Why Did God Give Us The Bible?
The best place to begin in refining our motivation for studying the Bible is to ask a simple question. Why did God give us the Bible? Weʼre used to the thought that the Bible is Godʼs Word. But why did He give it us? If the Bible is Godʼs Word, why did God decide to speak to us in the first place? Until we understand what the purpose of the Bible is, we are bound to keep approaching it in ways that miss Godʼs intention.
To Teach Us About Himself
So why did God give us the Bible? One reason that seems obvious is that He wanted to describe Himself to us. From beginning to end, God is the subject of the Scriptures. Everything in this book is God-centered. Genesis begins with a God who existed alone and then spoke all things into existence. Revelation ends with this same God reigning eternally over all that He created. Every book in between reveals His character and attributes by narrating His sovereign actions throughout history.
God in heaven wants us to know certain things about Him, and He uses the Scriptures to reveal these things. Mankind naturally wants to believe in a man-centered world, so God gave us the Bible, which shows that everything revolves around God. He is the First and the Last, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is described as “holy,” which speaks to the massive disparity between God and man. It is important to God that we understand this.
It is through the Bible that we learn about Godʼs power, justice, mercy, wrath, love, kindness, anger, faithfulness, jealousy, holiness, compassion, etc. Because God is already described in the Bible; we are left with no room to formulate our own opinions. We should all
study in order to understand God better. We search diligently to know the truth about God and to rid ourselves of any misconceptions we hold about Him.
To Teach Us About Ourselves and the World We Live In
God also gave us the Bible so that we can understand the world we live in. It is a grand narrative that explains where we came from, why the world is the way it is, and where everything is headed. It explains who we are as human beings, and how we should think about our existence.
Many Christians think that the Bible is helpful for answering religious questions and teaching us how to live godly lives, but it doesnʼt have answers for the tough questions that we face in philosophy, science, or sociology. This is not true! The Bible gives us answers to all of lifeʼs most important questions. The Bible gives us much more than “religious truths;” it accurately explains the world we live in. The God who wrote the Bible is the God who designed this world. Since this is His world, it only makes sense to view the world from His perspective and live according to His principles.
All of this means that as we study the Bible, we should be seeking to understand our God, our world, and ourselves. Rather than pursuing an emotional experience or trying to accumulate religious knowledge, we should be learning to live in the world that God made.
To Enable Us to Live Godly Lives
Another reason that God gave us the Bible is to enable us to live godly lives. Peter says that Godʼs “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3). Simply put, through the knowledge of God we gain everything we need for living godly lives. Whatever motivations we
may have for studying the Bible, godly living needs to be near the top of that list. We study because we want to be godly.
Paul says that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). First, Paul says that Scripture is literally “breathed out” by God. Though He used human authors to write each book of the Bible, God Himself is the ultimate source of these words. But notice the purpose statement that Paul includes: “that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” So why did
God give us the Bible? He gave it to us so that we would be competent, mature people who are equipped and ready to do anything God asks us to do. This means that as we study the Bible, we should be looking to change.
Hebrews 4:12 warns us that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Though we primarily think of the Bible as something we read in order to gain knowledge, we actually have it backwards. The Bible reads us—it penetrates to our core and exposes who we really are. If you ever find yourself reading your Bible and not changing, then you can be sure that youʼre approaching the Bible in the wrong way. Itʼs not about finding support
for our lifestyle or way of thinking, itʼs about approaching the mind of God and letting Him change
and redefine who we are.
To Facilitate a Relationship with God
God wants you to know Him, and He gave you the Scriptures so that you can. Every relationship requires communication—the loving expression of each personʼs thoughts, emotions, concerns, and dreams that strengthens the relationship and deepens intimacy. This is how our relationships with one another function, so why would it be any different with God? The Bible is His means of sharing His thoughts and desires with us! We are relational beings because He created us that way. He Himself exhibits pure relationship in the perfect union and love between the members of the Trinity. From the day He placed Adam in the garden, God has maintained a relationship with mankind, and communication has always been central to that relationship.
When we open the Bible, therefore, we are engaging with Godʼs communication to us. He chose specific words to say to specific people at specific times. He chose 66 books to preserve for us so that we could know Him better. Though different parts of the Bible are addressed to different people, everything in the Bible is ultimately written for our benefit. If the Bible is indeed “breathed out by God”—words delivered from the mouth of God Himself—then reading the Bible is listening to the voice of God.
Every time we read the Bible we are strengthening our relationship with God—unless we approach the Bible for the wrong reasons. If we approach the Bible with humility, eagerly listening for God to speak to us, waiting to hear what God has to say rather than what we want to hear, then we are drawing closer to the one we were made to be in relationship with. True Bible study
must always have intimacy with God as a primary goal.
To Exalt Jesus
God uses the Scriptures to explain how and why He has exalted Jesus to the highest place. All of the events in biblical history point to His Son. The law was given to show us our sinfulness and our need for Jesus. Old Testament priests and sacrifices point to our need for the greater High Priest and ultimate Sacrifice. The Gospels record the loving words and actions of the perfect God-
Man. The epistles explain how it is only through His work on the cross that we can be saved from sin and filled with the Spirit. Revelation shows how He will one day return to judge and restore the earth, and reign with His followers forever. All of this is written to exalt Jesus to the glory of God the Father. These words should move us to exalt Jesus in our everyday lives.
To Prepare Us for Our God-Given Mission
From the very beginning, God has had a mission for humanity. After God finished creating the world and everything in it, He created the first man and placed him in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). God also gave man dominion over the creation. Whatever it means for man to have “dominion” over the creation, it does not mean that he has the right to destroy the creation in any way that serves his purpose. Instead, if manʼs dominion is to look anything like Godʼs dominion, then his responsibility is to lovingly care for the world that God made. From the moment he was created by God, man has had a mission on this earth.
Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the nation of Israel. God blessed Abraham, promised to make him into a great nation, and said, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). When we think about the nation of Israel, we often think that God chose them so that they could be separated from the rest of the world, enjoying Godʼs blessings and living their lives as Godʼs “favorites.” But from the moment He chose Abraham, God made it clear that Abraham was to look outward with the blessings he had been given. Abraham was blessed so that he could be a blessing to all of the nations of the earth. Israelʼs mission was to show the world who their God was.
In the New Testament, the mission of Godʼs people becomes even more clear. We are not on this earth merely to enjoy our own personal relationships with God. We are here to be Godʼs servants, His ambassadors. We are on this earth to continue the mission of Jesus—to
seek and save that which is lost: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5:20)
Though much of Christian thought tells us that we are the center of it all—that itʼs all about you and God and nothing else really matters—the reality is that God is the center, and He has saved us so that we can work with Him in His mission to redeem humanity and restore
creation to what He originally intended it to be. This means that when we read the Bible, we need to view it as our marching orders. Rather than coming to the Bible with our own agenda and trying to find verses that support what weʼd like to do, we need to allow the Bible to shape our hopes and dreams. Every time we read the Bible, we should understand our mission a little better. Why are we on this earth in the first place? How does God use human beings to help further His cause? How can I take part in what God is doing in this world? These are all questions that the Bible answers—as long as we are ready to listen.
3. Take a minute to think through why God gave us the Bible. How should these things affect the way you think about studying the Bible?
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