Why One Cannot Understand the Bible Without Christ

Jesus is the Communicator of the Bible—John tells us in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word that brought all things into existence is Jesus Christ. Thus, he is the center as the communicator of God’s Word. He gives all created things their meaning and purpose.

Jesus is the Message of the Bible—On his way to Emmaus, when his disciples were having trouble interpreting their Rabbi’s recent death, Jesus rebukes them for not understanding how he lay at the center of the message of the Bible. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). The Old Testament predicts Christ and the New Testament proclaims Christ and preaches how we are to live in light of the Gospel.

Jesus is the Receiver of the Bible—We as receivers are not neutral. Our mind is corrupted and thus we do not understand things as we ought. But precisely because Jesus was God-man, and that through faith we are united to him, we now have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). His mind is now our mind. Thus, as we grow in hermeneutical salvation (thinking more like Christ), we realize that he is also the true receiver of God’s Word.

The Gospel is the only way one can understand all of reality.