To find a true, consistent and continuous revelation of God and gather a personal knowledge of Him, one must have a Bible; God has chosen to reveal Himself in and through the written word. It has proved to be the most satisfying source of God’s revelation to man. His dealings with men, His actions and His purposes, become clearer to the one who, without prejudice, sets himself on the path of discovery. The God we find in the Bible, is a very personal God. When He created angels, He created as many as He needed, ‘en-masse’ as it is said in French, but when it came to humanity, God created just one man, Adam, who saw God daily, he heard God, he and his wife Eve communed with Him in a very special way, until he fell into sin, and was cast out from His presence! Following this immense loss, men have never found a way back to God. They cannot speak to Him, or call unto Him. The door was closed and it remains shut! Nevertheless, in His love, He has not abandoned man altogether; of His own free will, He began to approach various men, chosen by Him; to them He progressively revealed Himself, His character, His attributes and His personality, and his plan of redemption, thus He became very real in His relationship with men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David and others.

Later, when the need arose, God chose to speak to the people of Israel through prophets; finally, came into the world, His Son Jesus-Christ who through the Gospel spoke firstly to Israel, then to the whole world through His apostles; He is still speaking, by appointing men for the same purpose, to save men from eternal hell through the same Gospel! From Jerusalem disciples of Christ went as missionaries to many parts of the world reaching Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet, they realised that to keep the message alive the Bible had to be translated into the language of the people. To this very day, although it is now translated in thousands of languages and dialects, Bible translators are still busy, doing a very important work, so that as many people as possible can have access to the Word of God. It can be read in few hours, and studied a whole life time, after many years of reading it, I still find it most exciting!

So, to this very day, men go preaching the Gospel and the Holy Spirit is calling on individuals to repent, to believe in Jesus, and return unto God through Him; masses, all round the world, through all generations, have believed in Christ, and yet each believer has a personal communion and relationship with Him. Jehovah is a very personal God; I can truly say that He is ‘my God’! We find in the Bible these wonderful statements: ‘In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe’. (Hebrews 1: 1-5) At one point, Jesus took three of His disciples, up a mountain where they saw His glory, ‘Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light…… Then, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to HIM.  (Matthew 17:1-5) I repeat it again, I find these events amazingly challenging, here we find God the father, introducing God the Son, telling men: ‘LISTEN TO HIM.’

Whereas Jesus was born of a virgin, He was without sin, pure and sinless; in spite of all the temptations and assaults from the devil, he remained sinless and offered Himself on the cross as the spotless lamb of God! As a man He declares: ‘I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.’ (John 6:38) Jesus continued and said to Jews that listened to Him: ‘You are from below; I am from above. You are from this world; I am not from this world.’ (John 8:23) Jesus also declared openly that he was sent from heaven into the world with a mission: ‘For I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.’ (John 8:42)

It was important for the Jews to hear this even if they did not believe Him, the truth must be told, some believe it, others do not, but all have to know that His mission was to bring men to God, to this end He said: ‘It is the Father’s will, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’ (John 6:40) Jesus came fully aware of what men were going to do to Him, His Father did not hide anything from Him, yet he came willingly and fulfilled His mission, and brought salvation to men. Today, because of the written word, The Bible, men all over the earth, can hear the same Gospel that the apostles preached two thousand years ago. During the reformation bibles were burned by the thousands, during centuries it was still forbidden to own one, especially under the communist regime, I have met behind, what was called the iron curtain, Christians that were fearlessly, hiding hundreds of copies and giving them to those who needed or wanted one! Some religious leaders still advise their congregations to leave the Bible to them to explain it, because they have this special gift from God to understand it, and if one has not that gift it cannot be understood. The reformation changed all that so that the Bible is available everywhere and it is still the ‘best-seller’. Read it, start with the New Testament! As soon as you open it the Holy Spirit will start talking to you and help you, not only to understand it, for it is very simple a child can enjoy it, but to believe it and to lead you to accept Jesus as your Saviour you need the help of the Holy Spirit!