In our recent Notes we have been considering the golden reed as God’s standard for judging what belongs to Him (Rev. 21:15-16, 11:1-2; if you missed those, they are on our “Brief Notes” page). Most recently, we stressed that this picture shows how our human nature, signified by the reed, must be uplifted by the divine nature, signified by the gold. As we have said, apart from this, nothing that we do could ever satisfy God or meet His standard.

Now we want to continue with this thought, this time by looking at the plain words of the Scripture.

So, have you ever asked yourself, what is the central point of the entire Bible?

Some Christians may say, the Bible is about the wonderful redemption we have in Christ. Others in their teaching greatly stress the sovereignty of God, and they claim that is what the Bible is all about. Still others may say that the Bible is all about God’s glory.

However, if we desire to truly know the Bible, we should ask, what does the Bible itself say it is all about?

And for this, we must come to the Apostle Paul’s word in Colossians 1:25-27. (Because this is so important, I would encourage you to open your Bible to these verses, either now or later, so you can follow through them and consider this for yourself.)

In Colossians 1:25 Paul says that he became a minister of the church “according to the stewardship of God.” Moreover, the stewardship he was given by God was a very particular one: “to complete the word of God” (DBY, RcV). This is the literal meaning of this phrase, though some versions translate it more freely as “to fulfill the word of God” (KJV, ASV), or “to make the word of God fully known” (ESV).

But, however, we understand this phrase, it means that God gave the Apostle Paul the particular, unique responsibility to present to us the full meaning of the word of God, the Bible. This is quite a crucial statement.

In verse 26 Paul goes on to say that this ultimate meaning of the word of God is “the mystery which has been hidden from the ages,” but which has now been manifested to the saints.

Then, in verse 27, he tells us that God has now made this “mystery,” which is the word of God in its fullness or completeness, known to the saints.

Finally, in this same verse, Paul tells us in a very concise way what this mystery is, the mystery that sums up the entire Bible. It is:

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

So, according to the apostle, and the Bible itself, the central, crucial, and ultimate point of the entire Bible is simply this: “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

And why is this is the central point of the Bible? Because it is the central point of what God is after in all His works. That is, He desires to bring us into the experience of Christ living in us today in a mysterious way, so that we may have a hope for the future—the hope of being glorified at the Lord’s return.

We surely need to ask the Lord to give us a revelation so that we may see this for ourselves! This should always be the central point with us, just as it is with God. That is, regardless of what else we may pursue in our Christian life and work, we must always focus on this point, because it is the focus of the Bible, and of God Himself:

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Your brother…

— Up Next —
“Leading Many Sons
into Glory”

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— 23 September 2021 —