Hi sweet readers! It’s so good to be “meeting” with you once again. I’m so glad you are here. :)
I took the past few weeks to introduce myself and share a little bit about what the Bible is and why it has credibility, but today I wanted to jump into what it actually says.
Personally, I grew up Catholic and my mom made my two little sisters and me go to catechism every week during the school year. I wouldn’t go as far as say that it felt like a burden, but let’s just say I definitely preferred my other extra-curricular activities — I mean, which little girl isn’t obsessed with riding horses or dancing?
I turned away from God by the time I started high school and it all went downhill from there. As an adult, I had kept some memories of what I had learned as a kid during all those years of catechism, but if I’m being honest, I felt like I had completely missed the point of the Gospel. Anyone else?
(Re-)discovering the Bible as an adult was such a delightful experience. My soul was thirsty for something good and pure, and let me tell you: it delivered — in every sense of the term!
I bought my very first Bible on April 5th, 2020 (I had to look at my Amazon history to confirm the date). Upon receiving it, I read a few chapters each day, starting with Genesis, then Proverbs and Psalms, jumping over to the Gospels, and a lot in between. A little over a year later, I have read about 60 books, leaving ~6 more to discover.
Now, I am no scholar or expert, but I do believe the Bible is meant to be understood by all. Psalm 119 verse 130 says that "the unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."
With that said, today I will do my best to summarize what the 1000+ page book is really all about. Are you with me? Let’s go! :)
We all know the words "let there be light". It all started with a vast space that was empty and dark. Doesn’t sound like a very habitable place if you ask me. It is no surprise then that “light” is the first thing that God created: it is the only way to drive out darkness. In fact, the concept of light in a dark world is something that is explored in many chapters of the Bible.
In seven days he created the world as we know it. Then, he created mankind in his image, so that they may rule over all the creatures on the earth [Genesis 1:26]. We know mankind as Adam and Eve.
Now Adam and Eve were not like the other creatures: they were loved above all else. Ever wonder why humans look, act and think much differently than any other living creature on the planet? It’s because we are different, according to God. In fact, He loved us so much that He gave us free will. In essence, we gave us the choice to love Him back. With this choice also came the possibility that we wouldn’t.
Why would God give us free will if it would potentially lead to the fall of mankind? Because of love. It says that God is love [1 John 4:16], it is His essence. His goal in creating us and this world was to show us His love for us in the hopes that we may experience the uncontainable joy of loving Him back.
But as we all know, things didn’t go according to this perfect plan. In the garden of Eden, there was a multitude of trees and bushes with fruit to eat from, but there was one forbidden tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God made sure Adam and Eve knew they were not to eat from it. Unfortunately, someone else knew this too.
The snake was quite a master at manipulating Eve into eating the forbidden fruit (side note: it doesn’t say anywhere that it was an apple, I wonder how that became part of our culture).
How did the snake do it? Simple: he deceived Eve into thinking that eating the fruit would make her more like God in that she too would have the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. The original sin is one we all commit each day when we want to take things into our own hands instead of trusting God.
So, in an instant, Adam and Eve went from being God’s beloved creation, living together in harmony in a beautiful garden, to sinful humans that no longer could dwell in God’s presence. Just like dirt will make clean water brown, so would Adam and Eve have soiled God had they remained in His holy presence.
The one original sin was passed on from father to son, from mother to daughter, from generation to generation, with no hopes of dwelling in God's presence again.
Until Jesus.
You really thought God would leave his beloved creation in such a mess? Of course not! He loves us beyond anything imaginable.
The Old Testament books show how time and again God gave us rules to follow for our own good because he is a good father, but mankind did not follow the rules and instead chose to turn away from God. God would of course get angry, as he is a God of justice, but His anger would always be justified and eventually die down, and His perfect love would come bubbling up to the surface.
So, if you've read them already, you may have noticed that every single book of the Old Testament point to a savior to come (read this article for all the details). A messiah that would be perfect and sinless and that would take on the wrath we fully deserved in order to make things right with God. Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, it was true. It is true. It will remain true. Romans 5:19 says “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” The books of the Gospel explain everything we need to know about the life of Jesus, and provide evidence that He was the Messiah.
Jesus lived as a perfect human, showing men and women how to live according to the laws provided by God. He displayed love and a deep compassion for sinners. His obedience to his Father led him not to abolish the law but to fulfil it by dying on a sinner's death on a cross, a cross that should have been for all of us.
What does this mean for you and me? We do not have to suffer the consequence of our own sin, as much as we deserve it. It says in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death”, meaning that death is the natural consequence of our sin. That is why we all die, but it wasn’t the intended design.
God wanted us to dwell in His glorious and holy presence for eternity. Through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, this was made possible.
The second half of the verse mentioned above goes like this: “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is the most beautiful love story and gift we could ever witness, and we get to be a part of it. When I finally grasped what the Gospel really meant and realized how much I needed it, it changed my whole life.
It can change yours too. Maybe it already has, and that brings God so much joy. :)
P.S.: the best way to stay in touch and be in the know about new blog posts is to subscribe to my email list! (I promise I won’t spam you)
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