Welcome!
Jesus said: "Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is
like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments."
(Matthew 22:37-40)
Dear reader,
God gives us to a certain
extent the opportunity to choose our own paths. We too ought therefore to give
each other the freedom of choice regarding our beliefs. In response to love one
should never force one's convictions upon anybody. Such an atrocity would
produce fear and since love and fear are by definition mutually exclusive it is
unacceptable. Love, however, demands that People who have disagreements seek to
understand each others differences.
The contents of these pages
aim to provide you with the necessary information to form your own opinions
about Christianity based on what the Bible teaches. Having gone through all the
chapters you will be able to distinguish Biblical Christianity from what is known
as secular 'Christianity.' The latter is sadly found within many western
nations today. The attentive student of 'Biblical Christianity explained to
Muslims' will have his eyes opened to the growing numbers within those nations
who love their Lord with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all
their minds. They desire to be submitted to the Most High.
With God's help we aim to
respect and love everyone no matter what religious background they come from.
What follows shall reflect our commitment to truth spoken in love. The reader
may still sometimes take offence because love occasionally has to hurt in order
to always seek the best for others. If my son, for example, overlooks the red
traffic light while I am with him in his car I will do whatever is necessary to
prevent an accident. At first he will be irritated but once he realises what we
were spared from he will be grateful.
As you read my first
article below, please do so with an attitude that desires to get to know God
better. May God bless you richly!
Sincerely,
Rev. Andrew Abraham
(Director, ABC, Association
for Biblical Chritianity)
The Message of the Holy Bible
Question: What do you see?
Answer: Can you see a picture
of a vase? Yes,…no….? You see a profile of
two people? Well, both observations are right. When I saw that drawing the
first time I could only recognize the pot. It took me a second look to see the
two heads from the side in the very same picture. This is an invitation for you
to take a second look. Let me assure you there is an alternative picture of
Christianity available from what you were
taught. By reading this book you will come to view the real, biblical
Christianity.
For over 22 years I have been
involved in discussions explaining Christianity to others. Ever since Jesus
called me to follow him I have counted it to be a great privilege to give
reason for the hope I have in him. The result can be seen in this book. Because
many people have done the same there are very few questions that have not been
answered before. In case your query is not treated here
you will find it on the Internet. Here are just a few sites I can highly
recommend:
These places also give
opportunities to ask about difficulties which you think nobody may have thought
of before. However, there is one problem with this kind of approach. Imagine
what would happen if parents were only answering the questions their children
came up with in their ignorance without giving them guidance for life as a
whole. Once that overall framework is in place many riddles are solved
automatically. Little Larry illustrates this point with his enquiry: ‘Why do I need to go to
school?” Magnificent Mum answers: ‘So that you learn
something.’ – “Why do I need to learn
something, Mum?” – ‘In order to earn something,
replies Mum impatiently.’ “Why do I need to earn something?”
The son’s ‘why’ questions could carry on for a while unless
mother at least communicates to him how society works.
Not just children but adults
too can easily lose sight or have no idea of the big picture. Much time is used
to remove misunderstandings when it comes to talking about Christianity. So
much so that that the inquirer’s attention span
may well be past its prime when it comes to the real issues. He then walks away
without knowing what really matters. Many individuals ask for example:
“Has not the Bible been changed? How can God create something out of
nothing, how can he be everywhere at the same time? How can Jesus be God and
the Son of God? Why does he allow suffering? How can Christians believe in the
Trinity, that God is three yet one?” My reply is: “Good questions!
Of course there are even better answers. We will look at them later. For the
moment, however, please be content with the fact that God in most
people’s understanding is Almighty, Everywhere, All knowing etc. By
definition therefore we will never be able to figure him out completely.
Nevertheless, like little Larry who was prepared
to pay attention to his Magnificent Mum`s
explanation, we also do well to take note of what great
God has to say. That is why I highly recommend reading the first chapter
entitled ‘The message of the Holy Bible’ before moving on to the
details explained in the others. It may well be the most important one.
The
Message of the Holy Bible
The word ‘Bible’
is derived from the Greek ‘biblion’
meaning ‘roll’ or book. It has two parts. The Old Testament was
written before the birth of Jesus Christ. The New Testament came into being
after his birth. A Testament is a promise from God. Both parts contain the same
promise but in two forms. The Old Testament could be compared with a building
plan and the New Testament with the actual building. The singular form of the
word ‘Bible’ for what is really a collection of sixty six different
books underlines the fact that they contain one consistent message ultimately
given by one author, God himself. It can be summarized as follows:
‘God created the world
and appointed Jesus Christ as the saving ruler over his kingdom. The Old
Testament teaches the foundation for this message by explaining who God is,
what he does and how he works. God has a relationship with his people based on
his promises. The New Testament gives an account of how these promises were
fulfilled in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. By
his return Jesus will establish God’s kingdom forever.’
