The Message of Truth

When I opened the Bible for the first time, I didn’t know anything about it. Some decades later, I’m still reading it. This book (or, rather, its Author) knows all about me!

I started reading the Bible as a teenager and have never left it aside since. Sometimes reading it with passion, cover to cover, even twice in six months; other times at a very slow pace, focusing on specific books, such as the Gospels, describing the life of Jesus. Back and forth, wrestling with the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation or disputing my views with those of the apostle Paul.

And now I’m writing a Bible course for the FreeBible programme (powered by the ADC).

‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’ (Hebrews 4:12, 13)

STUDYING THE BIBLE

At the Adventist Discovery Centre, we indeed offer many Bible studies, some of them having stood the test of time for many years now. However, a challenging phone call turned the tables as one student asked us quite frankly: ‘Do you have a course on how to study the Bible?’

One may not see much of a difference. But bear with me, for what we understood was: ‘Instead of taking a Bible study, help me learn how to study the Bible.’

Now, during a typical Bible study we normally read and study topics of the Scripture, or what the Bible has to say about, for example, the Person of Jesus Christ, prophecies about future events, main teachings or doctrines of the Bible, etc.

Somehow we assume that our students and friends already have a Bible, and know how to navigate through it, using it for their study of different topics. Most surely, many of them do. And yet, this specific phone call served as a clear call: help me learn how to study the Bible. To quote it in biblical terms, it felt like ‘the Macedonian call’:

‘During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.’ (Acts 16:9, 10)

Interestingly enough, the same morning when this phone call came, for my own devotional I had read chapter 1 of Ephesians. And I highlighted this text for myself, where the apostle Paul tells believers that they were included in Christ when they heard ‘the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation’ (Ephesians 1:13).

Put the two together, and you get the title of this new ADC course, The Message of Truth.

We hope it will be an eye-opening experience, challenging and enriching at the same time, helping you understand the Word of God and its message of truth.