A few days ago I started reading my Bible early in the morning and found myself reading it ALL day. In fact, the longer the day wore on the more I realized that I had the entire day to spend in God's Word so I decided to read the entire New Testament. Obviously reading that much in one day does not allow a person to spend a lot of time reflecting on each individual sentence but there were a few profound things I discovered.
1. The centrality and importance of the cross. I found myself brought back again and again in the New Testament to the central message of Christ dying for us on the cross. The cross is the central message of the New Testament. That God loves you enough to ransom you from your sins through dying on the cross. Christ bore our punishment that we might be free.
2. The emphasis on the love of God. Although there are regular references to God's wrath, justice, punishment and plenty of warnings; the overwhelming message is that of God's love for you and me. He desires our good and cares deeply for us. His longs for us to experience and receive His love.
3. Obedience is the path of life. Over and over again we are exhorted to obey God and then reap the benefits. This may seem strange to people who want to be their own boss but it is strangely freeing and in the NT it is clearly taught as something that has lots of positive consequences. Try doing what God says, it actually makes life work the way it's supposed to!
1. The centrality and importance of the cross. I found myself brought back again and again in the New Testament to the central message of Christ dying for us on the cross. The cross is the central message of the New Testament. That God loves you enough to ransom you from your sins through dying on the cross. Christ bore our punishment that we might be free.
2. The emphasis on the love of God. Although there are regular references to God's wrath, justice, punishment and plenty of warnings; the overwhelming message is that of God's love for you and me. He desires our good and cares deeply for us. His longs for us to experience and receive His love.
3. Obedience is the path of life. Over and over again we are exhorted to obey God and then reap the benefits. This may seem strange to people who want to be their own boss but it is strangely freeing and in the NT it is clearly taught as something that has lots of positive consequences. Try doing what God says, it actually makes life work the way it's supposed to!
