[Christ-Centered Bible Reading] Series: Seeing the Bible for Its Original Purpose
Writings by four popular lecturers who provide excellent and clear explanations.
Easy to apply to individuals and small groups
Bundang Woori Church Bible Reading Program

This is a series of Bible reading programs conducted at Bundang Woori Church in 2022.
The first of these is a volume that covers everything from the Pentateuch to the historical books.
With so many different ways to read the Bible these days, why should we focus on a Christ-centered approach? A Christ-centered approach is one that adheres to the Bible's intended purpose.
The Bible testifies and points to Jesus Christ.
This is because without Jesus, no one can know God the Father and His will, and no one can know what the Holy Spirit says about Christ.
This book, with commentary by four pastors who stand out for their clear lectures, will encourage church members to read the Bible and serve as a guide for understanding it from a Christ-centered perspective.

What is the purpose of the Bible? It is for those who read it to know the history of salvation through Jesus Christ and attain salvation.
That is, we must read the Bible while thinking deeply about Jesus Christ and recalling the salvation He accomplished.
That is our goal.
There are good guides along the way.
In 2022, Bundang Woori Church enjoyed discovering Christ as he spoke of Himself in the Bible through Christ-centered Bible reading.
This is because there were four precious pastors who served us with lectures every week.
I am very excited to publish this collection of their key lectures.
As you read the Bible with the four pastors as your guides, I hope you will be filled with the joy of discovering Jesus Christ, who the Bible speaks of.
I hope that the emotions I felt when I heard about it in class will deepen as I read the book.
---From “Recommendation | The Joy of Discovering Christ”

2.
Why should we read the Bible with Christ at the center?
I have already given you the answer.
Because the Bible is a book written to point to Jesus and reveal Jesus.
But some of you may be asking this question:
"Isn't the God we believe in a triune God? Why is it centered on the Son, Jesus, rather than the Father and the Holy Spirit?" That's a very good question.
The answer is simple.
Because we cannot know God the Father except through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us who Jesus is and what he said.
---From “Introduction | What is Christ-Centered Reading of the Bible?”

The first half of Genesis repeats the story of the fall of man, the rebellion of created beings trying to become like God, their Creator.
The history of human rebellion includes the incident in which Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and were driven out of Eden; the incident in which Adam's son Cain murdered his younger brother Abel despite God's warning; the incident in which God judged all of humanity with a flood in Noah's time; and the incident in which God scattered the language of humans who built the Tower of Babel to the ends of the heavens in an attempt to become like God (which can be summarized as 'Garden of Eden - Murder - Flood - Tower of Babel').
However, God has not stopped trying to break the history of human sin and rebellion and to save humanity from sin.
Therefore, if we look at the history of judgment in reverse, it is also the history of God's purification and reform.
---From “2 Evidence of the Covenant’s Faithfulness and Love”

The people of Israel did not seek fellowship with God.
There was no need for God's presence.
When Moses, who had been communing with God on Mount Sinai, did not come down quickly, they made a golden calf and worshipped it as an idol.
God is angry (Exodus 32:10), but Moses prays for them.
So I was barely able to be saved.
God wanted to be with Israel, but sinful Israel rejected God.
What should we do? A better tabernacle than the visible tabernacle, a greater temple, has come to this earth.
He is also a far better priest than Moses.
---From “6 God’s Presence, the Tabernacle”

Through Moses, God taught the Israelites how to offer sacrifices and offerings, such as peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings, how to appoint priests, and the conditions for those who could participate in the sacrifices.
Now all the preparations for the sacrifice are complete.
In chapter 16, God calls Moses and Aaron to the tabernacle and commands them to begin the sin offering.
---From “The 8 Days of Atonement, the Sabbath, and the Year of Jubilee”