Jesus himself confirmed that
he plays the leading role in the Bible by speaking to two of his followers
after he rose from the dead:
Then he said to them,
“So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all
that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen,
that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the
books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything
in the Scriptures that referred to him. (Luke 24:25-27, ‘The
Message’ translation)
The term
‘Moses and all the prophets’ was a common way of referring to the
whole of the Old Testament. Let us do the same and look in more detail at
the message of the Bible. It can be divided into fifteen parts.
1.
Creation (Gen. 1-2)
The first book of the Bible
was written by Moses. It is called “Genesis` meaning” beginning.
The account tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and everything in
it just by speaking. The expression ‘the Word of God’ does not
refer to a book first of all but to God’s voice and his will. From that
we learn that the word of God is the absolute foundation to the existence of
everything.
When the creation of animals
and man are mentioned the word ‘formed’ is used. (2:19, 7) The
Hebrew for this word commonly referred to the work of a potter who makes
vessels from clay. (Isa 45:9) Both, animals and human
beings, are given the ‘breath of life’ by
God. This implies that people, at least, physically, have similarity with
animals. The big difference between the two creatures is, that man is made
‘in the image of God’ (
2.
The Fall of Man into Sin (Gen. 3-11)
When God made Adam and Eve he
put them in a garden to work and take care of it. That place was located in
‘
After a while Satan
approached them by speaking through a snake. His goal was to make them desire
going against God’s will. He tempted Eve by using a threefold strategy
which he keeps using today in order to make people disobey God. (Gen 3:1-6)
Firstly, he causes doubt
regarding the word of God. „Did God really say…?“
Secondly, he exaggerates the
word of God. “You must not eat from any tree…?” Satan makes God appear difficult and
strict, a kill joy, by adding things which God did not require. Man made
religion is full of such laws.
Thirdly, he contradicts
God’s word and thereby makes him a liar. “You will not
die…” He basically says that the created ones can become like the
Creator.
The fact that the
fruit was good for food, beautiful to the eyes and desirable to gain wisdom
made her eat it and also pass on some to her husband who was all the time
silently besides her. These things are not necessarily bad, only when they
go against God`s will. That moment led to the most
tragic event in history: Disobedience to God caused the break down in their
relationship with him. Anything we put before God, any defiance towards him is
sin (e.g. not only wrong words and deeds, also wrong thoughts and not doing
things we ought to do). Nevertheless, at
the root of Adam and Eve’s sin was not disobedience, but lack of faith in
what God said. The previous is a direct result of the later. If we dig even
deeper we discover that they did not want to believe because they loved
themselves more than their creator. This becomes evident in that they believed
in the main promise Satan made, for them to become gods themselves. Then He
would not be necessary anymore. They could be in complete control of their own lives.
This wrong kind of self-love can only be cured by faith, the simple conviction
that God is worthy of more love and therefore what he says will be obeyed by
his help. Since man’s basic
problem is clearly a lack of right faith the only correct solution is faith in
God, his word and his work. If the source of the problem was bad works the
solution all man made religions offer, namely, ‘do good works and God
will accept you (maybe) would be right and appropriate. However, this is not the case. Therefore, the attentive reader can expose such religions as false
right from what happened at the beginning of time. Good works are important but
only if they are acts resulting from the right kind of faith.
Immediately after they ate
from the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and they realized their
nakedness. No longer innocent like children they had a new awareness of
themselves and the potential for abuse that would bring. Like God, they now
knew good and evil. But unlike God, they were unable to master their knowledge.
Being on the inside of understanding they were trapped and enslaved by it with
most horrifying consequences. It is to be compared with a doctor and his
patient who has terminal cancer. Both know the deadly disease but in different
ways. The patient suffers a slow and painful death. God made man for himself.
As Adam and Eve had rebelled against that very purpose they now felt an inner
emptiness caused by a profound loss of reason for life. The result of that
terrible sin was first of all guilt and shame.
As mentioned already, the
punishment for disobedience is death. Since Adam and Eve’s disbelief in
God’s word they were separated from him (spiritual death), cast out of
paradise for ever (eternal death) and later died in old age (physical death).
