Our conversation today is on The Basis of Man’s Relationship with God.

Since the goal of our conversation is to explore the heart, nature, purposes and power of God in us, we need to lay down the source of our rules of engagement. We need to agree on the basis and authority for our conclusions here.

The basis for our conversations and conclusions are the Scriptures. The Scriptures are a documentation of God’s relationship with man. They reveal the origin and basis of God’s relationship with man, His Will and His plan for mankind. The Scriptures are documented in the Bible.

Today there are many versions of the Bible. The King James version is the original version and it is written in old English like Thou art…. There are many newer versions like the NIV, the New Living Translation and even the New King James version that are easier to understand.

The Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament.

God’s relationship with man is also regulated by two main Covenants, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant regulated God’s relationship with the nation of Israel and is found mainly in the Old Testament while the New Covenant regulates God’s relationship with all His Children who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ and is found in the New Testament.

The Old Testament gives an account of the creation of the world and everything in it; It describes how God created Adam and Eve, placed them in the Garden of Eden and gave them dominion over the earth. It describes how they fell, and how He severed fellowship with them and banished them from His presence.

The Old Testament also talks about God’s plan to deliver His children by sending Jesus Christ His son to the world.

The Old Covenant includes the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai and about 613 laws listed in the Book of Leviticus. These laws provide for every aspect of human behaviour. They are so comprehensive and include rules about diet, social life and hygiene. For instance, there are rules about what type of fabric to use to make clothes, specific rules for personal hygiene, what to do when one falls sick, etc.

To take care of the sins of the people, God made provision under the Old Covenant for animal sacrifices. The People had to shed the blood of animals once every year to cover their sins for one year.

Under the New Testament, God introduced a New Covenant to guide His relationship with His children. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant and became the perfect one time sacrifice whose blood washed away the sin of the world and grants the children of God eternal life.

So we can say that the Old Testament is the story of God’s promise and the New Testament is the fulfillment of God’s promise. The central message of both OT and NT is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Now, who wrote the Scriptures?

The Bible is a compilation of 66 Books written by different men. But the contents of the writings did not originate from the writers but from God. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired and told the writers what to write. So the Scriptures are words spoken by God, using men as a channel.

The Bible states that all Scripture was inspired by God. So the Holy Spirit is the author of the Scriptures.