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.

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

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

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 Genesis 1:1 – 2:25 1:1–25 What are the repeated words and phrases? What do they tell us about how God made the world? what God made? God the creator? 1:26–31 What does being in God’s image mean? Prince Charles once said about verse 28: ‘It is a licence to exploit the environment. It has contributed to a feeling that the world is

The Bible calls the time between the first and second comings of Christ ‘the last days’ (e.g. 2 Timothy 3:1; James 5:3). This is the period in which the New Testament letters were written and in which we still live today. It lies in the intersection of two ages: ‘this present age’ and ‘the age to come’ (e.g. Matthew 12:32; see Figure 34). The

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

The kingdom of God God’s people God’s place God’s rule and blessing The pattern of the kingdom Adam and Eve The garden God’s word; perfect relationships The perished kingdom No-one Banished Disobedience and curse The promised kingdom Abraham’s descendants Canaan Blessing to Israel and the nations The partial kingdom The Israelites Canaan (and

‘The beast’ (who represents worldly anti-Christian powers), ‘the false prophet’ (worldly anti-Christian ideology) and Satan are also judged alongside Babylon.