
From childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:15.
Those ancient Greek and Roman classical writers, Homer, Plato, Cicero, Virgil or Tacitus – are they still worth reading? How many have studied the works of these poets and thinkers in their schooldays! And there are, in fact, still today enthusiasts who immerse themselves in these ancient texts to discover unknown worlds. Others seek directives for themselves and their own day when reading them.
If, on the other hand, we open the Bible, we immediately discover its claim to convey God’s instructions for all who seek orientation for their lives. Today’s text has primarily the Old Testament in mind, which was already written then. There we find, alongside God’s direct messages, the trust people then had in Him. It reports their experiences with their God as well as the wisdom they derived from them.
What strikes one above all in these ancient testimonies of faith is that they announce the coming of the one Person who is presented in great detail in the New Testament: Jesus Christ. He came to God’s ancient people as the fulfilment of the Old Testament promises and proved Himself to be the Son of God through His miracles.
The New Testament, however, not only reports the life and death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but also His resurrection and ascension to heaven. This means that Jesus Christ is alive and will return to assert His rights. He has to power to do so.