Someone sending you a valuable gift would wrap it with love and special care, and then trust you to open it with equal love, care, and grateful anticipation. What's remarkable about the Bible is that its message is gift-wrapped in something that can only be described as light. Its message heals and regenerates. This message is nothing less than the Word of God itself—God's self-revelation. And its wrapping is not something to be tossed aside, but treasured.
One of the meanings of the Greek word logos is "Divine Expression." Strong's Greek Lexicon, www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=greeklexicon&isindex=logos . It's translated in English in the opening verse of John's Gospel as "the Word": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. Another version continues, "What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out." John 1:4–5, The Message.
It's obvious to those who read and study the Bible that this is no ordinary collection of writings. A 20th century Bible translator, J.B. Phillips, said of it, "I found ... the material under my hands was strangely alive; ..." Ring of Truth: A Translator's Testimony, p. 18 . Dr. John Rainolds, the "father" of the King James Bible, who was the leading light of its original committee of 47 translators, drew this conclusion: "Divinity, the knowledge of God, is the water of life. ... God forbid that you should think that divinity consists of words, as a wood doth of trees. ... The knowledge of God must be learned of God." Gustavus S. Paine, The Learned Men, p. 183 . And in recent years, Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, advised Bible readers, "Let God take the reins—teaching you, knowing you, and changing you." The Message Remix, p. 11 . So opening ourselves up to the message of the Bible has consequences!
There's no end to the adventures Biblical words have had. Over the centuries they have been copied, translated, retranslated, grouped, regrouped, published, researched, and interpreted. They have been buried, lost, rediscovered, placed in museums, and put into the hands of ordinary people the world over. But the fact remains that they have survived, and through them the light of God's love has been revealed and has transformed countless lives.
Spirituality is a transparency for light, but materialism makes thought opaque and obscures light. The Bible reflects these differences, not only in its many authors, but in the people we read about and the times in which they lived.
For example, in the beginning of Genesis, God is presented as supreme good, without a single element of evil in either creator or creation. See Genesis 1:1-2:3 . This chapter is in stark contrast to the Adam and Eve allegory that follows it, where an anthropomorphic God is described as struggling with his recalcitrant offspring. We are left to decide which state of thought provides the clearest transparency for the truth about God and His creation.
Abram's encounter with God is a luminous point in Biblical history. See Genesis 17:1-5 ; 22:15-19. The dawning of God's light in Abram's life was so profound that his name was changed to Abraham. And if we look closely, we see that it's also the moment when the aspect of God's nature as mother first appears. Although the translated name for God is "almighty," the original Hebrew text uses the term El Shaddai from the word shad meaning "breast," indicating the nourisher or sustainer qualities associated with motherhood. www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/scofield-reference-notes/genesis/genesis-17.html . We see this reflected in Abraham's loving concern for Hagar and Ishmael, and his provision for their needs when he sends them into the wilderness. See Genesis 21:14 . This mothering aspect of God is fully expressed in the teachings of Christian Science, where God is known as Father-Mother.
In the book of Exodus, God reveals Himself to Moses as "I AM"—the one and only presence and power. Exodus 3:14 . Inspired by his direct encounter with God, Moses was able to lead the children of Israel out of slavery to the promised land. Along the way he received the message of God's covenant, or promise, to His people—protection for their obedience to the Ten Commandments. The Bible records that Moses' face shone with light after this experience. Exodus 34:29 . This holy outpouring of divine law has endured for over 3,000 years and still underlies the laws of Western civilization.
Spirituality is a transparency for light, but materialism makes thought opaque and obscures light. The Bible reflects these differences, not only in its many authors, but in the people we read about and the times in which they lived.
The history of the children of Israel was full of ups and downs, and when kingship no longer followed God's guidance, the prophets became the carriers of the line of light. Notable among them are Elijah and Elisha, who healed the sick and raised the dead, prefiguring the works of Christ Jesus. The great prophets in the book of Isaiah were illumined by God's promise of spiritual light, dispelling the darkness, and foretold the appearing of God's heavenly kingdom. This prepared the way for "the Life-Light [that] blazed out of the darkness"—the coming of Christ Jesus.
This coming defied human imagination. Jesus was born of a virgin. The transcendent revelation that God is the origin and life of man appeared to human eyes as the birth of a child in a humble stable. The shepherds who visited him had been overwhelmed by a great sense of light and glory, becoming aware that something of great magnitude had happened in the birth of this babe that would bless all mankind. That Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah, was recognized later in the temple by the spiritually minded Anna and Simeon. See Luke 2:25-32, 36-38 .
Jesus' birth, ministry, teaching, healing, and victory over death—though taking place in relative obscurity—were like an intense sunburst in the history of mankind. After Jesus' ascension, the Christian writer who came to be known as John of Patmos received "the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him ... and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." Revelation 1:1 At the very end of the book of Revelation we read the words: "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Revelation 22:16. The "morning star" is the brightest object in the sky, after the sun and the moon. It has no light of its own, but is lit with sunlight that is reflected to earth. In the same way, the spiritual light that shone from Jesus during his three-year mission on earth was the actual spiritual light of God. Jesus' ministering love, his total dominion over physical laws, his authority, and his words and works, were all evidence of the presence and power of God, whom he called "my Father." The Message shines some light on Jesus' works: "Father, it's time. Display the bright splendor of your Son so the Son in turn may show your bright splendor." John 17:1, The Message.
Jesus also knew that the full explanation of all this was not possible in his day. He told his disciples, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ... I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:7, 12, 13. He knew that they must release him as a person in order to receive the understanding of the divine spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter, which is present throughout all time. And he knew that his followers in every age would be empowered to do the works that he did—and more—by standing in this light. See John 14:12 .
We can turn to the pages of the Bible today, with awe and reverence, with eagerness and expectation, and with the humility and childlike desire to be taught of God. When we do this, we become heirs to the promise that Paul described in his letter to the Corinthians, "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Second Corinthians 3:18.
