Walk up to any Christian and ask them what the Bible is. Ninety-nine percent of the time they will respond by telling you that it is the Word of God. You can walk into a Baptist Church, an Evangelical Church, a Charismatic Church, a Methodist Church, etc. and they will all tell you that their pastor preaches the Word of God.

If we all believe the Bible is the Word of God and if all our pastors are preaching it, then logic dictates that we should all be hearing and believing the same, or similar truths. However, that clearly is not the case. Some churches believe that miracles are for today while others believe they have passed away. Some believe God sends sickness to teach you, while others say that it’s all from the devil. Some believe in a rapture, some don’t. Some baptize in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit while others baptize in the Name of Jesus (that wouldn’t be a big deal except for the fact that churches have split over that issue).

Years ago I was a church elder and there was another elder whose theology was very different from mine. It seemed that he disagreed with everything I said, which often resulted in a spirited debate. I finally looked at him one day and said, “You believe Jesus is Lord. I believe Jesus is Lord. You love God. I love God. You believe the Bible is God’s Word. So do I. But we are reading two different books.“ He agreed. But how can that be?

My friend saw the Bible as a book of doctrine. I saw it as first and foremost a love letter from my Heavenly Father. Which one is it? A book of doctrine? A love letter? Both, neither or something else?

If you walk into a car dealership looking for a vehicle to haul cargo, you are instinctively going to go right past the really cool looking sports car and stop at the pick up truck. Why? Because when something is designed properly, the purpose of that item is inherent within the design. If I handed you a hammer and a screwdriver and told you to do nail something you would pick up the hammer even if you had never seen either tool before. Again, purpose is revealed by design.

In the same way, the Bible is perfectly designed for its intended purpose. It that were not true then it could have been improved upon which means that God didn’t do as good a job as He could have. That conflicts with His nature, His omniscience, His omnipotence and clearly cannot be true.

What this means is that we can determine the main purpose (there can be other secondary purposes) of the Bible from its design. So when I look at the Bible; when I pick it up and read it, what do I see?

I don’t see a book on systematic theology (even though the Bible is the basis for what we believe). I don’t see a self-help book or a book of principles or formulas (although there are principles within its pages). I see an invitation from God to walk through His world with Him, an invitation to see the world from His perspective. And when I see it like that, the Bible takes on a different perspective. That changes not only the way I view the Bible, it changes the way I read it. Instead of looking for hidden meanings, I let it speak to me. I rely on the Holy Spirit (He isn’t called the Spirit of Truth for no reason) to lead me, teach me, guide me. When I read the Bible like that it is an entrance into an adventure where God is not only revealing His world, He is teaching me, empowering me to step into that world and experience what the men and women in the Bible experienced. It teaches me, corrects me, brings hope to me, builds faith and love in me and motivates me to live this life as He intended me to live it. And that is what I mean when I say that the Bible is the Word of God.