DNA of the Bible

Five hundred years ago the invention of the printing press opened up the Bible for the masses to read and understand. But more recently, as the church has taken lessons from the worlds of business and the wider culture in how it is structured and how the Bible is taught, we have put ourselves at risk of over-complicating the way we approach the Bible, so that it becomes something only the 'experts' can do. Tragically, the depths, riches and glories of the world's most important book are becoming closed to us as a result -- like Shakespeare or modern sculpture, the Bible has ended up being something we know we should be in awe of but of which we remain fundamentally ignorant. It doesn't need to be like that. Understanding the Bible, Mike Breen argues, depends upon understanding two fundamental concepts -- covenant, and kingdom. These two themes spiral round each other like the double helix of DNA from the first page of the Bible to its last. Essentially, Covenant is about being, and Kingdom is about doing.
Covenant is about God inviting us into a relationship with him so that we become one with him -- something which because of our sinfulness, only Christ's death on the cross can make possible. Kingdom, on the other hand, means God acting -- often through us --to make whole that which was broken and win back that which was lost. The whole Bible, from beginning to end, is about these two things -- God forging a relationship with us, and then working through us to express his love and power. That is the DNA of the Bible. The better we understand this, the better we will grasp the Bible as a whole. This will lead us into renewed confidence about what God is saying, and a more certain and sure journey of faith.