Moreover, during their life time each one had to endure the following specific
penalties: The woman would have pain in child birth and a longing for a husband
whom she can manipulate and control. He in turns would tend to rule unjustly
over her. Furthermore, work would be difficult and unsatisfying for him. As is
the case with agreements, the one God made with Adam and Eve, the leaders of
mankind, affects us their children and followers too. We inherit the blessing
of being made in God’s image and taking care of the earth. But we are
also left with all the problems we see in the world as the consequences of
their sin. For a more detailed explanation of this see the chapter
‘Fundamentals of Christianity.’
Given that God is Holy he
cannot accept sin in spite of His great love for man. Thankfully this does not
mean that he abandons them and us in our misery. Three things give us a glimpse of his
rescue plan that has the potential to bring reconciliation. Firstly, like on leak will sink a ship, one sin brought about
separation between the Creator and the master piece of his creation. God did not say human beings had to do good
works to return to him. This teaches us that only He can bring us back into
fellowship with him. Secondly, after Adam and Eve tried to cover their
nakedness with fig leaves God provided a more permanent dressing in the form of
animal skin. This indicates that the solution to our problem of sin comes from
God in the shape of a sacrifice. Thirdly, when God pronounced judgment on Satan
he said their will be hostility between the devil and the woman. One of her
children would destroy him and in the process be badly hurt. In the context of
the whole Bible this is the first prophecy to
Jesus, born by the Virgin Mary. He defeated Satan after his death on the cross
at his resurrection. We will look at this in more detail later.
The story continues with the
description of the first murder. Man’s wickedness increases and the earth
was filled with violence. Therefore, it was destroyed by a flood which only
Noah, his whole family and two of all kinds of living creatures survived by
building a ship according to God’s instruction. Afterwards Noah built an
altar on which he sacrificed animals. That pleased God. He promised not to
destroy all life again by flood waters for the sinful things the corrupt people
do. From Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth came all the people who were
commanded by God to populate the earth. All animals became afraid of them since
men were now allowed to eat them as food besides the plants. They were told that because life is in the blood not to eat
any meat that still has blood in it. If an animal or person killed
someone they would have to be put to death as a punishment.
At first everyone spoke the
same language. They soon followed in Adam and Eve’s footsteps of
rebellion. In defiance of God’s command to spread into all the earth they
started building a city and a tower that was to reach to the sky. God decided
to confuse their language so they were forced to stop the construction and
could not settle in what became later known as
3.
The promise (Gen. 12-23)
From the
descendants of Shem God chose Abraham. Through his lineage he would eventually
bring about the defeat of Satan and the restoration of his relationship with mankind. God
planned to do this by promising to Abraham unconditionally that his descendants
would become a great nation who will be given their own country and eventually bless
the whole earth. Sarah his wife was unable to get
children. Nevertheless, against all odds
Abraham believed and on that basis God accepted him. This is the first of
numerous references to the crucial need for faith in what God promises (Gen
15:6). After waiting for ten years Sarah grew impatient and asked her husband
to sleep with Hagar her Egyptian maid servant. This is in accordance with an
ancient custom illustrated in the code of Hammurapi
to ensure the birth of a male heir who would then belong to the wife. Hagar got
pregnant and gave birth to a son. God promised her many descendants. He told
her to name the child Ishmael. He would be hostile against many.
Thirteen years later God
confirmed his earlier promise given to Abraham. In return He expected obedience. As a sign of their faith in the
words of the Creator every male child had to be circumcised once it was eight
days old. This rite was established not
as a condition for entry into the blessings of God’s promise but as an
indication that they were already being enjoyed. God guaranteed Abraham a
son through his wife Sarah whom they were to call Isaac. The
Later God asked Abraham to
sacrifice his son Isaac and thereby he continued to develop the faith of his
chosen instrument. He passed the test by being
convinced that God could raise the dead. He therefore intervened and provided a
ram as sacrifice instead.
4.
Exodus from Slavery (Gen. 24 – Exo 18)
Isaac married Rebekah. She
gave birth to Esau and Jacob. He had twelve
children who became the fathers of the tribes of
The Israelites went to
Once again a sacrifice saved
God’s chosen people from death. This Passover
experience was to be repeated each year to instruct future generations.
It became the first of three annual festivals of the Jews. Under the leadership
of Moses God miraculously saved the Israelites by bringing them through the
sea.
5.
The Law (Exo 19 – Deu)
In the desert on the way to
the Promised Land, God called the Israelites to live under divine rule as his own
saved nation. He gave them laws that reflect his own justice, holiness and love
because they were set apart from all other peoples. The most well known among
the regulations are the 10 commandments. All the instructions told them how to
live in right relationship with God and each other.
