What Is the Bible About?
What's the Bible really all about? That’s the question we’ll be answering over the next several days. But in short, the Bible is a story of God’s love for his creation.
John 3:16-17
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
What is the Bible all about?
That’s the question we’ll be answering over the next several days. But in short, the Bible is a story of God’s love for his creation.
John 3:16 says, “16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
To understand the nature of our relationship with God it’s important to understand who he is. God is one being, three persons—otherwise known as the Trinity. For many, including myself, this concept is confusing. But Christian writers Sam Allberry and Justin Taylor offer a helpful picture of what the Trinity is like. As Allberry shares, every person is both a who and a what. Who am I? I’m Ezra Byer. What am I? I’m a person. But borrowing Allberry’s example, let’s think of Optimus Prime from Transformers. Who is he? Optimus Prime. What is he? Both a truck and a robot. He is one who, and two whats.
Now, here is where it gets a bit interesting. As Allberry notes, God is three whos and one what. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but exists as one God. This dynamic relationship is reflected in Matthew 28:19-20 when Jesus states,
19 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Notice that Jesus doesn’t tell them to baptize in the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as if they are three distinct gods.
As Allberry states, “If God has always existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then God has always existed as love, as friendship, as community, as relationship.”[1]
For the Christian, the essence of hell is life without meaningful relationships. This is what it means to die a spiritual death. In Being as Communion, John Zizioulas offers this profound, albeit technical, statement, “Death for a person means
