“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” — John 5:39
Greeting Crosstrain Families! I pray that the first two weeks of discussing 2 Timothy 3:16-17 blessed your families. The word of God will never come back void! I am often surprised how conversations of scripture often lead in an unanticipated direction. What a blessing it is though to see the Spirit of God use the word to reveal more of himself and to make us more like him. We in family ministry are again excited to announce the next verse we will be learning as families to lay the foundation for the rest of the year. There is a song about scripture I often listen to that says, “the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to reveal the Son” (extra credit to anyone who can name that tune). The only natural continuation of this would be, “so that we may be reconciled with the father”. How beautiful the working of the Trinity is! Over the next two weeks, we will be learning:
John 5:39- “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” John 5:39.
Why this verse? Last week we learned what God says the Bible is. This week we will be learning who God says it is about! The bible is about Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation. IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM! Jesus affirms here that the scriptures are, “able to make you wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15), but goes on to reveal that this life is in Him, the Author of eternal life! He is revealed through types and shadows throughout the old testament stories and if we miss this, we miss what Jesus himself says the scripture is about. We will be providing a few brief messages over the next weeks and months for families to guide their children to see these connections. It is our hope that we can teach our children to view scripture through the proper lens so that the Bible comes to life and it is not seen as a thousand isolated stories, but rather one cohesive work by one author revealing the way, the truth, and the life!
Follow up questions that John 5:39 can answer:
Who is the Bible about?
Where can we go to learn how we can have eternal life?
As an EXCELLENT parallel passage, check out the story of Jesus after the resurrection on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35! Particularly check out verse 27!
I pray for all our families and the precious children that our Lord has put in our care. I pray that the Holy Spirit would use the Word to reveal Jesus and that we may be made more into His image to the Glory of God alone! I pray that the Lord would bless the time we spend learning the word as a family and that it would be stored away in our heart so that we could see the world and his word through the lens he intends. Amen!
All to the Glory of God-
Adam and Audra — Family Ministries