain separated from God forever. Paul compared committing sin to working at a job. He pointed out that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). He was not referring to mere physical death but to spiritual death. Elsewhere he describes spiritual death as everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power (2 Thes. 1:9).

The Bible is very much concerned with sin--not just with your sin but with everyone's sin. The Bible reveals God's great plan for bringing about the forgiveness of our sins. When we follow the plan, God forgives our sins and will reward us with everlasting life: the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23). The Bible is about changing from death to life, from destruction to salvation. The Bible can also become a mirror that enables you to see yourself as God sees you and a messenger that tells you how to become what God wants you to be.

Unity of The Bible
The theme of salvation from sin, which runs throughout the pages of Scripture, is one of the attributes of the Bible showing its harmony and consistency. It is remarkable that such unity could be maintained by so many writers, who lived at different times, at different places, and in different cultures. They did not all speak the same language and did not all write in the same literary form. It is as if the books of the Bible are the instruments in an orchestra whose diverse sounds blend harmoniously under the direction of the conductor. When we recognize that the writers themselves were not the original sources of the information and ideas they expressed but were acting under the direction and inspiration of God, we can understand why the Bible forms a cohesive unit.

Content of the Bible
God has chosen to unfold His plan by having us consider His dealings with certain groups of people over a long period of history. As we read the Bible we see how God interacted with these people. We learn more and more about the nature of God and about the kind of response He desires from us. From the Bible we learn how the human race began and how sin first entered the world and continued to be practiced. We learn about God's response to those who were wicked and to those who were righteous. Sometimes God's response involved miracles. More often than not, God's response was communicated through men He chose as His special agents. The record of what they said and wrote spans a variety of literary styles. The Bible also records historical events and other parts are prayers or thanks to God stated in poetic form. Still other parts are sermons that were preached, prophesies that were made, or personal letters that were written.

As we read through the Bible, we begin to realize that we, like the men and women of the Bible, are guilty of displeasing God. We see that we are powerless to reverse the process by which we isolated ourselves from Him. We also begin to realize that God loves us, disobedient though we are, and that He has devised a way for us to be forgiven and saved.

The central feature of God's plan is Jesus Christ. Jesus left heaven to come to earth to live as one of us. He experienced the temptations, disappointments, and heartaches that we experience. Then He died for us as a perfect sacrifice for sin. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).