The Bible’s True Purpose

John 20:31

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What is the main purpose of the Bible? Do we have the Bible to tell us that there is a God? Do we have the Bible to tell us right from wrong? It certainly has a lot to say about those topics, but are those things really the main purpose of the Bible? Consider this. Could you know that God exists even without this book? Could you know right from wrong again, even without the Bible?

I would say yes. You know, if you look at human culture throughout history and even today, you’ll see some commonalities. You’ll see religion in almost every single human culture. Why is that? Well, every single human society is trying to explain that the evidence, the evidence that we all have for God. Consider the evidence. Simply look outside. Look outside the window. And what do you see? You see an incredible complex world filled with plants, animals, all within this environment. And you can maybe take each of those parts separately and consider how complex they are. But it’s also amazing to think about how they work in harmony with one another. Think about what a plants needs to survive and produce fruit. It needs sunlight and water and proper soil, and its environment provides all of those things for it so that plant can grow and produce fruit. And then what happens? Then an animal will eat the fruits. But what happens then? The animals body is designed to even take in that plant food and to be able to digest it and get nutrients and energy from it so that that animal can survive off of it. And of course, animals also will consume other animals, too.

It’s quite incredible to think about the amazing complexity of the world in which we live. Really, you don’t even need to go outside to see the evidence for God when it comes to creation. You can simply look down, look at your own hands. They’re quite incredible to think about your fingers and how they move and how your hands can grasp and all that they can accomplish. But you don’t even need to really think about your hands, think about your eyes that can see your hands and how incredible it is that we have these organs on our bodies that can perceive the world around us, that can present this image on our brain. Like, where did all of these incredible things come from? Doesn’t it all testify to a creator, something that made all of it? Is it really logical to conclude that all of the plants and animals and the environment in which they live in our own bodies as well, and as complex as they are and everything that they can do simply came about by chance? I would say it’s far more logical to believe that something who is wise and powerful created us. All evidence for God.

But also consider this. Think about all the different cultures and countries in our world and even throughout human history. All of them also not only had religion but also had morality. They had codes of law, codes of conduct, of right and wrong. And to some degree, a lot of those rights and wrongs matched up with other cultures that no matter where you went, it was still wrong to murder. It was still wrong to steal. Where did that come from? We don’t see it in the animals that they have sort of moral code, a sense of right and wrong. We see it in human beings. Is that also evidence for a God who has a sense of right and wrong? A sense of what is good and what is evil? A sense of justice.

Now, the Bible, of course, can tell us a lot more than we can learn about God concerning who he is. It can also tell us a lot more about exactly God’s standard of right and wrong. But what we’d really be missing without the Bible isn’t a knowledge that God exists. It isn’t a sense of right and wrong. The key thing that we would be missing is we would not know that God is a God of love who sent his Son to rescue us from our own sin, from our own judgment that we deserve because of our violations against God’s moral standard, His moral code. The Apostle John writes these words at the very end of his book, John chapter 20, verse 31, He says this,

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)

John says that the reason that he recorded everything about Jesus life was for this purpose so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, that he is God’s anointed one, that through faith in him, you may have life. That through trusting in him, you have rescue from eternal punishment in judgment. That’s the number one purpose of the Bible to tell you about Jesus and what He has done for you. To tell you that God is not just powerful and wise and just but he in love sent Jesus to rescue you from your sin and to give you eternal life. Amen.