Sometimes we read the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us and our moral improvement, our victory over sin, or our comfort. We have a tendency to see God’s Word as a collection of timeless principles that will give us our best life now if we simply apply those principles. We search its pages as we would any “self-help manual” when we are in need of advice. And sometimes, we think the Bible is about us and what we’ve done or are doing wrong. But, by looking at the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us, we totally miss the point of Who and What the Bible is all about—like the two men on the Road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke who had to learn that the Bible is about Jesus and what He did.
Luke 24:44-47 makes as one of its many points, that it is possible to read and study the Bible all the while missing the whole point of the Bible so that in reading the stories in the Bible—we miss the Story of the Bible. Unless we go to the Bible and see Jesus and his work upon the cross on behalf of people whose best works are as “filthy rags” before God (Is. 64:6) we have missed the main point. Furthermore, if we see Jesus’ work in the redemption of man as being primarily for and about man we have also missed the point and are in danger of turning even our most devout Bible reading into fuel for our own man-centered, man-glorifying narcissism.
Contrary to popular assumptions, the Bible is not a Book about or for good people looking to become better. Rather, it is a Book about and for bad people who realize they cannot become better. That is not a typo. The Bible is not about how to improve our lives so as to please God and earn His acceptance so as to one day live with Him in Heaven. Its not about “good” people reaching up to God; it’s about God reaching down to bad people who cannot improve their lives so as to become acceptable to God. Far from being a book for people looking for morals to live up to, the Bible is a Book for people who having failed to live up to God’s laws are looking for mercy and grace.
In essence, the Bible is one long story of God meeting man’s rebellion with His rescue; man’s sin with His salvation; man’s catastrophic personal failures with His favor; man’s guilt with His grace; and man’s intrinsic moral depravity and sinful corruption with His goodness. Likewise, the Bible’s overwhelming focus is not on the works of man but the work of God. It’s just not a Book about us as much as it is a Book about God and that is why it is Good News for us.
