Luke 24:27 – “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

I am a big fan of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Do you know that they made over $2.79 billion US just from Avengers Endgame? But here is what’s cool about it: Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to make 21 movies over 11 years, from 2008 to 2019, that told one big story and all culminating in the final movie of the saga Avengers: Endgame. It is extremely brilliant. But we have something far more amazing than Marvel’s Universe in our hands. It is a book that tells us of God’s universe. This book is written by 40 authors, 66 different parts, over the course of 1500 years, and they all tell one big story. And that story is not about you finding your destiny or chasing your dreams.

The one big story of the Bible is not about us but about God who revealed himself to us through the person of Jesus Christ. And in Luke 24:27, Jesus gives us the key to unlocking everything we read in the Bible. Jesus presents Himself as the key to interpreting the Bible and the fulfilment of the Bible. That means, if we read the Bible and we miss Jesus, then we have misread the Bible.

There are two ways to read the Bible. There is a moralistic way and there is a Christ-centred way. We can either read the Bible and make it all about us, or we can read the Bible and make it all about Jesus. For example, the story of David and Goliath. Little David trusts in God and defeats the big Goliath. The moral of the story is that if we put our faith in God, we can overcome our goliaths. As amazing as the story of David and Goliath is, it is not the point. Lots of times if we are not careful, we think of Old Testament characters as the holy version of Marvel Superheroes. But they are not.

The Hero in the Bible is Jesus

So now when we read the Bible, everything is about Jesus. The law is about Jesus, and how He fulfilled it. The temple is about Jesus and how He is the temple that dwells among His people. The sacrificial system is about Jesus and how He is the final perfect sacrifice who satisfies God’s wrath once and for all toward His people. Jesus is the hero behind all heroes. He is the Prophet behind all prophets. He is the Priest behind all priests. He is the King behind all kings.

As long we still make the Bible all about us, we will continue to be disappointed. Because the Bible is written for us, but it is not about us. The Bible from beginning to end is about Jesus. The Bible is never intended to be a manual for every circumstance of life. But it is so much better. The Bible is a book about Jesus that has the power to transform us to be like Jesus. And this is what we need most in life. What we need most in life is not a manual for life but to be like the Giver of life. The Bible has the power to transform us to be like Jesus that enables us to face whatever circumstance we face in life.

As we read the Bible and see the beauty of Christ on every page, we are being transformed to be more like Jesus. And the more we are transformed to be like Jesus, the more we desire what Jesus desires. Our thoughts and desires are shaped by Jesus. Our priorities and the way we see things begin to change. And once our thought and desire are changed, the way we speak, and act begin to change. The way we carry ourselves is different. The way we make decisions is different. We become more and more like Jesus.

4 Tips to Approaching the Bible in a Christ-Centred Way

1. Expose yourself to preachers who preach Christ-centred sermons: To read the Bible in a Christ-centred way is a new instinct that needs to be developed. It goes against your natural instinct, which is to interpret everything through the lens of ‘me, myself, and I’. Listening to preachers who preach Christ-centred sermons helps you to see and think about the Bible differently. It slowly removes the wrong understanding and replaces it with the right one. And it is a long process. It does not happen instantaneously.
2. ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible: This study Bible is the best tool I know to help everyday Christians to read the bible and the gospel value in what they are reading. There are explanations at the bottom of each page on how to interpret what you are reading in the light of the gospel (Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection).

4. Christ-centred community: What we need is not just a community that can sympathise with us and encourage us. What we need is a community that can point Christ to us. If you are struggling, if your heart is burdened, what you need is not simply people to understand you and help you. What you need is to be reminded of what Christ has done for you and how it satisfies all your longings. This kind of community helps you to continue to see Christ as the focus of your life. C.S. Lewis puts it this way. “In each of my friends, there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.” It means that you can only know an individual human being in a community. You can’t really know a person one-on-one, because you only see the part of that person you bring out. In other words, the more you share a friend with other friends, the more of the person you have. No one individual can draw out the entire personality. You can only know someone completely well in a community. If a finite individual human being cannot be fully known one-on-one, how much more true would that be of Christ? Jesus Christ is an infinite being. You will never really know him unless you corporately praise, corporately pray, and corporately study the Bible. You must do it with others, or you will not know Jesus well. You will only get a little of Jesus unless you are willing to do it with others all the time.