Now as they were set free
from slavery God asked them to build a special holy place, a sacred tent where
he could dwell among his people. This shows his deep desire to live and
fellowship with them. One of the central pieces the Israelites were requested
to build in it was an altar upon which regular sacrifices were to be made by
Priests. They were to be mediators between God and men. The primary functions
of sacrifices are found in worship and atonement. The literal meaning of this
Hebrew word, ‘kaphar’, is to cover.
Figuratively it means to expiate or condone, cancel, appease, cleanse, forgive,
be merciful, pacify, purge (away), put off, reconcile. On the Day of Atonement,
the most important day of the Jewish year, the sin of the whole nation was
forgiven by sacrificing a perfect goat. Symbolically, the nation`s
sins, which are punishable by death, were transferred to it (Lev 16:21-22). God
permits the animal sacrifice as a substitution. In spite of his miracles and provisions
the Israelites time and time again murmured and rebelled against God.
Subsequently God punished them by almost exclusively
only allowing their children to enter the country of
6.
The Promised Land (Jos - Jud)
After the death of Moses the
leadership was transferred to Joshua. Under him the Israelites invaded
7.
Kings (1. Sam – 2 Chr)
The time arrived when God
granted his people’s request for kings to reign over them. Unlike rulers
of other nations they were to represent God before the Israelites and as such
exercise his rule. If they failed to be obedient to the obligations as defined
in the law given to Moses, the whole nation was judged. David was the most well known Jewish
king. God called him ‘a man after my own heart’ not because he was
perfect but because he repented and confessed his sin. Under the reign of his
son Solomon a permanent temple was built in
8.
Exile
After king
9.
Prophets (Isa, Eze, Neh, Dan, Mal, etc)
God used prophets at many
times and in various ways. They called the Israelites back into obedience and gave encouragement and comfort by
reminding them that His promises were still valid for those who believed
obediently. Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah the Jews returned in
three groups to
What happened in the next
approximately 400 years can be established from historical records found
outside the Bible. After the Jewish people were ruled by the Persians until 331
BC they came under the reign of the Macedonian kingdom until 320 BC. This time
was followed by the control of the Egyptians until 198 BC. Judas Maccabeus and his family led the Jews in several uprisings
that guided the way to an eventual semi-independence from Syrian control. The
10.
The life of Jesus (Mat –Joh)
The promise God gave to
Abraham for his family to be a blessing to the whole earth came one step closer
through the life of Jesus. The ancestry on his mother Mary’s side is
traced back to Abraham’s son Isaac through Jacob, Judah and David. Unlike
Adam who was born without father and mother simply because he was the first
person to be on earth, Jesus was born by the Virgin Mary conceived
supernaturally by the Holy Spirit of God. Had he been born with both a human
father and mother Jesus too would have inherited his parent’s preference to be sinful. As it is he never disobeyed
God. Being much more than a prophet Jesus alone lived the
life of special relationship with God that all of
11.
The death of Jesus
Jesus was introduced by John
the Baptist as “the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the
world”. As the sinless and perfect one he alone was able to be the
ultimate sacrifice hinted at many times in the message of the Bible. Here is one
more example recorded in the book of Isaiah about 700 years before Jesus was
born:
“But it was our pain he
took, and our diseases were put on him: while to us he seemed as one diseased,
on whom God's punishment had come. But it was for our sins he was wounded, and
for our evil doings he was crushed: he took the punishment by which we have
peace, and by his wounds we are made well. We all went wandering like sheep;
going every one of us after his desire; and the Lord put on him the punishment
of us all. Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken
to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so
he said not a word. They took away from him help and right, and who gave a
thought to his fate? for he was cut off from the land
of the living: he came to his death for the sin of my people. And they put his
body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the
evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth. And
the Lord was pleased...see a seed, long life, ...will
do well in his hand. ...made clear his righteousness before men...had taken
their sins on himself. For this cause he will have a
heritage with the great, and he will have a part in the goods of war with the
strong, because he gave up his life, and was numbered with the evil-doers;
taking on himself the sins of the people, and making prayer for the
wrongdoers.” (chapter 53, verses 4-12)
The Jewish leaders sentenced
Jesus to death with the help of the Romans on charges of blasphemy. He claimed
to be God! (Mat 26:65) The creator of the universe allowed it to happen since
only in that way Jesus could bring about peace between man and God once and
forever. He paid the punishment for our rebellion against God’s rule. The
demands of perfect Justice and Love were met at the cross more than 2000 years
ago in that impartiality requires punishment but love desires to forgive. Jesus
received the one and therefore can offer the other. Through his death everyone
is now presented with the possibility of free entry into life as citizens of a
kingdom unlimited by geographical borders. It is to be found wherever his will
is being done.
12.
