How Stuff Works: The BibleNäide

Study 2. What’s the point of the Bible?

For me, the Bible explores a lot of themes and angles, but they all flow from one main purpose: to tell us about the most incredible rescue mission the world has ever seen—and why that rescue had to happen.

Right at the beginning of the Bible, we read about Adam and Eve and how something called sin entered the very fabric of humanity. It wasn’t part of the original design. Sin—disobedience toward God—was a choice that was made, and the consequences have been devastating ever since.

Sin might not be a common word in our culture anymore, but the Bible doesn’t shy away from it. It uses sin to describe the breakdown of relationship between God and His creation—us. Much of the Bible is a gradual unfolding of God’s master plan to restore that broken relationship and win back His creation from the consequences of sin.

The Bible explains that we’ve all been affected by that original disobedience. The breakdown was so absolute—like a virus infecting a computer—that it spread quickly and completely. Over the centuries, people tried to bridge the gap between humanity and God, a chasm created by sin, but it’s not something we can fix on our own.

Rather than sitting at a distance and watching it all unfold, God launched a rescue mission. That mission is the central theme of the Bible.

In the Old Testament, we see signs and promises pointing toward a future hope—that God would one day set things right and make a way for us to reconnect with Him. Then in the New Testament, that promise is fulfilled. God’s one and only Son enters the world in the person of Jesus Christ. (“Christ” means Messiah, Saviour, or Lord.)

It’s important to mention that the Bible isn’t the only source that speaks about Jesus. He was a real historical figure. His life, teachings, influence, and death are documented outside of the Bible as well. So this isn’t some fairy tale or feel-good myth like Father Christmas.

Jesus doesn’t leave us any middle ground when it comes to who He is. He didn’t claim to be just a good teacher or a noble man. He claimed to be God—telling people their sins were forgiven. That’s something only God has the authority to do. So this real man was either utterly mad… or He truly was who He said He was.

The Bible verse I’ve included below comes from the New Testament and was written by one of the men who spent a lot of time with Jesus.