God is the God of love, so He writes us a love letter. The love letter is a whole book called the Bible. The Bible is not just a book but the Book. The Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is unique in so many ways, which God Himself prepared for our blessings. Humans are not left in the world without any direction. His love is revealed to us through His Word. God did not leave us to ourselves to search for direction and truth in life. He provided us with everything we need to navigate life.
God gave us a written form of His truth, which is the Bible. The truth is God’s love letter to us. The size of God’s letter can be intimidating. But it does not have to be that way. We can have at the back of our mind that we have sixty-six books in one book to read, which is divided into two sections – the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament, comprising thirty-nine books in total, prepares our minds to see the Messiah in pictures, providing shadows of who Christ is. The Old Testament is very rich in the great love and mercy of God. The Book of Leviticus is my favorite in the Old Testament. It lays a concrete foundation of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ for mankind. The Old Testament contains approximately three hundred prophecies about the Messiah. A very rich treasure that every Christian must know. Without understanding the Old Testament, it will be difficult to understand the New Testament, which is the continuation of the Old Testament.
The New Testament, comprising twenty-seven books, confirms the teachings of the Old Testament. The New Testament writers, therefore, did not contradict the Old Testament writers. Jesus Christ frequently quotes from the Old Testament. The New Testament writers emphasized that the prophecies spoken by the Old Testament writers must be fulfilled, thereby confirming the claims made by the Old Testament writers.
So, who wrote the Bible? If the Bible is the Word of God, does it mean God wrote the Bible with His pen? No, but just as a secretary is dictated to and writes down the mind of the boss, so God chose forty different authors from different backgrounds to write down the mind of God. The writing of the Bible takes over one thousand and five hundred years (1500). Yet, all sixty-six books are without contradiction.
How did God communicate His Words to the writers of the Bible? God inspired the writers. The Bible says,
“All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; 2 Timothy 3:16. Amp.
When we read the Bible, we are reading the breath of God. The breath of God is the divine power that can convict, correct, rebuke, and instruct us. The Bible was given by the creative breath of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,
“Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:20-21. NLT
None of the writers wrote from their understanding or initiative. It will be more accurate, therefore, to say that Paul, through the Holy Spirit, said. Or we say the Bible says, or the Word of God says. The origin of the Bible, therefore, is not found in the will or idea of any man.
Do you love God? Then read His love letter to you. The love letter is the Bible. You read the letter of someone you love over and over again. You do not throw your lover’s letter somewhere without caring to read it. Take God’s love letter today, and start reading it. When we read the Bible, we are inhaling the breath of God, and we will simultaneously exhale every negative thing within us. I pray the Holy Spirit will empower you to meet with God daily through His love letter to you.