The resurrection of Jesus
The punishment for sin is death, meaning
spiritual separation from God that leads to physical separation from him. Jesus
died on behalf of us. Having paid the price to set us free death is no more.
Jesus won victory over it!! Death could not hold him anymore. Therefore, God brought Jesus
back to life again. Had he not been raised from the dead, there would be no hope for
us. We too would die forever. The resurrection is very important also, because
it confirms that we are forgiven. (Rom
Having been seen by many different people on
numerous occasions Jesus departed from his disciples in terms of his physical
presence. He passed into the unseen world to be with God and to begin his reign
as the saving ruler of God’s kingdom. He will remain there until his
second coming. In the meantime Jesus prays for us (Heb
13. Pentecost (Act – Jud)
Pentecost means literally
‘fiftieth.’ The name indicates the fiftieth day after the Jewish
feast of Passover. It marked the conclusion of the feast of weeks that was to
celebrate God’s blessing of harvest. On that last day two loaves of
unleavened bread represented the first products of the harvest. After the exile
many Jews came once a year from far away places to celebrate what is known to
them as ‘Shavuot.’ On that very day, exactly 50 days after the
death of Jesus the promise he made to his followers came true. They were to
wait in
wherever God’s will is being
done. In contrast to the people of
“But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, gentle
behaviour, control over desires: against such there is
no law. And those who are Christ's have put to death on the cross the flesh
with its passions and its evil desires. If we are living by the Spirit, by the
Spirit let us be guided.” (Gal 5:22-25)
What God foretold through
the prophet Jeremiah is now miraculously coming true:
“See, the days are
coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of
Israel and with the people of Judah: Not like the agreement which I made with
their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of
the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says
the Lord. But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of
(31: 31-35)
Those who have faith in
Jesus have a part in the blessing of Abraham who was full of faith. (Gal 3:9)
In that way the whole world can now be blessed through Abraham as was promised
by God. There is now no more distinction between Jews, Greeks, Arabs, Africans
and others. All can be one in Christ yet maintain their different cultural ways
as long as they do not contradict God’s moral law.
Apart from the last of the
remaining New Testament books the others are written to explain this
extraordinary Good News to believers and to protect them from wrong teachings.
One of the most common among them was that once people had become Christians by
faith in Jesus they then had to do good works and obey God within their own strength in order to keep being accepted by him.
The latter is essentially the path of the Israelites under the old covenant. It
led to miserable failure. Here is what Paul, one of the leaders of the early
church had to say in response:
“O foolish Galatians,
by what strange powers have you been tricked, to whom it was made clear that
Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross? Give me an answer to this one question;
did the Spirit come to you through the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? Are you so foolish? Having made a start in the Spirit, will you now be
made complete in the flesh? Did you undergo such a number of things to no
purpose? If it is in fact to no purpose. He who gives
you the Spirit, and does works of power among you, is it by the works of law,
or by the hearing of faith? (Gal
3:1-5)
“As, then, you took
Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on in him, rooted and
based together in him, strong in the faith which the teaching gave you,
giving praise to God at all times.” (
The life of a follower of Christ starts with putting faith in him and it
has to continue that way. He carries on remembering that he is a great sinner measured with the
new commandment Jesus gave to his disciples: “Love one another as I have
loved you.” In faith he
regularly asks for forgiveness and keeps turning to Jesus by fixing his eyes on
him who is an even greater saviour. Only in this way the Holy Spirit changes
him and works fruit through him as is confirmed in the
following passage:
“But we all, with
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the
Spirit.” (2 Cor
14. Second coming of Jesus (Dan, Rev)
When Jesus will come back
the second time he will appear as the glorious, powerful judge and king. There
will be a time of terror and devastation the world has never seen before. He
will punish those who rejected his way of the cross with everlasting
distraction. Ultimately there will be no more rebellion against God’s
rule. Those who followed him will be with him forever. In addition to that they
will be rewarded to the degree of their faithfulness. For more details please
see the chapter, “What the Bible says about your future”
15. New Creation (Rev)
After the return of Jesus
has taken place new heavens and a new earth will be created. The
Now as you know
the message God has for you in the Bible how will you respond to him? If you are not certain yet please pray and ask the Creator of the
Universe to show himself personally to you. Here is what he promised if
you do so:
“When you call on me, when you come and pray to
me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me you will find me. Yes, when
you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else,
I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” (Jer 29:12-13)
Sources:
N.I.V. Study
Bible, Zondervan Corporation, 1985
‘The Bible
Overview’, Matthias Media 2001
‘Baker’s
Dictionary of Theology’, Baker Book House Company, 1960
‘Dictionary
of Beliefs and Religions’, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1995
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