Hopefully, this Bible course’s bedrock principle is clear by now. How do we go about understanding the Bible? By man-made rules? Many like positions of power, including the power to decide what God means, to claim authority as the interpreters for God. How foolish, to place fallen humans over the infallible word of God! How unstable, since we humans and our cultures keep changing! The place to start is with the Creator. The Bible is His book, His words, conveying His intended meaning. Our place, as creatures, is to humble ourselves before our Creator. We owe our very existence to His word spoken in creation. Now, the same word speaks to us, instructing us, saving us, and, if necessary, pronouncing judgment on us. Believing that the Bible is God’s revelation, we ask, “What does the Bible reveal about itself? What does the Bible tell us about how it works, how to understand it, and how to handle it correctly?”
We have seen, for example, how the Bible creates its own framework in terms of two main covenants. The Bible itself shows its varied forms of prophecy (Hebrews 1:1). It supplies examples for recognizing figures and symbols. It reveals the concept of shadows and realities. These are not our inventions. They are the Bible telling us how it unfolds and explains its own story over many centuries.
This bedrock principle is important as we ask, “Where is the Bible going with its developing story? What is its ultimate point, its conclusive climax?” Here again, the answer comes from the Scriptures themselves.