Throughout the Bible, there is one person who obeyed all of God's words and commands, yet did not receive the blessings described here, and yet received all of God's wrath and curses, even though he never disobeyed God's words even once.
Who is it? Our Savior Jesus Christ.
Why? Because He obeyed the law we should have obeyed in our place, and He bore the sins and curses we should have borne in our place (2 Corinthians 5:21).
So, even though we have sinned, we are forgiven and have the obedience that Jesus performed made ours.
---From “13 Obedience to God’s Word”

The Book of Judges can be divided into two parts: the biographical section (chapters 1-16), which records the names of the judges and their deeds; and the explanatory section (chapters 17-21), which explains why the judges were destined to fail.
Chapters 17-21, which we will read together this time, are this commentary.
Here are four events that occurred in the early days of the Judges' period that were the key reasons why the period of the Judges was so dark.
Next, the Book of Ruth, which follows the Book of Judges in the Bible, shows a ray of hope that will end the dark period of the Judges and lead Israel back to God.
---From “16 Lights of Hope”

It is important to keep the rules God gave us in the Old Testament.
Because the word is not a mere rule, but a foreshadowing of Christ who saves us.
The incident where Uzzah touched the Ark of God was not only an example of ignorance of the Word, but also an example of what people thought about the Ark of God and God at that time. It was a time when the Ark of God existed, but people did not ask about God.
After all, sinful humans should not touch the holy things of God.
However, humans did not deeply recognize their own sin, and they thought of God as an object of transportation rather than an object of fear.
It also seems that humans had an awareness that they had to protect the Ark of God.
It can be seen as an era in which the fear of God disappeared.
---From “20 Establishment of the Kingdom of David”

The reign of Ahab and Jezebel, when darkness was at its deepest, was the culmination of the history of rebellion against Jehovah God that began with Solomon.
Elijah cried out for God's justice and love in the midst of evil, urging God's people to repent and return.
But no one responded.
In despair and the threat of death, he fled into the wilderness, sat down under a broom tree, and cried out to heaven.
“Lord, it is enough; now take my life.
“I am no better than my ancestors” (19:4).
This cry echoed softly through Jesus' mouth even on the cross standing on Golgotha ​​Hill.
---From “23 Elijah, Hope in Loss”

Just as Israel eagerly awaited the Messiah, we too today eagerly await the return of our King, Jesus Christ, to this earth.
At that time, the eternal kingdom of God will finally be completed.
With this hope in mind, I hope we can live honestly and faithfully before God, who is at the center of our hearts.
Although we fall repeatedly, we always bow down before God and repent with a poor heart. Although we live in a world that is still evil, I hope we can live as saints who rely only on God and pray, living according to God's heart.
---From “26 The Division and Destruction of Israel 2”

When Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin in the courtyard of the house of the high priest Caiaphas, one of the charges against him was the destruction of the temple.
In John 2, Jesus, after cleansing the temple in Jerusalem and seeing that it had been transformed into a religious industrial complex, warns, “Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise” (v. 16).
At this point, the Pharisees demanded that Jesus show them a sign if he had the authority to say such things.
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“Destroy this temple.
“I will raise it up in three days” (2:19).
The Pharisees denounced the idea that Herod's temple took 46 years to build and that it would be rebuilt in three days, calling it a preposterous lie.
However, John confesses that even Jesus' disciples could not understand the true meaning of these words until after his resurrection, saying:
“But Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body” (2:21).
---From “32 Temples and the Reconstruction of Life”

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are five books written by Moses, so they are also called the 'Pentateuch' or 'Torah', which means 'book of laws'.
These books are incredibly important in many ways.
First of all, the Pentateuch is the first book of the Bible and serves as the background for the entire Old and New Testaments.
When Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man…whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (vv. 1-2, author’s emphasis), the law mentioned here is the Torah, the Pentateuch, the book of laws.
For the people of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch was the Word of God, the Bible, and the core of their faith and life.
Moreover, the Pentateuch provides a glimpse into the entire Bible and ultimately leads us to Jesus, the main character of the Old and New Testaments.

---From “Special Lecture | The Pentateuch”