Preface

The entire contents of this book, The Concise Bible, are excerpts from the Bible; that is, the text of this book is the Bible itself in an abbreviated edition. It has been compiled with the needs of those who are unfamiliar with the Bible in view, and to introduce in an easy-to-read format an outline of the Bible message to those who desire to better understand the main points of the Christian beliefs.

The central theme of the Bible is Jesus, whom Christians accept as the promised Messiah, or Christ; and the mystery of the coming kingdom of God. In order to truly understand this message, one must, as Jesus said, read with a child-like and humble heart. If one will read God’s word as though searching for a hidden treasure, then, for certain one will find true in one’s own life those words from the Bible: “You have no need that anyone teach you.”

After you have finished reading this book, we would like to urge you to find a copy of the Bible itself, and read it.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.

2 Timothy 3:16

About the Bible

The Bible is made up of two books called The Old Testament and The New Testament. This word, testament means a declaration or contract, or in some cases, a will. As used here, it means the contract or promise to which God has bound himself in his dealings with mankind. The contract of salvation that God has given us is based upon the death of Jesus Christ on the cross; it is a promise that God has saved us through Jesus and made us heirs of his Kingdom of Heaven. Believers in Christ are confident that the sins of mankind have been taken away forever through the death of Jesus on the cross—that Jesus, the Son of God, who was born on this earth about 2,000 years ago, took upon himself, in man’s place and as his substitute, the punishment deserved by sinful men. This means that our sins can be forgiven, and that we can believe in the promise of God, the wonderful news that we can receive eternal life that God offers to us. It is the good news of this promise that is the heart of the Bible message. The contract written before Christ is called The Old Testament and the contract written after Christ is called The New Testament. The Old Testament, centered around the Jewish nation, was authored by many writers between 1500 B.C. and 400 B.C., and consists of 39 books containing their history, laws, prophesies, poetry and songs. The message of God’s new kingdom and of the coming Christ are repeated in many prophesies. The New Testament explains the facts, how these prophesies of Christ were fulfilled in Jesus, and teaches about his salvation. It was written by Jesus’ disciples between 30 A.D. and 90 A.D., and begins with the four gospels—short histories of the life of Jesus—including also 21 letters to Christians, etc., for a total of 27 books. The Jewish people accept only the Old Testament as the Bible, the Word of God, which they call the Law and the Prophets. Christians, however, believe that both the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God. First of all, you should know this: no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:20-21

Chapter 1　In the Beginning

The Bible tells us how this world, astounding in its complexity and life, began, how man was created and why, how mankind has rebelled against their Creator and ignores him, and of God’s awful curse of Death because of men’s sin against him. It is because of our sin against God, the Bible tells us, that we live, from the day we are born, with the doom of death hanging over us. We have no hope, no real and lasting joy and peace—only death awaits us. Whether we are rich or poor, strong or weak, slave or free, sick or healthy, soon we must die, and then, the Bible tells us, we must stand before our Creator and tell him why we ignored him and his righteous laws. God, not man, will judge us, according to his laws, not ours.

No religion, no philosophy, no man in the history of the world has shown us how to be saved from this horrible curse—except the Bible.