This attitude to the material world is very different from that of many philosophies and religions, which are really concerned only with the spiritual and the soul. Everything else is regarded, at best, as of secondary importance, and, at worst, as evil. Their understanding of salvation involves the soul being released from the prison of the body

Just as the Lord Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, so the Bible is both a human and a divine book. It is God’s Word: he is the ultimate author.

Bible study Revelation 21:1–8; 21:22 – 22:5 21:1–8 What images are used to describe the perfected kingdom? How do they build on previous passages in the Bible? What are the features of life in the new creation? Who will enjoy its benefits? What does it mean to be ‘thirsty’? What does it mean to ‘overcome’? 21:22 – 22:5 How is the perfected kingdom

We tend to have a negative attitude to authority and assume that it must always be oppressive. But there is nothing negative about being under God’s authority. In the Bible, to be under God’s rule is to enjoy God’s blessing. When Adam and Eve obeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they knew life at its

Bible study Luke 1:39–80; 2:25–32 What do the words of Mary, Zechariah and Simeon teach us about the salvation Jesus brings? How do they point to the fulfilment of the following Old Testament passages? Genesis 12:1–3 2 Samuel 7:11–16 Isaiah 9:2–7 Isaiah 42:5–7 Isaiah 49:5–7 Jeremiah 31:31–34 Malachi 3:1 How should we respond?

Goldsworthy defines the kingdom as ‘God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule’ (Figure 5).2 That may sound like an overly simplistic definition for such a significant theme in Scripture, but the simple words contain great depth. God longs for human beings to enjoy an intimate relationship with him in his presence. As he is a perfect, holy God,

Bible study Exodus 19:1–13; 20:1–17 19:1–13 What does this passage teach us about God? How does it challenge the way we often think about him? How should we relate to such a God? What has God already done for the Israelites (see also 20:2)? What does he promise to do in the future? How do these promises relate to the promises he made to Abraham

The Bible does not just tell the story of God’s work of salvation; at the same time it reveals God’s character. He is its hero from beginning to end. Sometimes we miss the point by asking too quickly, ‘What is it saying to me?’ A good first question to ask whenever we look at a passage is, ‘What does this tell me about God?’ Very often the

We must not expect life to be easy. We are called to proclaim the gospel to a world that does not want to hear it and to live a Christian life among people who live in a very different way. We are citizens of heaven, who must, for the time being, live as ‘strangers’ in the world (Philippians 3:20; 1 Peter 1:1). But we shall not have to live away