The Bible in 90 Days

My preacher has asked members of our church to join the program which leads people in reading the Bible through in 90 days.  I have heard about it, but the Sunday school class I attend did not choose to adopt it as a project.  There will be a Bible study group for those whose class doesn't follow it also.

I don't plan to do the Bible study either, but I do plan to do the reading.  I think I can say I have read the whole Bible, but I never did it in one push or one effort.  I always get side tracked and lose my focus.  I find some books or some stories fascinating, and there is where my reading program goes awry.

This morning I have read the first 13 chapters of Genesis.  I should be able to finish Genesis in the next three days.  But here is where I have the weakness:  I don't just want to read it through.  I want to study the references and examine the text for details.  I want to know what the customs of the people were and why Babel was a huge city.  What references are there to Nimrod in other ancient literature?  90 days is a long time to just read and not wander off on a research trip.

In the thirteen chapters there are a lot of what preachers call "preaching points."  The one I found interesting this morning was Abram's interest in building altars.  When he was called to a new place or he heard a new message from God, he built an altar.  He marked those times of change or inspiration by worship, by sacrifice, and by obedience.  Maybe as I engage in this endeavor to read the Bible in 90 days, I can use this writing as a record of the places where God speaks to me like Abram's altars.

The Reason for the Law

Romans 7:1-14

Paul gives a very good explanation for the purpose of the law.  God never expected that men and women would be obedient to the law.  He told Adam and Eve not the eat of the fruit of only one tree.  They were free to eat of all the other pleasures in the garden, but this one tree was special and reserved.  They knew it was forbidden, but they ate anyway.  With disobedience came death. 

Until the Children of Israel were ready to leave Egypt, death was the consequence of their lives.  Some found grace and blessing through obedience, but there was no general law until Moses received the Commandments.  The Commandments never made people righteous.  They only showed us what sin was.  In the Passover, God showed them the blood of the lamb smeared on the doorpost as a symbol of the sacrifice for their sin.  They ate the dinner inside the house and the Angel of Death passed over the places where the blood was.

Now Paul says that the Law is good and spiritual and righteous, but in us it is intended to show where the sin resides.  The stark perfection of the law reveals the sinful attitude and broken promise of a human life.  The Blood of the Lamb obscures the sin and covers the black mark with his sacrificial purity.

It is not that the law is no longer effective, but that we have died to the law by being made alive to Jesus Christ.  This is a difficult concept to understand.  We don't feel dead to the Law:  We feel condemned by it.  If we could move on to the point that we feel our sins condemned by Jesus, rather than the law, we may be able to understand the forgiving and cleansing that comes through his blood.

When we feel condemned by the Law there is no recourse.  The Law says:  The soul that sins shall die.  Jesus says: The soul that sins shall be forgiven.  Of course he called us to die to sin and to the Law; then we are raised to resurrection life by his forgiveness, by his blood.